Police Corruption 2 Essay, Research Paper
Racism has come along way in the past 30 years. But it s still exists and is a constantly reoccurring issue. Racism not only deals with color or nationality, but also includes, age, sex, and physical characteristics. The problem is that racism affects the way that people perform their jobs, specifically the police force. Some officers of the law have racist feelings against different groups of people. What effect does this have on the public and the reputation of the police force?
The citizens of the United States expect the police force to protect and serve them. That s their job. Some police officers opinions affect the way that they perform their jobs. For instance, in the past there have been a couple of cases where officers have stopped a black man driving his car and beaten him. Not because he s trying to getaway or anything of that nature, but because he is black and the police officers don t like black people. Officers have also stopped other minorities, because the police assumed that because of whom they are that they must be doing something wrong.
The police have been known to be racist towards teenagers and women also. It is less of an issue now but definitely still exists. Many male police officers don t want women on the force and don t believe that they can perform the job as well as men can. This makes it harder on women who want to become police officers. Police also harass teenagers the same way they do blacks and other minorities. Police often take advantage of younger people by doing illegal procedures to get the kids in trouble. Younger people don t know their rights as well as older people do, and the police use this to their own advantage.
What effect do these prejudices have on society and their view of the police force? When police abuse their power and harass people for racist reasons, it makes people feel that they cannot count or trust the police. It also creates tension between the police and public. For example: when the trial of Rodney King versus the Los Angeles police department reached a verdict unsatisfactory to the public, it a caused a riot. People were beaten, stores were looted, and fires were started. How can people count on the police to be there when they are needed if they know that certain officers don t like them because of who they are? Why should a black person or teenager be worried about driving his or her Mercedes-Benz down the street because they might get stopped and harassed? The reputation of the police department is the way it it he way it is because of bad cops who do things like this.
Racism by police affects the way that they perform their job and makes people not trust them. It also causes unnecessary injuries, and a separation between police and the public. In all, these actions have created a police department that is unequal, corrupt and unpredictable.