Law enforcement is also targeting minorities in traffic stops by using their power to stop them for traffic violations. The police have greater suspicion towards minorities because they stereotype them by believing they always are the ones who commit crimes. According to Carver (2014), “the New York report showed that of 685,724 stops made by police that year, 53% of those questioned were black, 34% were Latino, 9% were white and 3% were Asian. The citywide population in 2011 was 23.4% black, 29.4% Hispanic, 12.9% Asian, and 34.3% non-Hispanic white, according to the report” (Carver, 2014). This statistic in New York is an overwhelming fact on how law enforcement targets minorities in traffic stops. The minorities in 2011, according to this
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Traffic stops are supposed to be random but clearly that is not the case whenever minorities are getting pulled over 91% of the time and they only consist of 65.7% of the population in New York that year. One possible explanation for this is that law enforcement put minorities in a stereotype where they all commit crimes. Police believe that they can find a more severe offense than a traffic violation when stopping minorities. They think that a middle-aged white male is less likely to have illegal substances on them than minorities which is not always the circumstance. Police forces argue that they do not target minorities in traffic stops but according to this statistic, they obviously direct their attention towards blacks, Hispanic, and Asian personnel. Minorities have the false reputation of being criminals and the police are abusing their power by targeting minorities in each and every way especially during traffic …show more content…
Many solutions can be used to help solve the problem of law enforcement targeting minorities. One way is to implement civilian watch groups to review the police’s actions and to consider them unjust. “One key recommendation is to replace the appointed Police Board with a democratically elected board of civilians, or an entire new appointed board” (Flood, 2013). By having an elected board of ordinary citizens, then that will ensure that they tell the truth about a certain situation instead of the Police Board lying to protest their fellow comrades. Civilians do not follow the “blue code of silence” where police do not tattle on other officers to keep a good reputation. Civilian watch groups will ensure that no corruption will take place among police departments and that the police will be placed accountable for unjust actions. Another way to prevent law enforcement from targeting minorities is to implement body cameras on all officers. According to Stuart (2014), body-worn cameras are a major development for police and have received greater attention after Michael Brown’s death. Police are less likely to use force against civilians while wearing body cameras. This statement proves that body cameras can reduce the unjust actions of police and can reduce the targeting of minorities. Body cameras are direct
Traffic stops are supposed to be random but clearly that is not the case whenever minorities are getting pulled over 91% of the time and they only consist of 65.7% of the population in New York that year. One possible explanation for this is that law enforcement put minorities in a stereotype where they all commit crimes. Police believe that they can find a more severe offense than a traffic violation when stopping minorities. They think that a middle-aged white male is less likely to have illegal substances on them than minorities which is not always the circumstance. Police forces argue that they do not target minorities in traffic stops but according to this statistic, they obviously direct their attention towards blacks, Hispanic, and Asian personnel. Minorities have the false reputation of being criminals and the police are abusing their power by targeting minorities in each and every way especially during traffic …show more content…
Many solutions can be used to help solve the problem of law enforcement targeting minorities. One way is to implement civilian watch groups to review the police’s actions and to consider them unjust. “One key recommendation is to replace the appointed Police Board with a democratically elected board of civilians, or an entire new appointed board” (Flood, 2013). By having an elected board of ordinary citizens, then that will ensure that they tell the truth about a certain situation instead of the Police Board lying to protest their fellow comrades. Civilians do not follow the “blue code of silence” where police do not tattle on other officers to keep a good reputation. Civilian watch groups will ensure that no corruption will take place among police departments and that the police will be placed accountable for unjust actions. Another way to prevent law enforcement from targeting minorities is to implement body cameras on all officers. According to Stuart (2014), body-worn cameras are a major development for police and have received greater attention after Michael Brown’s death. Police are less likely to use force against civilians while wearing body cameras. This statement proves that body cameras can reduce the unjust actions of police and can reduce the targeting of minorities. Body cameras are direct