The Impact of Implicit Bias on Policing Communities of Color

2022 ◽  
pp. 224-238
Author(s):  
Quentin D. Holmes Sr.
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Implicit Bias ◽  
Significant Problem ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Police Misconduct ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
Predominately White ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
The Impact

Systemic racism continues to be a significant problem in many, if not all, American institutions. As with any problem, systemic racism can only be properly addressed if it is acknowledged by the person and by extension an institution. The unjustified killing of George Floyd and many other minorities by predominately white police officers have brought both national and international criticism towards the institution of American policing. This chapter will discuss one of the probably causes of police misconduct towards people and communities of color: “implicit bias.” Briefly defined, implicit bias is having attitudes towards people or associate stereotypes with them without a conscious knowledge. The author will provide the background of systemic racism in America followed by policing organizational culture/subculture and the impact of implicit bias on communities/people of color. This chapter will conclude with recommendations to confront implicit bias and improve officer behavior.

“Blacks Can’t Jump”: The Racialization of Transit Police Responses to Fare Evasion

2021 ◽  
pp. 215336872110075
Author(s):  
TaLisa J. Carter ◽  
Lallen T. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Racial Identity ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Predominately White ◽  
White Neighborhoods ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Race And Place ◽  
Fare Evasion

This study demonstrates that racially disparate fare evasion citation outcomes are the product of racialized social systems that allow transit police officers to determine the belongingness of Black riders in systems of mass transit. Using citation data from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, we test the impact of race and place attributes on transit officer decisions to allocate punishment for subway fare evasion using mixed effects logistic regression controlling for individual and contextual predictors. Although rider racial identity alone proves statistically irrelevant, Black riders suspected of fare evasion possess an elevated risk for being fined as opposed to merely being warned at stations located within predominately white neighborhoods and as stations increase in ridership. These findings demonstrate how transit police officer discretion challenges Black belongingness on systems of public transportation. Broader implications of this work include the importance of scholarship linking statistical disparities to organizational intent and integrating diverse voices in policing policy development.

Conclusion

2021 ◽  
pp. 250-252
Author(s):  
Jim Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
The Public ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Late Eighteenth Century ◽  
The People ◽  
Immigrant Policies

This chapter cites the statement of rebellion drafted by a group of revolutionaries in the late eighteenth century. It highlights the need to address the Declaration of Interdependence following the severe challenges that the United States face today. The chapter asserts that we are far more interdependent than we are independent, and our lives are all deeply interconnected within a web of both obvious and not-so-obvious threads. It evaluates how education inequities, mass criminalization, anti-immigrant policies, and other racial justice issues do not just harm those who attend the underresourced schools, suffer the effects of overpolicing, and face the prospect of being deported. The chapter recognizes that addressing those issues does not just help the people of color who have the burden of systemic racism lifted off them, but also everyone is in a position to benefit when communities of color are able to live higher-quality lives and the rot of injustice is purged from the public systems.

The Racism Profiteers

2021 ◽  
pp. 10-34
Author(s):  
Jim Freeman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Predominantly White ◽  
The United States ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Corporate America ◽  
Wall Street ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
The Public ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Immigrant Policies

This chapter begins by recounting the experiences of Anna Jones, Carlil Pittman, and Mónica Acosta who endured a persistent emotional and psychological torture that comes from the knowledge that their lives, or the lives of their children, are not valued as much as others. It analyses how the systemic racial injustice affects communities of color across the United States, and persuades more people to listen to what people of color are saying about the challenges they face and how they should be addressed. The chapter also discusses that the residents of the communities of color share a set of common experiences, some of which are similar to the predominantly white communities, and some of which are remarkably different. The chapter then describes how, and why, ultra-wealthy leaders from Corporate America and Wall Street are the driving force behind many of the public policies that uphold systemic racism and cause severe harm to communities of color across the country. It unveils how the nation's mass criminalization and incarceration system can be traced back to the leaders of many of the largest and best-known corporations in the United States, Wall Street banks, private prison companies, and the Kochs' network of ultra-wealthy allies. Ultimately, the chapter explores how many of the same individuals and organizations have played a significant role in the creation of the extreme anti-immigrant policies that have plagued millions of migrants for decades.

Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Jim Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
The Public ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
Racial Injustice

This chapter sheds some light on strategic racism and identifies who is doing it, and why. It demonstrates that while the problems Americans face are severe, they are also eminently fixable, particularly if more people remember that the injustice being engineered by the group of billionaires and multimillionaires has not been limited to people of color. The chapter introduces how powerful a tool racial injustice has been for the ultra-wealthy in advancing their economic and political interests. It reveals that while such sordid realities are rarely mentioned in the public discourse, it was nevertheless true that there was a lot of money being made off of this type of large-scale cruelty. Ultimately, the chapter argues that the horrific form of modern-day racism was not adequately captured by the term “systemic racism.” It suggests that persistent racial inequities are merely the accidental byproducts of our economic and political systems. In reality, what the ultra-wealthy have been doing was worse than that, because behind all of the billions of dollars in investments they were making in opposition to communities of color, there was intentionality. There was strategy.

When Do Police Stressors Particularly Predict Organizational Commitment? The Moderating Role of Social Resources

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-546
Author(s):  
Jaeyong Choi ◽  
Nathan E. Kruis ◽  
Ilhong Yun
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Social Resources ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Job Stressors ◽  
Conditioning Effect ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Moderating Role

This study uses data from 570 male police officers working in 16 substations in South Korea to examine the impact of job stressors (e.g., victimization, authoritative organizational culture, and perceptions of unfair work assignments) on organizational commitment. Furthermore, we examine the conditioning effect of social resources on organizational commitment. The results show that organizational characteristics (e.g., authoritative organizational culture, unfair work assignments, and conflict with coworkers) influence officers’ organizational commitment more so than victimization experiences. The results also show that social resources spill over into the workplace and condition the effects of organizational culture on predicting organizational commitment. Potential policy implications are discussed.

scholarly journals Public Area Surveillance and Police Work: the impact of CCTV on police behaviour and autonomy

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Goold
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Police Work ◽  
Police Force ◽  
Closed Circuit ◽  
Police Misconduct ◽  
Closed Circuit Television ◽  
Public Area ◽  
Area Surveillance ◽  
The Impact

Drawing on a recent study of the impact of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras on policing practices in a large English police force, this paper considers whether the presence of surveillance cameras affects the working attitudes and behaviour of individual police officers. In particular, this paper asks whether CCTV makes the police more accountable or more cautious in the exercise of their discretion in public spaces. Although noting that in certain circumstances CCTV may inadvertently help to reduce incidences of police misconduct, this paper concludes by arguing that more needs to be done to prevent the police from interfering with the operation of CCTV and gaining unauthorised access to potentially incriminating video evidence.

scholarly journals The Impact Of Job-Related Stressors On Incidents Of Excessive Force By Police Officers

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip Neely ◽  
Craig S. Cleveland
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Police Misconduct ◽  
Excessive Force ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Departmental Climate ◽  
Related Stress ◽  
Job Related Stress ◽  
The Impact

The present study addresses the relationship between job-related stressors and incidents of police misconduct, a concept that has largely been neglected in policing literature. Manzoni and Eisner’s conceptualization of stress-strain theory provided the foundation for the research. Specifically, this study examines individual differences in the perception of how job-related stressors such as departmental leadership, departmental policies and regulations, and departmental climate are related to incidents of police misconduct expressed through the exercise of excessive force. This quantitative survey design employed the Police Survey of Job Related Stress (PSJRS) among a convenience sample of 94 active police officers (49 African American and 45 European) from a southern U.S. state. T-tests and the Mann-Whitney test were used to document statistically significant differences between white and African American officers across the perceived connection linking the core PSJRS dimensions of job-related stressors to excessive force misconduct. The results promote positive social change by reinforcing social bonds between police and communities and creating safer places to live. 

scholarly journals Libraries on the frontlines: neutrality and social justice

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (8) ◽  
pp. 751-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amelia N. Gibson ◽  
Renate L. Chancellor ◽  
Nicole A. Cooke ◽  
Sarah Park Dahlen ◽  
Shari A. Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Service Provision ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Political Process ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
The Political ◽  
Black Communities ◽  
Service Needs ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Communities Of Color

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine libraries’ responsibility to engage with and support communities of color as they challenge systemic racism, engage in the political process, and exercise their right to free speech. Many libraries have ignored the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, citing the need to maintain neutrality. Despite extensive scholarship questioning the validity of this concept, the framing of library neutrality as nonpartisanship continues. This paper examines librarianship’s engagement with, and disengagement from black communities through the lens of the BLM movement. It also explores the implications of education, engagement, and activism for people of color and libraries today. Design/methodology/approach The authors have engaged the topic from a critical race perspective as a practice in exercising voice – telling stories, presenting counterstories, and practicing advocacy (Ladson-Billings, 1998). Findings The assertion that libraries have been socially and politically neutral organizations is ahistorical. When libraries decide not to address issues relevant to people of color, they are not embodying neutrality; they are actively electing not to support the information and service needs of a service population. In order for libraries to live up to their core values, they must engage actively with communities, especially when those communities are in crisis. Originality/value As a service field, librarianship has an ethos, values, and history that parallel those of many other service fields. This paper has implications for developing understanding of questions about equitable service provision.

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