ARE THERE RACIAL DISPARITIES IN POLICE USE OF FORCE

Introduction

Discrimination topic in regard to criminal justice system is a predominant matter in the current society, mainly relating to the conflicting levels of police force exerted on suspects from various races. There are many levels within the criminal justice system which have been infected by this matter but this paper specifically will examine the literature review on the interaction between police officers and Blacks suspects in America (minority suspects). These interactions will be examined in reference to police interactions with white suspects under similar circumstances. To stress on the difference, police force based on the two scenarios will be looked at.

In response to brutality exhibited by the police towards black Americans, Benjamin Spock once said, “Most whites had no clue on what it felt like to be exposed to police officers who were routinely rude, brutal and suspicious.” Benjamin spoke these words out of what he termed as police brutality on racial basis. Though equality had been termed as one of the upmost importance virtue in America, certain perceptions against individual races and personality still dominated the society. This kind of discrimination consists of certain negative behaviors which were directed towards distinct groups of people on the bases of their own prejudices, and which were mainly undesirable attitudes any way. Predominantly these attitudes were constructed around stereotypes such as Blacks being naturally evil. But since acceptance was termed as the very initial step to overcoming challenges, acknowledging the existence of those shortcomings was the basis according to Benjamin.

Considering the case of Eric Garner whose article has been constantly emphasized by the media, it is without any reasonable doubt that the debate on whether individual race really has an impact on the manner in which one is likely to be treated by police has a long way to go. He considers it as a potential hidden racism practice which has ultimately left minorities, particularly the Black people in America, greatly disadvantage especially in their encounters with criminal justice system agents.

Several other studies have been undertaken, all driven by the urge to reveal whether crime suspect races had some significant impacts on the force exerted to the suspects by the police. ProPublica, who is a steadfast journalist, scrutinized the federally collected facts on the fatal police killings between 2010 and 2012 in America (ProPublica, 2014). Out of the total 1,217 shootings that were revealed from the collected data, males whose age bracket was fifteen to nineteen recorded the highest chances of being killed at the hands of police. And the blacks were the largest in number (ProPublica, 2014). Forces used by the police with weapons clearly showed that suspect race was significant influence.

The reports based on FBI’s Supplementary Homicide between 1980 and 2012 were also examined, basing the facts from more than 12,000 fatal injuries. And surprisingly, in any forty-one males fourteen and below who were killed by the police, 27 were black, 4 Hispanic, one Asian and 8 whites. Considering that the majority police officers who were involved in these killings were white officers, though some were blacks (ProPublica, 2014). This may give an insight to urge that crime suspect races had some significant impacts on the force exerted to the suspects by the police. This is because in 77% of instances where the assaults were deemed “undetermined,” the suspect was always a black American (ProPublica, 2014). This report is a clearly showed that forces used by the police with weapons were significantly influenced by the suspect’s race.

On a different case scenario, Morrow conducted his study by gathering information from Question and Frisk databases which had been compiled by NYPD in 2012 as well as US Census Bureau (Morrow, 2015). By categorizing the detailed information concerning the use of force he obtained from his Questions and Frisking databases into nine sections like use of batons, weapons pointed and suspects on the grounds. The results indicated that Blacks stood a twelve percent more chances compared to the whites where weapon forces were used against them by NYPD (Morrow, 2015). Situational aspects on where and why the suspects were arrested were also deemed unimportant, such as contiguity to offense, being frisked, considerations to the suspected violent crime and nonconformity (Morrow, 2015). Forces used by the police with weapons clearly showed that suspect race was significant influence.

Milton et al. similarly studied the major American cities which recorded diverse crime rates: Birmingham, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Portland and Washington (Milton et al., 2014). They examined data which had been recorded on police officer shootings in each and every city for a period of one to three years; in addition, they rode in patrol vehicles to make their own observations. Their results suggested that though there was no any universal rule in regard to the firearms across all major police departments, the minority victims who were involved in those shootings was significantly greater compared to any other race, and this was inconsistent with their involvement in criminal activities (Milton et al., 2014). This depicted that forces used by the police with weapons was significantly influenced by suspect’s race.

Pedicelli on the other hand, who used the media coverage in her study involving the police officers use of lethal force, specifically on Montreal and Toronto between 1991 and 1997 (Pedicelli, 2012), concluded that blacks were highly overrepresented. She reached her conclusions by comparing the rate of black populations within these cities to the rates of complains which were being received concerning the excessive forces being employed by the police officers. In 1991 for instance, black population was approximately 2% in Montreal and 3% in Toronto. However, 40% of people shot in Montreal and 50% of suspects shot in Toronto comprised of black males. Pedicelli designated these results to have been significantly influenced by the suspects races (Pedicelli, 2012).

Schuck Amie, in his journal which he entitled “The masking of racial and ethnic disparity in police use of physical force:” undertook a study whose purpose was to examine both the racial as well as the ethnic disparity in regard to how police used physical force on suspects. Specifically, he used data from Phoenix and Arizona Use-of-Force Project to assess the disparity between the Whites, Black citizens. He found out that racial and ethnic disparity in regard to police use of physical forces on citizens was only for male citizens not in custody. The findings suggested that police officers especially the white officers were largely biased on racial bases and could use extra forces when it came to blacks as compared to whites. This led to some deaths which were unnecessary (Schuck, 2014).

            McElvain and Kposowa also in their article “Police officer characteristics and internal affairs investigations for use of force allegations” undertook a similar study whose purpose was to investigate the relationship between police officer uses of force to law offenders based on racial disparities. Cumulative logistics regression models were matched with data which had been extracted from individual files of officers who had been employed by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department between 1996 and 2000. Their analysis showed that most of the police officers were racially biased as they could use excessive forces on Black Americans when compared to Whites. This was associated with the high number of deaths recorded as far as black suspects were concerned (McElvain &Kposowa, 2014).

A number of empirical studies depicted to support the claim that the suspect race had much influence when it came to the use of force by the police officers, specifically, towards the minority races. In almost all the scrutinized studies, this case was proven to stand out, whether a menial or substantial difference. Generally, the studies have strongly supported the fact that the possibility of force being exerted on a suspect would increase substantially if the suspects identified themselves as a visible minority.

References

Moss, D. M. (2014). The Pediatrician to Generations: Benjamin McLane Spock (1903–     1998). Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling, 53(1), 105-107.

Schuck, A. M. (2014). The masking of racial and ethnic disparity in police use of physical force:   The effects of gender and custody status. Journal of Criminal Justice, 32(6), 557-564.

McElvain, J. P., & Kposowa, A. J. (2014). Police officer characteristics and internal affairs           investigations for use of force allegations. Journal of criminal justice, 32(3), 265-279

Garner, J., Maxwell, C., & Heraux, C. (2015). Characteristics associated with the prevalence and severity of force used by the police. Justice Quarterly, 705-746

Fachner, G & Carter, S. (2015). An Assessment of Deadly Force in the Philadelphia Police           Department

Pedicelli, G. (2012). When Police Kill: Police Use of Force in Montreal and Toronto. Canada:       Vehicule Press.

Morrow, W. (2015). Examining the Potential for Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Use of Force            During NYPD Stop and Frisk Activities.

Milton, C., Halleck, J., Lardner, J., & Abrecht, G. (2017). Police Use of Deadly Force.

Puzzanchera, C., & Kang, W. (2012). Easy access to the FBI’s supplementary homicide reports:   1980-2006. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Retrieved    January, 15, 2010.

ProPublica (2014). Deadly Force, in Black and White