A solid constructive response with sources.

 

Probably one of the strongest arguments with the most data that is presented in the video is the disproportionate rate in which African American were stopped by police throughout the county. I think that the video does make a case that there is some motivation behind the numbers. I am not sure if I would call it profiling but there is definitely something there. That being said, numbers and statistics can always be presented in a way that supports the presenter's view. I do not think that the video was balanced in presenting both sides of the argument. To me there seemed to be a definite bias toward proving that the police were guilty of racial profiling with little to counteract the claim (Racial Profiling, 2017).

 

I feel that one of the issues is the labeling of a complex problem in order to simplify what is going on. Calling the practice racial profiling causes an immediate emotional response no matter what side of the argument you are on. If you are biased toward law enforcement than the immediate response is going to be no, it does not happen. If you are part of the African American community and feel that it has happened to you or know others that it has happened to then your response is going to be yes. It does not seem that neither side takes the time or effort to investigate the claims of the other side.

 

Going back to last week's discussion about perception and reality, with the topic of racial profiling perception plays a large part. Certain communities and a significant number of the public has the perception that this practice does happen (Racial, ethnic, and gender differences in perceptions of the police, 2013). With such a strong opinion about the topic I do not think it really matters whether that is the practice of the police, something has to be done to change the public's perception, not simply taking a hardline stance that it does not happen. If the people you are telling that racial profiling does not happen have no kind of trust or faith in you, than nothing productive can happen. Is it fair that the police must go out of their way to effect the public's perception of how they conduct business? Maybe not, but that is part of the game.

 

Profiling, or at least forming an opinion about someone without knowing them is a human thing. Everyone does it, but the problem is when a person is in a position of authority and their biases have the ability to greatly impact another person's life. Profiling happens all the time in many different areas of life (Higgins and Gabbidon, 2015). In the video, there was one situation where the officer searched a man for turning and walking away when he saw the officer. I am not a police officer, but from the outside it looked like that search did not do anything productive. A citizen was alienated and a bad perception of the police was generated all for nothing. Now this may be the way that some officers conduct business but I think there needs to be a cost benefit analysis when doing this. If conducting searches off that kind of behavior generates something 80 percent of the time (I'm just throwing out numbers) than it may be a viable and justifiable way to do business. But if it only generates something 20 percent of the time, a different strategy may need to be adopted.

 

There are some obvious disparities and disproportionateness when it comes to the police and stops for African Americans in many cities in the United States (Higgins and Gabbidon, 2015). I think though that it does a disservice to both sides to simply chalk it up to racial profiling without digging deeper to find out what the cause of the disparities are. Uncomfortable conversations need to happen between those that have influence of the community and those that influence over police departments. Just because a white cop pulls a black person over does not mean it's a case of racial profiling. Sometime people need to be honest with themselves and accept that they got pulled over for a good reason. At the same time just because you're a young black person and drive an expensive luxury car does not mean you're a criminal. The police force is supposed to be representative of the population they serve. Within our society we have racist people, it is a safe statement to say that there are racist officers out there. Not being willing to acknowledge that does nothing to help public perception of the police.

 

References:

Higgins, G. E., & Gabbidon, S. L. (2015). Revisiting the generality of public opinion on racial profiling: A statewide study of white perceptions. Journal of Crime and Justice, 38(4), 491-507. doi:10.1080/0735648X.2014.899155

 

Racial, ethnic, and gender differences in perceptions of the police: The salience of officer race within the context of racial profiling. (2013). Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 36(4) doi:10.1108/PIJPSM.18136daa.004

 

Racial Profiling. (2017). Retrieved June 21, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS4dr8Xy9QU