Department of Criminal Justice
California State University - Bakersfield
CRJU 330
Race, Ethnicity and Criminal Justice
Dr. Abu-Lughod, Reem Ali
Justice on the Streets
Unequal Justice:
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Cincinnati and the use of police force. 15 AA men have
been shot and killed by police in recent years
2001 April, fatal shooting provoked a riot resulting in
property damage and curfews
Suing police dept. because of racial profiling and was
investigated by Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Dept. of
Justice
City entered a consent decree with the Justice Dept.,
and ACLU and the local Black United Front to reform
police dept. in regards to use of force, controlling
canine unit and other issues
This also occurs in other cities
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Recent controversial issue is: RACIAL
PROFILING
Targeting AA traffic stops DWB
Hispanic reluctant to call police because
of immigration status
LONG HISTORY OF CONFLICT
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Always conflict between police and racial/ethnic
minorities
Major eras of riots 1917-1919, 1943, 1964-1968
Alfredo Mirande “gringo justice” because of
conflicting views, culture, etc
Zoot Suit riots in L.A. attacks on Hispanic
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Changing face of America requires more challenge
for police
More conflict results, and more translation is
required
PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARD THE POLICE
 Whites, Hispanics and AA all have different
attitudes toward police
 In general they all wanted more police protection
 Rodney King beating 1991 caused a drop in police
trust
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AGE also affects attitude toward police
Young have more negative views because more
contact
THE AA COMMUNITY
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Report crimes at a higher rate than whites
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Victims of crimes
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Shot, killed and arrested at a much higher rate
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Therefore more police patrol in AA
neighborhoods
THE HISPANIC COMMUNITY
 Report
more property related crimes
 Little
contact especially if police cannot
speak Spanish
 Immigration
status, know little abut U.S. laws,
or lack of language skills
THE NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITY
 Their
legal status have an effect on police
relations
 They
have different tribes with federal
reservations and separate law enforcement
agencies
 Crime
committed depends on jurisdiction,
who committed it, etc
 Tribal
police only have jurisdiction over
crimes (less serious) committed on Indian
lands by Native Americans. Otherwise it is
the responsibility of the county sheriff
 Also
complex because they have 5
different types of tribal law enforcement
agencies
 Budget
is tight, lack of personnel and
many other problems
THE MIDDLE EASTERN COMMUNITY
 September
11th discrimination against Arabs
 Approx
4 million Arab American 2% of
population
 Racial
profiling, problems flying on certain
airlines
 Hate crimes
 Sources
of information about possible terrorist
groups (FBI interviews)
ENFORCING FEDERAL IMMIGRATION
LAWS
INS
was responsible in the past but
then police were given authority after
sep. 11th
Many
local police officials rejected
that because it will affect their
relationship with community residents
POLICE USE OF DEADLY FORCE
 1974
AA 15-year old boy shot and killed after
fleeing with a stolen purse containing $10
 Memphis
 parents
police acted upon fleeing felon rule
sued and in 1985 the Supreme Court
declared the rule unconstitutional in
Tennessee vs. Garner
CONTROLLING THE POLICE
 Defense
of life rule limiting shootings to those who pose
threat to police
 Police
officers required to fill out a report when using a
weapon and will be investigated
 POLICE
USE OF FORCE: particularly against those of
low SES
 Most
force used is intra-racial
 More
racial minorities (AA) arrested compared to whites
ZERO-TOLERANCE POLICING OR “QUALITY OF
LIFE”
 When police officers focus on minor crimes e.g.
urinating in public
 Some argue that this reduced levels of crime,
others argued that this abused police power in
harassing individuals
RACIAL PROFILING
 What is it
 Does it really exist
3 different forms of racial profiling
Like the War on Drugs. Targeting AA and
Hispanics because of the belief that they are
more likely to be engaged in drug trafficking.
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Stopping citizens who appear to be “out of
place”
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Crackdown on Crime. Get tough on crime
issues. Stop and frisk.
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NOTE: more AA stopped for routine
traffic checks compared with whites
How can we control for that???
Civil rights groups demand data
collection on all traffic stops
Officers report to a dispatch the car
they’re stopping and the reason for
doing so
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PERF report states that police officers
should be courteous when stopping
someone and provide a reason for the
stop.
The Customs Bureau. Requires reasons
for their supervisors before searching
someone. AA women were more likely to
be searched. After implementing policy,
less innocent people were being
searched
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STREET STOPS AND FRISKS
Field interrogation (FI). To make
people aware that the police is there
and aware of their actions
But the Kerner commission found
that this created conflict between
police and minority. Young AA and
Hispanics were singled out
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Problem is that police wanted
to use their own discretion
Skolnick argues that
stereotyping is built in police
officers personality
Randall Kennedy argues that
race should not be the sole
factor
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Verbal abuse is also a problem in police
work, especially when referring to ethnic
minorities
Police officers attitudes and behaviors also
change depending on the race of the
individual (even prejudiced against
surnames)
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Education and sensitivity training has
contributed to a decline in discriminatory
actions and behaviors
Police corruption. Especially in minority
neighborhoods. Taking bribes to protect
drug trades. Identified by the NY Knapp
commission in 1970s, “meat eaters” and
“grass eaters.”
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Police community relations (PCR)
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Speaking at schools
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“ride along” to see policing form an
officer’s perspective
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Some implemented this but in different
forms, community policing, reaching out
to minorities, etc
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Police employment practices
During segregation era (1890s-1960s)
some cities did not hire AA officers
Employment discrimination occurs in
3 different forms:
Recruitment
Promotion
Assignment to shifts and specialized
areas
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Things changed from the 1960s on. More
employment of racial minorities
BUT do they really represent their
communities.
EEO index shows the percentage of
employed minority compared to the entire
population
More bilingual officers to deal with citizen
complaints
How did society respond to employment
discrimination
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14th amendment to the U.S. constitution: no
state shall deny to any person the equal
protection of the laws
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits
employment discrimination based on race,
color, national origin, sex, religion.
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1972 EEO Act extended title VII to state and
local governments
Discrimination in assignment: AA police
officers were not allowed to arrest whites or
patrol white neighborhoods
The impact of DIVERSITY
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Impact on the subculture of a police
department
Good or bad? How do we define diversity?