Racial Disparities in Law Enforcement

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Maasai Mara University *

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101

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Sociology

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Nov 24, 2024

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Racial Disparities in Law Enforcement Racial disparities in law enforcement are not a new phenomenon. These disparities have become more apparent and controversial in the last few years. The racial makeup of the population in the United States is diverse, and many different ethnic groups make up this population. However, when it comes to law enforcement, a disproportionate number of African Americans are incarcerated. Disproportionately use of excessive force has recently garnered a lot more attention due to the broad media coverage of numerous high-profile occurrences caught on camera. This discrepancy has led to some people calling for reform to be made to how law enforcement operates and how they interact with the communities they police. In the United States, there are racial disparities in law enforcement. Black Americans are three times more likely to be killed by police than white people. This is because black people are more likely to live in higher crime rates, and that police officers are more likely to patrol those areas. The United States has a long history of racial tension. The law enforcement system has a history of black people being treated differently than white people. Black people are more likely to be stopped by police and arrested for crimes they did not commit (Balko, 2020). Racial disparities in law enforcement can be seen at every stage of the criminal justice process. African Americans are more likely to be stopped by police, arrested, convicted, and sentenced to prison than White Americans for the same offenses. African American defendants are also less likely to have access to adequate legal representation and are more likely to receive longer sentences than White American defendants for the same crime. This means that black people are disproportionately represented in prisons, jails, and on probation or parole, concerning their percentage in the population as a whole. The racial disparities in law enforcement have led to a distrust of the police, which has caused an increase in violent crimes and decreased reported crimes. Since the end of the civil war, racial disparities have been going on and have only worsened over the last several years. The unequal profiling of minority groups by law enforcement authorities results from practices such as racial discrimination and stereotyping, and varied police strategies. The Akron Police Department released footage of an officer shooting and killing an armed robbery suspect sparking outrage in the community. Ohio police opened fire on Jayland Walker, a black man, and murdered him by shooting him several times as he attempted to flee from them. (Simakis et al., 2022). The video is the latest in a string of videos that have gone viral of police officers shooting Black men. The video shows a Black man suspected of holding up a store, running from officers, and then being shot to death. The killing was the most recent in a sequence of killings of black men in the United States by police officers, which was unjustified. These killings include the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, which reaction all over the world against racial profiling and police brutality injustice. George Floyd's death shows how deeply rooted racism is in American society. The death of Floyd was tragic, and it should be a call to action for all Americans who care about justice. Floyd was an unarmed black man who was shot and killed by a police officer (Donaldson, 2020).

The death of George Floyd has been followed closely by many people around the country. His story is tragic, and it should be a call to action for all Americans who care about justice. Racism has been a significant issue for America since its inception and is still today. Another video footage, which a bystander filmed, shows the police officer firing shots at the victim. The shooting of a Black man by a White police officer in Wisconsin (Peiser et al., 2020). The footage sparked outrage and protests across the state as many people believe this is another case of racism in policing. This is not the first time such an incident has happened in Wisconsin. This video footage is just one example of how racism manifests today and why it must be addressed. In the aftermath of the shooting, the government promised to address some of the most profound racial disparities in this country, but little has changed (Bailey, 2022). The Black Lives Matter movement has been around for a long, but there is still so much to be done. There is a need for more oversight on policing practices, better training for officers, and increased accountability for law enforcement agencies. The high and racially discriminatory rates of interactions with police have severe implications for the health of the population as well as the equality of racial health (Vargas, 2021). Regular encounters with the police are linked to increased levels of anxiousness and emotional distress, particularly in situations where the interactions are seen as unjust or biased. Inequalities are particularly glaring between people of color and whites: even though black inhabitants make up around 6 percent of California's population, they account for approximately 16 percent of the state's total arrests. The disparities are even more pronounced in the later stages of the criminal justice system, where Black people account for approximately 25% of the populations of county jails, approximately 26% of the populations of probation facilities, and approximately 29% of the populations of prisons (Verbruggen, 2020). Although Jim Crow is no more, and the vast majority of white people have abandoned overtly racist ideas, substantial racial disparity has remained in the United States despite these positive developments in racial issues (Verbruggen, 2020). Whereas it was once evident why blacks continued to lag behind whites on implementing reforms of prospering, the interpretation is now more complicated. It involves the racial bias that unquestionably still exists, the history of historical injustices demonstrated in the surroundings that blacks experience. Trump is a white supremacist, and he always has been. He has never shown any remorse for the people of color that he has harmed. He has always been on the side of white people, which is why we see him making these statements. In a pair of interviews, Trump highlights white victimhood. Asked about police killings of black Americans, Trump said: "I can never understand what they are going through." (Bump, 2020). It does not matter whether you agree with the Black Lives Matter movement's central argument; the reasoning is concise: Every year, far too many African-Americans in the United States lose their lives at the hands of the police. This is a direct result of the racism ingrained in this nation's legal system. There is no claim of primacy, nor is it true that protestors affiliated with the movement urge that black Americans be given preferential treatment when police officers face them. Instead, it requires that they not be handled specially and that the fact that they are black should not be correlated with an increased risk of mortality while they are in custody. Despite the evidence demonstrating the existence of disparities, the racial inequities that persist within the United States Criminal Justice System are often underappreciated. African-

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American men are disproportionately targeted and incarcerated by the justice system in our nation. There is a high degree of variability in the issues that law enforcement officials face. Every day might bring a new set of challenging problems that need to be solved, whether conceiving of methods to keep officers on the force or devising methods of crime prevention that do not violate the public's confidence in the police force.

References Bailey, H. (2022). Two years after Floyd’s death, Black Minnesotans say little has changed. Washington Post . https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/05/22/george-floyd- black-minnesota/ Balko, R. (2020, June 10). There’s overwhelming evidence that the criminal justice system is racist. Here’s the proof. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/opinions/systemic-racism-police- evidence-criminal-justice-system/ Bump, P. (2020). Analysis | In a pair of interviews, Trump highlights white victimhood. Washington Post . https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/07/14/pair-interviews- trump-highlights-white-victimhood/ Donaldson, A. (2020). George Floyd’s tragic death symbolizes the struggle of Black America | Opinion . The Daily News Journal. https://www.dnj.com/story/opinion/2020/07/24/america-suffers-suffocation- racism/5498593002/ Kindy, K., Schaul, K. K. investigative reporterEmailEmailBioBioKevin, & Schaul, K. (2022, September 6). Half of the nation’s largest police departments have banned or limited neck restraints since June . Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/national/police-use-of-force-chokehold- carotid-ban/?hpid=hp_hp-banner-low_chokeholds-8pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory- ans&itid=hp_hp-banner-low_chokeholds-8pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans KIRSANOW, P. (2020, July 23). The “Systemic Racism” Canard . National Review. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-systemic-racism-canard/?utm_source=recirc- desktop&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=river&utm_content=featured- content-trending&utm_term=first Peiser, J., Berman, M., Guarino, M., Firozi, P., & Witte, G. (2020). After video shows Wisconsin police shooting a Black man multiple times, National Guard is called to Kenosha. Washington Post . https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/23/kenosha-police- shooting-video-wisconsin/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-low_mm-kenosha-police-shooting- 1050pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans Simakis, A., Shammas, B., Somasundaram, P., & Bellware, K. (2022, July 22). Akron police release video of officers shooting Black man dozens of times. Washington Post . https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/03/akron-police-jayland-walker-video/ Vargas, T. (2021). Perspective | A football player couldn’t find a therapist who understood Black, urban trauma. So, he decided to become one. Washington Post . https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/football-player-therapist-black- trauma/2021/11/26/f7b1a9c2-48db-11ec-b05d-3cb9d96eb495_story.html VERBRUGGEN, R. (2020, July 9). On Systemic Racism . National Review. https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2020/07/27/on-systematic-racism/

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