Minorities in Policing Essay Example

In the US history, most of the US police officers were white men. Police departments showed discrimination against racial minorities and women. Policing was presumed to be a white man's job. The departments discriminated these minorities when it came to employment, promotions, assignments and social acceptance. Before the 1950s, the role of female police officers was strictly social welfare assignments, for example, juvenile and family issues and being matrons in prisons. It was not until the 1950s that the role of female officers was expanded and given positions in the narcotics and vice investigation. In 1868 the fourteenth amendment that guaranteed equal protection of the law to all United States' citizen was passed. The bill states that no state shall deprive anyone the right to life and liberty without following the due process of the law or deprive its citizen the equal protection by law. The end of discrimination in employment was a long journey and went through many significant steps before it got fully implemented.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

In 1964 a civil rights act was amended, and it prohibited discrimination in employment based on religion, race color, gender, and national origin. This act gets considered as one of the most significant milestones the legislative made in the civil rights movement. This act created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that had the power to file grievances and lawsuits of oppressed employees. The US police department did not stop discrimination while employing officers until the 1970s. Male officers strongly opposed women being assigned patrol duties saying that women did not have the physical strength to do the job. The 1972 Equal Employment Opportunity Act that prohibits discrimination in the workplace by gender, race, age, origin, religion forced the police to stop discrimination in hiring, and this led to the number of female officers in the force to go up. The women were assessed on their lines of duty and were found to perform just as effectively as their male counterparts did. The female officers made fewer arrests compared to their male counterparts but were seen to be more efficient in dealing with violent situations. They were less aggressive and had lesser chances of being charged with misconduct and police brutality.

The Omnibus Crime Control and safe streets act were enacted in 1968 to help the community reduce crime by increasing effectiveness and coordination of law enforcement. Since offense is a local problem, legislators felt that it would be more useful to prevent crime and ensure citizen's safety if law enforcement got coordinated at a local level (Novak, 2017). This act created the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, which was to help in crime prevention and ensuring the safety of the citizens. The LEAA was awarded grants in the recruitment and training of law enforcement officers. The specific goals of the LEAA were preventing crime, eliminating injustice and unfairness, adopting other ways to deal with violators, upgrading the personnel, finding new ways to control crime, allocate the funds to accomplish these goals and involve society in planning and accomplishing these changes in the criminal justice system.

Women in the police force have come a long way since the 1950s. In the 1960s women were only allowed to work in undercover operations to catch drug dealers and prostitution rings. However, would not fully graduate to full patrol officers. Times have changed in favor of the female officers. US police forces are now obligated to allow qualified women into all ranks of law enforcement. It has opened doors for women from different backgrounds to become lieutenants, sergeants, and detectives. Today, women make up approximately 15% of all municipal, state, and county police officers (d'Enno, 2014).

Women in the police force have a challenge working with their male counterparts since most men do not support hiring women in the army. A study conducted in the north-west shows that only one-third of male officers have accepted that women can go on patrols. More than half of the male police officers don't believe that women can meet the physical requirements for the job. Female officers must deal with the police culture whose foundation is a sexist perception of the responsibilities of the police. Sadly, women who are active and sturdy enough to ignore the sexist stereotypes may get labeled as lesbians attempting to neutralize their threat male dominance.

Benefits of having women in the police force are, for example, women offer different ways of dealing with crime. It is because women do not have the physical strength of men but have their kind of bravery, creativity and communication skills, and this makes them suitable for the job. With the increasing number of female officers, the police force has seen many positive changes. Women have a lot more responsibilities than they had in the past. Women in the police force have proven that to be a good police officer you do not have to have a big physical appearance.

Conclusion

Racial discrimination in the police department has also come a long way since the 1960s. The first elected African-American sheriff was called Sherriff Lucius Amerson and served in Macon County in the state of Alabama. In 1972, the National Black Police Association chattered, and this was a milestone towards the end of racial discrimination in the police personnel. African Americans have been encouraged to apply for jobs in the police force, and despite the fight in discrimination, studies show that although African Americans apply for this jobs, most of the applicants are not hired (Stark, 2018). Out of about eight thousand African-Americans who apply for jobs in the police department, 30% do not attend the for the written entrance exam which is the first step of the recruitment process. 17% of those who show up for the test does not pass it and those who pass the exam drop out later due to extensive background checks, drug tests, and physical and psychological tests.Statistics show that out of about one thousand people recommended for hiring in the police force since 2016 13% of them are African-Americans, 37% white and 38% latinos. Although police agencies hired racial minorities and women, the FBI got accused of racial discrimination in promotions in 1998. Black police officers deployed in black neighborhoods may be more effective than white police officers in black neighborhoods may since they can deal with offenders without fear of being accused of racial profiling. Police teams that are racially mixed may have advantages like when the officers interact with their colleagues of different races. They will have an easy time communicating with citizens of different races.

References

d'Enno, D. (2014, 12 15). Old police cells museum. Retrieved from History of women in the police force: http://www.oldpolicecellsmuseum.org.uk/content/history/women_police_officers/history_of_women_in_the_police_force

Novak, K. (2017). Police and Society. Oxford University Press.

Stark, K. (2018, February 2). Chicago reporter. Retrieved from More African-Americans apply to become cops, but few make it finish line: https://www.chicagoreporter.com/more-african-americans-apply-to-become-cops-but-few-make-it-to-finish-line/