Unit 5 | Law homework help

2

Racial Profiling and its Impact

Brittany Benjamin

09/12/2023

Racial Profiling and its Impact

Racial profiling has long been a contentious issue within law enforcement agencies worldwide. The prejudicial approach involves targeting individuals as potential suspects in criminal activities solely based on their race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin. The issues have been a stark reality in society, with surveys showing its widespread impact. A Pew Research Center survey found that over half of Black men in the United States have experienced unfair police stops, while approximately 31% of African-American women report similar encounters. Moreover, the degree of profiling intensifies with the darkness of a person’s skin (Anderson, 2019). Noe-Bustamante et al. (2021) also revealed that 16% of Hispanic adults with darker skin reported being unfairly stopped by the police in the year leading up to March 2021, compared to 8% of those with lighter skin tones. The systemic issue underscores the need to continue addressing and eradicating racial profiling in law enforcement practices.

Literature Review

Bacchini and Lorusso (2019) report that face recognition technology fosters racial profiling among historically underprivileged groups. Face recognition technology, as utilized in Western societies, exacerbates racial disparities in policing, arrests, and incarceration due to embedded prejudices, disproportionately affecting historically marginalized groups like Black individuals. The study emphasizes that even supposedly bias-free biometric systems remain susceptible to discrimination because they operate within a racially unequal societal framework. Legewie (2016) revealed a significant increased police force against black people in the days following local events, such as fatal shootings of police officers by black suspects. The increase stems from concerns over potential protests or unrest and exacerbates existing tensions and fears, resulting in over-policing. However, increasing force is limited to whites and Hispanics or police murders involving white and Hispanic suspects.

Hong (2017) reports compelling correlation between a higher presence of ethnic minorities in the police force and a reduction in the number of ethnic minorities subjected to stop-and-search procedures. Surprisingly, active representation was most evident in police forces that extensively employed racial profiling as a policing strategy. These findings underscore the importance of diversity within law enforcement agencies in fostering trust and fairness in policing practices, even in contexts where profiling is a prevalent tactic. Nadal et al. (2017) indicated that Black men tend to harbor more negative perceptions of the police than White and Asian men. The disparity is often rooted in historical experiences of discrimination and racial bias, leading to increased mistrust. Pittman (2017) states that racial discrimination significantly impacted Black consumers’ experiences in retail settings, transforming shopping from leisure into a fraught experience. It highlighted that discrimination is consumptive process in retail settings, raising costs and reducing rewards. Hayle et al. (2016) found that even when accounting for demographics and behaviors, Black high school students still faced a higher likelihood of enduring multiple police stops and searches, highlighting evident racial bias in law enforcement. The research emphasized the intersectionality of race, youth status, and policing practices.

O’Brien (2021) argued that over-representation resulted from racial profiling, surveillance, and over-policing targeted at First Nations peoples in Australia. Numerous young First Nations males disengage from education, often due to exclusion or limited choices, which shows complexity of their circumstances. Plümecke et al. (2022) reveal that racial profiling inflicted humiliation, powerlessness, and fear on marginalized communities. However, individuals also employed various tactics to resist police control, offering real-world examples and narratives illustrating the impact of racial profiling.

Topic Analysis

First, racial profiling is a deeply entrenched issue that transcends borders, affecting marginalized communities worldwide. Racial profiling and over-policing affect marginalized communities like the black communities over white counterparts. The consequences of racial profiling extend beyond immediate encounters with law enforcement, impacting individuals’ psychological well-being, access to justice, and social mobility (Plümecke et al., 2022). It operates within the criminal justice system, retail settings, and everyday interactions with law enforcement. It exacerbates racial disparities within the criminal justice system and perpetuates stereotypes and systemic racism. Secondly, face recognition technology has emerged as a potent tool that can amplify or mitigate racial profiling (Bacchini & Lorusso, 2019). While it can enhance law enforcement’s capabilities, it also risks reinforcing existing biases. Police inadvertently increase bias by relying on face recognition technology that potentially built-in biases disproportionately targeting and harming marginalized communities. Thirdly, representation of ethnic minorities within law enforcement agencies plays a significant role in mitigating racial profiling. Increased diversity within police forces can lead to greater understanding and reduced bias when interacting with minority communities (Hong, 2017). However, this impact is contingent on the active representation of forces committed to addressing racial profiling.

Conclusion

Racial profiling remains a complex and deeply ingrained issue within law enforcement agencies, with pervasive consequences for marginalized communities. Regulation and oversight are necessary to prevent these technologies from perpetuating biases and reinforcing discrimination. Addressing these issues requires a concerted effort from law enforcement agencies and software companies to ensure that technology is used fairly and unbiasedly. Additionally, promoting diversity and active representation within police forces can lead to more equitable interactions with minority communities and help reduce racial profiling. Bureaucratic workforce like the police department should reflect served community as the representations influence bureaucrats’ attitudes and behaviors toward minority citizens. Continuous training for both police and educators is essential to comprehend the socioeconomic and cultural intricacies within different communities. Schools should also explore alternative prevention and intervention measures to reduce the risk of police involvement and entanglement in the juvenile justice system. Everyone must prioritize the protection of civil rights, the equitable treatment of all individuals, and the eradication of systemic racism. These approaches will promote equity and social justice in education and community interactions. The endeavor demands the collective efforts of policymakers, law enforcement agencies, communities, and society.

References

Anderson, M. (2019).
For black Americans, experiences of racial discrimination vary by education level gender. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/05/02/for-black-americans-experiences-of-racial-discrimination-vary-by-education-level-gender/

Bacchini, F., & Lorusso, L. (2019). Race, again: how face recognition technology reinforces racial discrimination.
Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society,
17(3), 321–335. https://doi.org/10.1108/jices-05-2018-0050

Hayle, S., Wortley, S., & Tanner, J. (2016). Race, street life, and policing: implications for racial profiling.
Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice,
58(3), 322–353. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjccj.2014.e32

Hong, S. (2017). Black in blue: Racial profiling and representative bureaucracy in policing revisited.
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory,
27(4), 547–561. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mux012

Legewie, J. (2016). Racial profiling and use of force in police stops: How local events trigger periods of increased discrimination.
American Journal of Sociology,
122(2), 379–424. https://doi.org/10.1086/687518

Nadal, K. L., Davidoff, K. C., Allicock, N., Serpe, C. R., & Erazo, T. (2017). Perceptions of police, racial profiling, and psychological outcomes: A mixed methodological study.
Journal of Social Issues,
73(4), 808–830. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12249

Noe-Bustamante, L., Gonzalez-Barrera, A., Edwards, K., Mora, L., & Hugo Lopez, M. (2021, November 4).
Latinos and Colorism: Majority of U.S. Hispanics Say Skin Color Impacts Opportunity and Shapes Daily Life. Pew Research Center’s Hispanic Trends Project. https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2021/11/04/majority-of-latinos-say-skin-color-impacts-opportunity-in-america-and-shapes-daily-life/

O’Brien, G. (2021). Racial profiling, surveillance, and over-policing: The over-incarceration of young First Nations males in Australia.
Social Sciences,
10(2), 68. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10020068

Pittman, C. (2017). “Shopping while Black”: Black consumers’ management of racial stigma and racial profiling in retail settings.
Journal of Consumer Culture,
20(1), 146954051771777.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540517717777

Plümecke, T., Wilopo, C. S., & Naguib, T. (2022). Effects of racial profiling: the subjectivization of discriminatory police practices.
Ethnic and Racial Studies, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2022.2077124