Narcotics Enforcement

"Race relations and police in the United States of America"

By

Osasumwen Osaghae

January 2009

Summary

The series of fatal shootings by police in the process of arresting suspects has led many commentators to suggest an underlying racial attitudes of police officers. In fact, it is the current racial attitudes in law enforcement when it comes to minorities such as blacks and Latinos. There are different aspects of the current racial discussion. First, it is black vs. white officer scenario victim black officer victim scenario versus white versus black officer dark scenario and the victim black officer versus white victim scenario, (Parakeets & Plant, 2006). It has been suggested mentioning the theory of the perception of danger that the police are more likely to use lethal force in areas or situations where they encounter higher levels of violence or perceive their work as particularly dangerous (Best & Quigley, 2003). The place of racial sentiments in the police fatal shootings are not entirely clear that there is competition theories seeking to explain the deadly police shootings. It is the view of the perceived danger that police shootings attributed to the threat posed by the suspect tried to be apprehended. Despite this, a study has shown that preconceived notions of violence associated with certain races play an important role in how police respond to threats posed by the suspect (Alpert, 2007). Not all theories share the sentiments of minorities in the attitude of the police in the arrest of the suspects black. There are those who support law enforcement, arguing that minorities should be profiled as criminals or potential criminals, because they are more likely to commit crimes. Profiling and arresting people for investigation procedures has been considered a rational response to the drug and crime problem among some officers law enforcement, despite the obvious ecological fallacy to target people based on behavior group (Alpert, 2007). The big question is to what extent the impact of race so do not treat police officers with black suspects compared to how white suspects are treated?

The author argues that the race may be a factor in the attitude of the police in the arrest of the suspects black. But it is relevant only insofar as blacks are associated with more aggression and violence than other ethnic groups. This is the result of the association more than the race itself that triggers more aggressive policing strategies in the black neighborhoods in general.

Introduction

There is growing concern that police may be more aggressive in their responses to a minority compared to White suspects (Parakeets & Plant). These responses may be influenced by stereotypical expectations. For example, it is possible that the stereotype that black men are more likely to be violent and hostile can create expectations that blacks, especially black men, are more likely to be violent criminals than are . This could have led to a series of deadly police shootings to be discussed in this paper

Culture seems to have an impact on interpersonal relationships in society. If there is racial bias in a given society, the police force which dominated the race in oppressive as the white race as regards the oppressed race (black) can not be free of prejudice. Therefore, a.