According to Lambert and Jenkinson (2014) , the unfair treatment of minority groups by the criminal justice system in America begins at the initial stage of the system- the police. The police department usually targets the minority groups as criminal suspects based on their racial composition which leads to conviction and incarceration. Therefore, the essay will discuss on the bigotry and racism that prevail in the police department which makes a significant difference in the way they do their job.
The police do their jobs based on racial profiling. It is the duty of the police to maintain law and order in the society, they investigate to uncover criminal activities and also patrol looking for suspicious activities. However, in the cause of their work, they decide on who to consider suspicious, what needs further investigation, and which neighborhood deserves law enforcement. Unfortunately, this police discretion is based on race. The issue of racial profiling by the police as a means of identifying criminal suspects based on accent or skin color is pervasive. For instance, black motorists are more likely to be stopped by the police as they are assumed to engage in more criminal activities than their white counterparts. The issue of racial profiling has exposed black drivers to humiliation and hassle by the police which subsequently leads to the arrest and possible prosecution of innocent drivers. Therefore, most of the non-violent crimes that are brought to the attention of the authorities by the police are racially motivated.
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Further, police operations are based on “race-based policing”. The police assumptions on minorities based on race not only are they unfair but also place them in danger. In the past month, police shooting resulted from racial generalization. For instance, Hispanics have been victims of police violence based on racial generalization. Countless police shooting involving minority groups occur on a daily basis and most of them go unnoticed. The race-based policing by the police have grounded fear among minorities and in dark streets, such profiling can be fatal ( Weitzer, 2010) . Therefore, the culture of the police to generalize a section of the society based on their race and the accent is what makes a difference in the manner in which the police do their job.
General misconduct by the police is based on race. The first misconduct is that the police have the misperception that Hispanics and blacks commit more crimes than whites. Second, Hispanics and blacks commit crimes. These perceptions are some of the police misconducts that lead to unjustified beating and arrests of innocent individuals. In this case, the treatment of Hispanics and blacks is different from that of whites. The promise of fair treatment in the constitution is limited in the application when it comes to people of color. Therefore, in order to change such misconducts, radical reforms need to be done in the police department (Reiner, 2007). The police need to adhere to equality and also change the notion and misperceptions that Hispanics and black commit more crimes.
In conclusion, police officers racial background makes a difference in how they do their job; this is evident through the unequal treatment of minority groups. The police employ tactics based on race in order to catch many criminals. This is not only is it unconstitutional but also places minority groups in great danger. Therefore, in the course of their job, the police should both blacks and whites alike.
References
Lambert, J. R., & Jenkinson, R. F. (2014). Crime, police, and race relations: A study in Birmingham . London: Oxford University Press.
Weitzer, R. (2010). Citizens' perceptions of police misconduct: Race and neighborhood context. Justice Quarterly , 16 (4), 819-846.
Reiner, R. (2007. Police and race relations. Police: The Constitution and the Community , 149-87.
