Police Reforms And Its Effects On The Police - 1799 Words

Executive summary Majority of minorities throughout the United States have a diminished trust in the police due to publicized police brutality cases, negative encounters with the police, and what they hear about the police from family and friends. Minorities believe that police excessively single them out because of their race or ethnicity. It is suggested that police officers have yet to develop the capabilities to engage with a diverse group of people, overcome their own biases and prejudices while policing, and gain the legitimacy of all communities. This lack of trust may inhibit the capability of the police to control crime, reduce police effectiveness, and therefore intensify the distrust minorities have of the police. Police†¦show more content†¦Different groups may have different perception of what good policing means based upon different concerns, interests and experience. For some groups police will be measured by its â€Å"efficacy†, ability to â€Å"protect and serve†, while for other groups it is about the â€Å"image† of police, the way it treats citizens and its commitment to equality (Worall, 1999). Studies of public confidence and trust in the police in established democracies find a gap between levels of trust among minorities and the majority population. A gap explained, among other things, by police discrimination, real or perceived, that sets them apart from the mainstream society (Wortley and Owusu-Bempah 2009) and can be framed as under- policing, the neglect of minority neighborhoods, and over-policing, an aggressive approach than singles out minorities (Ben-Porat, 2009). Over-policing implies mistreatment of minorities by the police, either by excessive use of force towards minorities or by discriminatory practices against them (Findlay, 2004:101). Racial profiling, the most common practice of over-policing, refers to the use of generalizations based on race, ethnicity, religion or national origin as the basis for suspicion in directing law enforcement actions that creates tensions and mistrust between the police and minorities (Closs, 2006; Smith, 2006; Wortley, 2003; Wortley and Tanner, 2003). Under-policing, conversely, is largely about police neglect of