Police and Racial Profiling

On a daily basis our local police officers help make our community safer. They stop drunk drivers, they "put away" criminals, but since when do they beat suspects almost to their death? Rodney King (Black man) was speeding one night, when police stopped him; he was beaten savagely by four police officers that stopped him. A resident nearby was filming the beating. The next day he gave the tape to the media. In a few days, the news of the four officers beating Rodney King was all over the world. The King case was in 1991. But officers still doing this today for instance this YouTube video shows it still is happening.

According to Oxford English Dictionary racial profiling is defined as discrimination or stereotyping on racial or ethnic grounds. Profiling is a serious injustice to humanity, is an act of racism and discrimination, and is condoned by law enforcement agencies. Profiling is condoned by law enforcement agencies nationwide. Since it is so embedded in the police culture it is almost second nature to them. Most officers probably do not even think what they do is profiling, but when you conduct traffic stops based on ethnicity of the occupants it is profiling.

The opportunities for polices to racial profile is becoming a greater problem in the united states every day. We have laws that are meant to protect the minorities from racial profiling. What I would like to see happen is the police officers that are falling into the category of racial profiling be reproached, and for local government to give the American people their right to be protected from racial profiling. I believe police officers need to be held accountable and responsible for their conduct, making sure that their behavior advances the goals of their department. We can assume police officers work under conditions of low visibility and high decision, which provide them with a great deal of leeway to make decisions. In return, police officer must be able to explain and justify their decisions if they are questioned by supervisors or members of the community.  It is the perception of most police officials that in most agencies a small number of officers may be responsible for a large share of the actions that community members perceive as racially biased. 

What can citizen do if they are racial profile by a police officer?

The Civil Rights attorneys advised the following:

Know your rights:  you are not required to give permission to police officer to search your car.  You can deny the request - but do so politely.

Do not argue:  the police may try to intimidate you.  Do not be confrontational and provoke an argument.

Get the names of the officers:  be sure to get their badge numbers, squad car number, license plate number, and make a note of the location and time of day.

File a complaint if you feel you have been mistreated:  contact the ACLU or other civil rights organizations for legal advice

Sources: Oxford English Dictionary http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/157083?redirectedFrom=racial%20profiling#eid27239881 

Your Rights: What To Do If You're Stopped By Police, Immigration Agents or the FBI  http://www.aclu.org/drug-law-reform-immigrants-rights-racial-justice/know-your-rights-what-do-if-you

YouTube: http://youtu.be/kOaf1UFtDhQ

Shopping While Black

“Shopping While Black” or “Shopping While Brown” (SWB) is seen in our banks, hotels, restaurants, and even shopping centers.  People might be familiar with the saying, “Driving while Black.” This saying refers to racial profiling specifically law enforcement’s practice of pulling over blacks drivers and detaining them with no probable cause.  Police Officers simply stop black drivers due to the observation that blacks are likely to break the law. Well, the term “Shopping While Black” is related to “Driving While Black.” SWB is a term used to describe how people feel when they are racially profiled while they shop.Recently, racial profiling has been in the local news, just Google in the search engine.bar on the internet and you will see. 

In 2010, ABC conducted a controversial “What Would You Do?” experiment focusing on discrimination. The point of the experiment was to determine peoples’ reactions at seeing a Black customer profiled and discriminated against in an upscale store in New York. See the results of that in the YouTube Video above.

People will argue that racial profiling is justified on the backgrounds of other race groups who are more likely to commit a crime. For example, I know someone that work at company that rents items to people. The company says if a person “fits a certain criteria” then they will not rent to them. My understand of criteria is if a black person is wearing baggy pants or has mess up car the sales person will think the he/she is not trustworthy person and they will steal from their store. Basically if a person look a certain way  then the company are not going to rent them to that person. This is wrong because they are judging a person because of the actions of other people in its cultural group commit.

 I know some jobs may need some diversity training in the workplaces. So what diversity training exists for employees at our local stores, banks, hotels, hospitals, etc? I think we may be able to eliminate bias through diversity training, and in the training employees can be taught to manage their biases. We can see the increasing multiracial and multicultural customer base and we know stores cannot afford to alienate customers because of their skin color nor does it help them because they lose business, and it shows negative image of United States. I want to see a change and see people treated with respect when come to stores or bank. 

Due to the holidays are coming up and more people are going to be shopping. I hope this blog SWB will make people aware of racial profiling. If you or someone who you might know experience racial profiling, you should take action on this matter. If you decided to take action, remember names and who said what and then put your thoughts down in writing. Explain why you believe your rights were violated and request a specific remedy. Then put this information in letter form and send to the company higher-ups, Department of Justice, the Better Business Bureau, a local elected official, or some other authority figure that you feel you can trust.