To what extent does racism exist in the police force?

1. To what extent does racism exist in the police force? By Paras Kaushik

2. A Brief history of Police racism • Civil Rights • Rodney King Beatings • 2010 Racial Profiling Act

3. The Civil Rights Era • Civil rights period 1960s- tense relations between police officers and African American protestors. Violence often broke out during nonviolent protests and marches.

4. Rodney King Beatings • Multiple police officers beat an African American male senseless with night sticks. Rodney king initially resisted arrest but was subdued under control with the use of excessive force.

5. 2010 Racial Profiling Act • Allows police officers to target certain minority groups and check their residency status at traffic lights. Many people have questioned the constitutionality of this law which has caused much uproar in the Hispanic American community.

6. Isolated Incidents • Racism in the LAPD • The New York Racist Parade • Dome Lights dot Com • Minneapolis Insubordination

7. Racism in the LAPD • A report on the LAPD pointed towards the unnecessary and excessive force used by the department to maintain control. There have been many cases of police offers in Los Angeles using racial slurs to refer to minority populations. These allegations have often been brushed aside by the department and they refer it to a common misconception. The commissioner was urged to resign after the overwhelming evidence in the report pointed at the racism in the department. 

8. New York Racist Parade Two New York Police and Fire Department officers were fired because of their attending of a racist parade. The case went to court and the judge ruled that New York had violated the first amendment by prohibiting their speech. The case has set a precedence displaying a triumph of freedom of speech over government suppression of racism. This case also reminds us that employers may not give differential treatment to racist works and cannot fire or hire them on that basis.

9. Dome Lights • Domelights.com, a site established by a white police officer in Philadelphia has not become a domain for racist comments posted by police officers. Civil Rights groups and the NAACP filed a law suit against the department and the city because of the website. The site has defended itself by claiming to be “the voice of the good guys.”  Many have criticized the police department for not removing the site or at least fire the individuals who use this as a sanctuary for racist thoughts and comments.

10. Minneapolis Insubordination • There was an issue concerning the demotion of a well respected police officer because of an alleged insubordination in Minneapolis. The outcry has been over how the Minneapolis department treats its own black officers. The detective was demoted to smaller less prominent unit after failing to obey to orders from his superior officers. The police department has defended itself in saying that the demotion was because of procedural reasons and had nothing to do with the color of his skin. Two similar incidents had also been observed in the police department in the recent past and has been a source of much controversy.

11. Racism: victimization , policing, and social context • The later chapters in this book, Racism: victimization , policing, and social context  Bowling discusses the racism prevalent in the British and American police departments. Dr. Bowling presents his case through examining documents and reports on violence towards minorities including the Rodney King beatings and the Police response of East London incidents. The case studies on these incidents and many more provide shocking evidence and an insight into the racism proliferating in the police departments of different parts of the world. The usage of racist language and attitudes is reflected upon in this book. The psychology of many officers reflects on their white supremacy and race seclusion ideals.

12. Statistics • Between the years of 2009 and 2010, nearly 6000 reports have been issued of misconduct. • 382 of these were fatalities 300 billion dollars have been spent on police misconduct

13. More Stats… • Police violence has increased 25 percent in the past decade including jails and the public, most of these incidents were directed at minorities.

14. Stats Continued… • one of every 266 officers accused of a violent crime; • one of every 1,875 charged with homocide; • one of every 947 accused of sexual assault; • 980.64 per 100,000 officers charged;

15. Officer getting away • 33% of police officers charged were convicted, not necessarily justly for the offense committed; • 64% of officers convicted were imprisoned, not necessarily as long as justified; • 27% resulted in civil lawsuits, 34.3% favoring victims.

16. Conclusion • There is no way to prove that all police men are racist however there is overwhelming evidence against the police force which gives a strong argument for police brutality against minorities. • Newspapers have exposed many big city police departments of wide spread racism including New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Minneapolis. • Statistics have claimed that most violent police crack downs and cases of brutality/abuse are against of those of minority or “inferior color.” This is prevalent in all environments and in all parts of the country

17. Works Cited • Reinhold, R. (1991, July 10). Violence and Racism Are Routine In Los AngelesPolice, Study Says. In The New York Times. Retrieved November 17, 2011, from http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/02/08/home/rodney-report.html • Bernstein, D. E. (2003, July 20). Firing Racist Police Officers is Justified. In Cato Institute . Retrieved November 17, 2011, from https://www.cato.org/dailys/07-20-03.html • Piette, B. (2009, July 27). Lawsuit charges racism in Philadelphia police department. In Workers World. Retrieved November 17, 2011, from http://www.workers.org/2009/us/philadelphia_0730/ • Chanen, D. (2007, December 1). Police transfer black cops amid cries of racism. In Star Tribune. Retrieved November 17, 2011, from http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/11986676.html • Bowling, B. (1998). Violent racism: victimization , policing, and social context (Vol. 36, pp. 51-75).New York,NY: Clarendon Press.