Definition of Police-Community Relations (PCR) ● ● ● ● Referred primarily to the relations between the police and the racial and ethnic minority communities From PCR to legitimacy ○ Police need to establish trust and cooperation with all segments of the community they serve Policing a multicultural society Definitions of race and ethnicity ○ Race: Major biological divisions of the people of the world ○ Ethnicity: Cultural differences such as language, religion, family patterns, and food ways From PCR to Legitimacy ● ● ● Legitimacy: The belief that the police as a social institution are acting properly and effectively, and deserve public support Winning legitimacy is two-dimensional ○ Dealing with specific police problems ○ Involving community and training officers Key difference between PCR and legitimacy ○ PCR programs are directed toward only one part of the community Community Policing and Improving PCR ● ● Community policing represents a comprehensive philosophy of policing Community policing is directed toward the community as a whole, not just racial and ethnic minority communities Major Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups, 1 ● African Americans ● Hispanics ○ Fastest growing racial or ethnic group along with Asians ○ Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Central America and South America ● Arab Americans ○ Very diverse group ○ Majority of them trace their background to Lebanon ○ Most are native-born Americans ○ Many are Muslim ● Native Americans ○ High crime rate on reservations ○ Have their own tribal police ● Asian Americans ○ National origin is Japan, China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and many other countries ● Primary language is not English Not Just Race and Ethnicity: Gender and Sexual Preference ● Police-community relations problems also exist with regard to other groups in society ○ Women, gay men, lesbians, transgendered persons ● Problems of sexual harassment, disrespect, and physical abuse Public Opinion and the Police ● ● ● ● ● Majority of Americans have a positive attitude toward the police Racial and ethnic minorities consistently rate the police less favorably than whites Young people rate the police less favorably than older people Poor people, less educated people, and crime victims tend to rate the police lower than others There are significant differences in opinions about the police in different cities Race and Ethnicity ● ● Nearly twice as many African Americans as whites report “very little” confidence in the police Attitudes about police roles can vary according to social class as well as race and ethnicity ○ Middle-class and lower-class African Americans do not share identical attitudes Attitudes about Police Use of Force ● ● Hispanics and African Americans are twice as likely to believe the police will use excessive force in their communities In a survey of Cincinnati residents, 46.6 percent of African Americans indicated they had been personally “hassled” by the police, compared with only 9.6 percent of whites Social Class ● In 2012, 27 percent of people with incomes lower than $20,000 had very little confidence in the police ○ Compared with only 7 percent of people with incomes of $75,000 or greater Age: Young People and the Police ● ● Age consistently ranks second to race and ethnicity as a factor in public attitudes toward the police A 2012 survey found that 12 percent of people between the ages of 18 to 29 had little or no confidence in the police ○ Compared with only 10 percent of people 65 years or older Other Demographic Factors ● Neighborhood quality of life ● Gender ● Victims of crime ● Level of education Intercity of Variations ● ● Attitudes toward the police vary from city to city The Case of Detroit ○ More African Americans indicated they were satisfied with the police than whites ○ African Americans dominated the local political establishment ○ Thus, African Americans are more likely than whites to identify positively with the police and other parts of the political system Impact of Controversial Incidents ● Specific cases or controversial incidents can have a short-term effect on people’s attitudes toward police officers and police departments ○ Example - Rodney King incident in Los Angeles Additional Perspectives on the Police in American Society ● ● ● The police and the American society The police and other occupations The American police in international perspective Police Officer Perceptions of Citizens ● Sources of police attitudes ○ Selective contact ■ Officers do not have regular contact with a cross-section of the community ■ Low-income people and minorities have a disproportionate level of contact with the police ○ Selective perception and memory ■ Officers are likely to remember unpleasant events ■ Officers tend to stereotype African Americans since they tend to show hostility toward officers Sources of Police-Community Relations Problems ● ● Question - How do we explain the apparent contradiction between the generally favorable ratings given to the police by racial and ethnic minority communities and the persistence of public conflict between the police and these groups? Answer - We must examine specific areas of policing ○ The level of police protection received by different neighborhoods ○ Police officer field practices ○ Administrative practices ○ Employment practices Contextual Approach to Police-Citizen Interactions ● Experiences with the police vary according to department, type of police action, the departmental unit involved, etc. ○ Some departments have good relations with communities of color ○ Interactions are different according to location, police unit, and enforcement activity Level of Police Protection, 1 ● ● African Americans have been victims of underenforcement of law throughout time Institutionalized segregation resulted in four Systems of Justice ○ Crimes by whites against whites were handled as “normal” crimes ○ Crimes by whites against African Americans were rarely prosecuted ○ ○ Crimes by African Americans against whites received the harshest response Crimes by African Americans against African Americans were ignored Level of Police Protection, 2 ● ● Failure to enforce the law in minority communities has involved crimes of vice (gambling, prostitution, and drugs) ○ This underenforcement breeds disrespect for the law and the police ○ Exposes law-abiding citizens in minority neighborhoods to criminal activities and lowers the quality of life Delay in responding to calls ○ Studies found that patrol officers often deliberately delayed responding to calls for service, especially involving family disturbances ○ African American citizens perceived greater delays than whites Police Field Practices, 1 ● Use of deadly force ○ Source of major conflict between minorities and the police ○ Changed significantly over time ○ Fleeing-felon rule was replaced with defense-of-life policy ○ The Court ruled that the fleeing-felon rule was unconstitutional Police Field Practices, 2 ● Use of physical force ○ Public brutality - Excessive use of physical force by the police ○ Most common complaint by minorities ○ Use of the force continuum ○ Police use force often against: ■ Criminal suspects ■ Male suspects ■ African American males ■ Citizens who are drunk and/or antagonistic to the police ■ People who show physical resistance Use of Physical Force ● ● Fleeing-felon rule: Declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1985 (Tennessee v. Garner), which allowed the police the legal right to use deadly force in apprehending a felon attempting to escape Defense-of-life policy - States that police officers are allowed to use deadly force only in situations where their own lives or the lives of others are in danger Arrests ● ● African Americans are arrested more often than whites relative to their proportions in the population Officer's Decision to arrest is based on situational factors ○ The seriousness of the offense ○ The strength of the evidence ○ The preference of the victim ○ The victim–suspect relationship ○ The demeanor of the suspect ■ Extremely complex ■ Hostile demeanor of suspects is provoked by the police officer Field Interrogations and Searches ● ● Involve a crime control strategy of both identifying and apprehending offenders and sending a message of deterrence to people on the street Deeply resented by African Americans Crime Fighting and Stereotyping ● ● Stereotyping of citizens by gender, age, and race is a problem deeply rooted in policing Racial stereotyping can affect a police officer’s likelihood of using deadly force Other Police Field Practices ● Verbal abuse and racial and ethnic slurs Traffic Enforcement and Racial Profiling ● Experts believe that a certain amount of racial profiling in traffic enforcement is the result of a police officer deciding that an African American or a Hispanic driver is “out of place” in a white neighborhood Racial Profiling ● Practice of police officers stopping drivers because of their race or ethnicity, and not because of a legitimate law violation ○ “Driving while black” Traffic Enforcement Practices ● Traffic safety stops - Speeding, suspected drunk driving, or other traffic code violation ○ Most common form of public contact with the police ● Investigatory stops: Investigating the driver (and/or passengers) for possible criminal law violations ○ Such as possession of a weapon or drugs, or an outstanding warrant Data on Traffic Enforcement Patterns, 1 ● ● ● African Americans are subject to far more investigatory stops than whites African Americans under the age of 25 were likely to be stopped than whites African American women were more likely to be stopped than white men Data on Traffic Enforcement Patterns, 2 ● Meehan and Ponder study found that African Americans were more likely to be stopped than whites and were likely to be queried in predominantly white neighborhoods ○ Location matters Discrimination versus Disparity ● ● Discrimination - Differential treatment based on some extralegal category such as race, ethnicity, or gender Disparity - Different outcomes that are not necessarily caused by differential treatment Interpreting Traffic Stop Data ● ● ● Residential population was the benchmark for interpreting data ○ Population data do not indicate who is actually driving on the roads or who is violating a traffic law The best benchmark data come from systematic direct observation of particular roadways Internal benchmarking ○ Compares traffic stops of officers working in the same precinct or area Different Context of Racial Profiling ● Department policy ○ Example- War on Drugs ● Police stopping citizens who appear to be out of place Police Justifications for Racial and Ethnic Disparities ● ● Major argument is that African Americans and Hispanics are likely to be engaged in criminal activity Some argue that using arrest data involves circular reasoning ○ Minorities are stopped and arrested more than whites, producing higher arrest rates that, in turn, justify higher rates of stops and arrests Legitimate Use of Race and Ethnicity in Police Work ● ● ● Police officer cannot arrest a person solely on the basis of race Police cannot use race or ethnicity when it is one element in a general profile of criminal suspects Police may use race or ethnicity when it is one element in the description of a specific criminal suspect Different Dimensions of Trust and Confidence in the Police ● ● ● ● ● Priorities ○ Whether people feel that the police share their concerns about neighborhood Competence ○ Whether people feel that the police have the knowledge and skills to achieve their objectives Dependability ○ Whether people feel that the police can be counted on to fulfill their promises Respect ○ Whether people feel that the police treat them with respect Principles of procedural justice ○ Emphasize the importance of giving people a voice in the decisions that affect them Steps to Build Trust, Confidence, and Legitimacy, 1 ● ● ● Involving community residents in developing appropriate crime-fighting strategies Holding regular community meetings where people can voice their grievances and ask questions about police activities Involving community residents in developing new department policies or in revising existing policies Steps to Build Trust, Confidence, and Legitimacy, 2 ● ● Training officers in procedural justice, a style of policing in which during an on-the-street encounter, officers treat people respectfully, listen to their concerns, and answer their questions Investigating fatal shooting incidents by an outside agency in order to ensure both the independence of investigations and the appearance of independence Improving Police-Community Relations, 1 ● ● Maintaining a representative police force ○ Eliminating employment discrimination Improving the handling of citizen complaints ○ Civilian review boards Improving Police-Community Relations, 2 ● ● Creating special police–community relations unit ○ For recent immigrants -“Newcomer,” “foreign born,” and “non-natives” Improving training ○ Assigning officers on the basis of race Special Police-Community Relations Unit ● ● ● Police–community relations units operate programs designed to improve relations with minority communities Ride-along programs: Allow citizens to spend a few hours riding in a patrol car Creation of neighborhood storefront offices to overcome isolation of the police Outreach to Immigrant Communities ● The new variety of languages and cultures in American cities presents new issues for police departments ○ Police departments are developing new outreach programs to help establish close relations with the police and new immigrant communities Should Local Police Enforce Federal Immigration? ● Many local police officials do not want to be involved in the enforcement of immigration laws because they argue that policing requires them to develop close relations with the communities they serve ○ Role of immigration enforcement might alienate them from communities with large numbers of immigrants ○ People will become reluctant to call the police to report crimes, etc. Race Relations and Human Relations Training ● ● ● No research has established a direct connection between race relations training programs and better police performance Experts question the value of classroom training ○ On-the-street behavior and communication may be effective Training in cultural competence ○ Information may help explain cultural differences that may lead to misunderstandings