Racial profiling by law enforcement officers towards people of color is a prominent issue in America today. Oftentimes, these events are being displayed in the media, making headlines, and transforming the thoughts of individuals, and collectively, society as a whole. Racial profiling occurs in many ways when examining the field of law enforcement, but specifically involving violence, street stops and traffic stops. As time has gone on, this issue has only gotten more media coverage, and progressed to present a more negative connotation in society.
The claim for my topic is that racial profiling in law enforcement occurs more commonly when those of color are targeted by law enforcement officers. The grounds, or description of this claim, involves when law enforcement officers complete street stops or traffic stops. Oftentimes in these procedural checkpoints, they will tend to pull over or stop those of color versus those who are white. Today’s society has created a negative correlating stereotype against those whose ethnicities and races are of color.
According to the University of Toronto Law Journal, racial profiling can be defined as “maximizing the effectiveness of scare resources in controlling crime and preventing terrorist attacks” (Pundik 2017). These protocols are often seen as controversial and difficult in effectively maintaining without a huge sense of bias. Generalization is another topic that contributes to bias in racial profiling. It is said that, “…it is impossible to avoid using generalizations in fact-finding because doing so would mean that ‘the only evidence that is legitimate is only the particular matter or act – the “specific” matter of act – that stands in question’ (Pundik 2017). This expands upon the idea that racial profiling in law enforcement exists, but it is hard to justify the measures of exactly what and why each individual does what they do in the field. This is almost impossible to measure objectively, which is why the subjective approach is a common approach in the social problem’s process by Joel Best.
The warrants for my claim involve the uprise in racial profiling seen in America. Over the last five to ten years, profiling has been an issue, but since all of the protesting and Black Lives Matter Campaign recently, the problem has been raised to the forefront of the public’s attention. In the Washington, DC, and Maryland, colored individuals have been stopped and reported that they had been pulled over for the offense of “driving while black” (Cleary 2000). This is just one example to show that not only is this an act of the individual, but shows systemic reform is needed to make a change. On top of this, in a survey of black young males of the ages 18-34, 72 percent felt they had been racially profiled by law enforcement (Cleary 2000).
The conclusions for racial profiling in law enforcement are potential and probable, but it will take more than just the individual to change this issue. To prevent racial profiling against those of color by law enforcement, sensitivity training could be completed by officers. This would allow for scenarios and discoveries to be completed where discretion is determined on if it’s detrimental or not to actually stop and search the individual. Public education could also help the social problem progressively get better. If the individuals in society understood and knew why officers do what they do to protect themselves and others, individuals could be more sensitive and aware of procedures.
Groups such as the ACLU have stepped up to educate the public on their rights and what to do in specific scenarios involving officers. The American Civil Liberties Union is an organization who collects data, rallies for public support, and has the goal of gaining support for the end of racial profiling from law enforcement officers against those of color. They have cards to print out and keep in your car in case you are ever pulled over, and specifically focus on resources for those of color, while providing a safe place for them to speak out (What To Do If You’re Stopped 2018).
One of the main sources of claimsmaking in racial profiling comes from SMO groups such as the ACLU and Black Lives Matter. The people in these groups have connections to insider claimsmakers and have the media readily available to them. These groups have stood out among other outsider claimsmakers because of the large amount of support and resources they are provided with. Experts in racial profiling consist of the executives in law enforcement, leaders in SMO groups, and government officials. The claimsmakers help with awareness in racial profiling, and their credibility in law enforcement experience aids in the public’s response to the information which they provide.
Framing in racial profiling consists of bridging and extension. Frame bridging is where claimsmakers try and gain support by reaching out to those who have similar beliefs as them. Black Lives Matter uses frame bridging to gain support from other colored individuals who have the same values as they do regarding discrimination and violence against colored people. Their call for action is “working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically targeted for demise” and “is a rallying cry for ALL Black lives striving for liberation” (About Us 2018).
Frame extension includes expansion of racial profiling into movements such as Blue Lives Matter, and All Lives Matter. Both of these can be considered as counter movements against the Black Lives Matter movement. Blue Lives Matter was created in response to racial profiling and violence in order to protect law enforcement officers. Generally, society and the media see when officers are protecting themselves or others, and the media skews it to show hate and violence. Congress created the “Blue Lives Matter” bill which establishes that crimes against law enforcement are hate crimes (Boguhn 2018). All Lives Matter began as a hashtag in order to counter Black Lives Matter, and state that the lives of everyone matters, not just the lives of colored people should be highlighted and acknowledged (Damiani 2017). Because individuals already believed in the same core values, the claim was extended to include police officers, and the population in general in able to gain more awareness, leverage, and support.
Opportunity structures for racial profiling in law enforcement consists of the way society is organized/structured and how it affects the way change and movement is attained. Some opportunity structures are that society has constructed the fact that law enforcement is superior and in control. Because officers hold such a high position of power, what happens is directly correlated to their own actions and beliefs. With this notion in place, any racial discrimination and bias that occurs is placed directly onto the officer(s) since they’re known as authority sources with responsibility and power by society. Not only this, but cultural resources such as the media, TV, and video games also display officers in this way, so society has learned to see them in this sense as well.
The media plays a huge role in how racial profiling in law enforcement is presented in society. Most of the time, the media packages anything involving LEO’s and colored people in a negative light. The most detrimental cases are shown, and typically are the ones where a white officer shoots or injures a colored individual, typically a male. Another angle that will be shown is when a colored person commits a hate crime against a white person and someone is either injured or killed. Racial profiling is often exaggerated and skewed to where people will see and talk about it to the point where society is seeing it as normalized and creating their own perceptions and stereotypes of LEO’s and colored people.
The majority of states in the USA are required to document the race of the individual pulled over or cited. This is used and kept in order to keep track of statistics in each area. The DOJ (Department of Justice) is working with certain states and patrols in order to track the spread of racial profiling. This study in New Jersey went on to show that even though black and Hispanic motorists made up 13.5 percent of drivers on the highway, they made up 73.2 percent of people being stopped by the New Jersey State Patrol (Cleary 2000). This is an example of the prominence of racial profiling, but an example of how the media chooses what they want to be shown, and it’s usually violence involved with racial profiling, not the normal every day occurrences on the streets or in cars.
The carrying capacity is a factor the media is going to try to use to their advantage. Geography affects what claims are heard by who and in what way. Typically, the media is going to focus on the big claims in the areas which are more heavily populated, such as cities. Each area is going to have a capacity for people that can live there based on space and resources available. Large cities are usually closer to hitting their carrying capacity then smaller rural towns, so the media is going to target these cities with the most people hard. The media wants people to see racial profiling and violence with colored people in a negative light, and they want the issue to spread and get people to talk about it, so it will stay a prominent issue in society. Not only this, but by typifying and displaying the most brutal events, it gives them the views they desire.
Unless there is a breaking event such as a natural disaster, agenda setting usually works in favor for the media involving racial profiling in law enforcement. Because the SMO groups and the media are closely related for this social problem, the newest shooting or hate crime will usually most always be plastered on the news and social media as soon as it happens. The media knows the public will react to violence, death, and social controversy, so they will set up or skew an original claim or event in order to get the reaction they want. Their main goal is to keep the attention of the public, no matter how or what they have to air to do it.
Surveys are going to be the most practical and reliable way to gauge public reaction. Although surveys aren’t going to be perfect, and there are a number of ways they could be altered or falsely completed, they are still the most practical for this social problem. Surveys are going to cost less money than alternatives such as focus groups, and they are also going to be able to be spread to more people faster. The results can be received in an efficient and timely manner as well. The benefits of using surveys over other ways to gauge public reaction outweigh the negatives, so surveying citizens in the USA can be attained, and their experiences with racial profiling in law enforcement can be recorded.
A study in the Milwaukee Police department on their African American officers was conducted to determine if they had ever experienced racial profiling in their lifetime. Normally, people wouldn’t think that police officers could have experienced something like this, and that they are actually people who had a life before their career, so this provided an interesting perspective. Oftentimes, officers are dehumanized in a sense, so this study shows that racial profiling is real and can affect all people. The study concluded that out of 167 participants in the survey, 25 years or older, 83 percent male, 17 percent female, all being sworn officers of at least one year, 69 percent had been stopped due to racial profiling in their lifetime. Additionally, 51 percent had been questioned, 18 percent had been searched, 22 percent had been questioned, and 7 percent had been arrested (Barlow & Barlow 2002).
A survey of this kind could be modeled for citizens in the US. Location, gender, age, ethnicity, occupation, and background are all things that should be considered and can affect the results of a survey of this type. Bias and false information can skew results as well. With a representational population and sample population, this method could be effective and accurate to a certain extent to provide helpful results.
A nontraditional way of measuring public reaction is joke cycles. Joke cycles are jokes that share a similar topic and are popular for a certain amount of time in society. Racial jokes are seen today in addition to, as well as stemming from racial profiling. New York City had an issue with these jokes involving their officers, so they created a rule for their patrol. Officers were to stay away from any kind of racial jokes, telling or tolerating, as it leads to racial profiling, and “diverting attention from catching real criminals.” They also stated that “race is a social rather than biological construct” (Calder 2015).
Racial jokes only add to the issue of racial profiling, especially when those in the field of law enforcement use these jokes or tolerate the use of them. The public also is a part of this issue because of their use of these racial jokes and derogatory terms. So many people say these kinds of things that society has almost normalized this behavior. This only fuels the fire and the more these jokes are told and spread, the more the public thinks racial profiling isn’t all that serious, is funny, and is okay. The desired effect of the public is to view these incidents in this way is active and working. The cycle of these kinds of jokes vary on and off based on what kind of issue is on the forefront, and what is prominent in the media, but racial jokes are still seen oftentimes in day to day society.
The problem recognition stream involves deciding when and why racial profiling in law enforcement is an issue. Troubling conditions involving this topic include skin color, law enforcement officers, the media, and personal perspective. Using compelling rhetoric, claimsmakers try to get others attention and make the issue prominent. For racial profiling in law enforcement, the use of typifying names and stories are what is oftentimes used to gain the public’s attention. By choosing the most detrimental cases involving profiling, claimsmakers and the media keep events fresh, and the social problem current in the mind of the public. By doing this, claimsmakers are putting a large amount of pressure onto the policymakers to try and bring about change.
The policy proposal stream is used to offer certain concise proposals for new legislation. There are many different ways in which proposals can be made in order to bring about new policy. Racial profiling in law enforcement has created policies to protect those in law enforcement, but not much has really been done to protect those of color. The Blue Lives Matter bill by Congress was a concise plan in order to protect officers. There have been attempts to gain new policy for those of color, and so far, body cameras and the way training occurs is what has been done about it. The main way to get things approved and completed is by the insiders focusing on this arena in particular.
The political stream is what is currently happening involving racial profiling in law enforcement. Currently, it has stayed out of the most recent news, but still is happening. The SMO groups continue to lobby and gain support for their movements, but the policy that has happened is the latest event. It is hard to describe the political stream as there are not exactly new elected leaders for this social problem, but currently the problem has been more stable than past occurrences.
Policy outcomes have not happened as largely as society has hoped for. There have been minimal steps towards improvement, but society as a whole, needs to change their viewpoints and perspectives on racial profiling in law enforcement for things to really change. Different police offices over the country have implemented new policies to try and limit racial profiling. An example of this is the new laws NYPD implemented in the ways their officers are dealing with racial profiling and discrimination (Calder 2015). Different training has been attempted throughout the country, and new equipment has been implemented.
Body cameras are one of the newest pieces of equipment the majority of officers wear now. Most police stations are beginning to require them as mandatory equipment for each officer on patrol. These cameras document each time the officer completes a street or traffic stop. They record sounds and real time footage in addition to the cameras located inside the cars. These give the officer perspective and viewpoint of the things that they experience while outside of their car. This is very useful in distinguishing between racial profiling because the camera shows footage of what actually occurred. Sometimes the footage is pulled to determine what actually happened and the media releases footage that will make society react in the way they want. It is helpful for discrepancies that occur, but when it is skewed, it can be detrimental.
Potential policy can include not only these new cameras, but better training for law enforcement officers, limiting the media coverage of certain events, sensitivity training, and public education. These are small ways the policy could improve, but the only policy that has really been implemented right now is the Blue Lives Matter bill created by Congress as mentioned earlier. With policy outcomes such as these, there is promise for change overtime, but until the media changes what kind of events they display, and society chooses to get rid of their current mindset, racial profiling in law enforcement against those of color will continue to progress.
Sociological Imagination is making the familiar strange. Those who are colored oftentimes blame the racial profiling and discrimination they receive on themselves and their skin color, but in reality, this social problem has been going on their whole lives. Racial profiling and discrimination have been around all the way down to the civil rights movement in the 1900s. The individual believes that it’s his/her fault this is occurring, but in reality, it’s society’s fault as a whole for placing these stereotypes and making them feel this way.
Similarly, a white police officer who has been raised and brought up in white privilege their whole life hasn’t really thought about colored people and how their lives are different. As a white police officer on the streets, they could try and distinguish if it was really necessary to pull over or stop a colored person. By looking past skin color and stereotypes placed by society, relating to how the colored people are actually feeling about all of this, disregarding the way they were raised, and the beliefs which they were brought up with, can help eliminate racial profiling in law enforcement.
The sociological imagination can relate to racial profiling in law enforcement because making the familiar strange is something that needs to happen in order for perspective and reform to occur. Because racial profiling is such a controversial topic and is difficult to measure due to the fact that it is based upon the individual officer’s actions, it is necessary to have a changed mindset. By attaining sociological imagination, one can better understand what is going on, and by achieving this mindset, racial profiling in law enforcement will begin to progress more positively and begin to resolve itself slowly.
To conclude, racial profiling in law enforcement against those of color is a social problem seen in society today. The media displays these events causing them to make headlines and transforming the thoughts of individuals in society. Major SMO groups include Black Lives Matter, and the ACLU. New policies such as the Blue Lives Matter bill and body cameras have been implemented due to this social problem. By attaining sociological imagination when viewing this topic, change could be achieved. Because of the nature of racial profiling and how it deals with the individuals point of view, there is always going to be some sort of discrepancy in the public’s view versus what is actually going on. There needs to be a change in society’s mindset and everyone needs to come together to make a difference. The media changes perspectives on this to make it viewed more negatively than it really is to get attention and views. Even so, racial profiling in law enforcement against those of color has been around since the civil rights movement but is a problem which can be changed with the right mindset, claims, and policymakers willing to listen and make a difference.