3.4 KiB
3.4 KiB
Bias in Policing
Low income and minority neighborhoods experience disproportionate police violence, which has adverse effects on those communities as a whole.
- Menifield et al. 18
- Bias in policing isn’t just a “few bad apples,” nor is it a problem among white police officers specifically; policing practices inherently operate in a discriminatory manner.
- The disproportionate killing of African Americans by police officers “is likely driven by a combination of macro‐level public policies that target minority populations and meso‐level policies and practices of police forces.”
- “Much research in organizational theory suggests that the problem of disproportionate killing may be fundamentally institutional.”
- Also outlines past studies on policing that recognize the disproportionate impacts of institutional policies on minorities
- Edwards et al. 19
- Black, Indian, and Native people are significantly more likely to get killed by the police than white people
- “For young men of color, police use of force is among the leading causes of death.”
- The Guardian 15 (Cited)
- POC are killed at a disproportionate rate, even more so when unarmed.
- Feldman et al. 18
- Police disproportionately target low-income and POC neighborhoods
- “Overall, police-related death rates were highest in neighborhoods with the greatest concentrations of low-income residents and residents of color”
- Lancet Journal: Bor 18
- Instances of police brutality harm mental health
- “Police killings of unarmed black Americans have adverse effects on mental health among black American adults in the general population.”
- Lecount 17 (non-paywall)
- Highlights the philosophical (social power and group power) and racial reasons why white police officers have a discriminatory bias against African-Americans
- Data collected via nationally representative survey which focuses on a number of specific racial attitudes of police officers to gain a broader understanding of their racial views and biases
- Finds that officers believe blacks are more violent, lazy, and should not be given special treatment compared to whites
- Further highlights that those with less education adopt conservative views on race and the harmful impacts discrimination denial can have (i.e. shows how denial of racial discrimination can lead to the establishment of racial hierarchy)