The part of the criminal justice system that I think needs the most reform today is the law enforcement sector. The law enforcement in the United States are responsible for keeping the peace, apprehending violators of the law, providing social services to the communities, and taking action to prevent crime from happening. The specific aspect of the police which I think needs to be most reformed and reformed as quickly as possible is the racial bias that can be seen widespread across police forces around the United States. Seeing as the bias can be traced back decades within the United States police force, it has been difficult for people to come to a conclusion as to how this should be handled and altered within the police force and throughout
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Scientists are saying that there are two types of bias that are occurring sometimes simultaneously and sometimes in separate cases within the police force; implicit and explicit. In the Democracy Journal, Lorie Fridell writes that “explicit bias involves holding stereotypes about groups based on animus or hostility toward that group,” and that implicit biases often still connect stereotypes to given groups, but also “can occur outside of conscious awareness, even in well-intention individuals (Fridell 1).” This is extremely important information in understanding police bias and also is vital to the efforts to change the culture of the police, and ultimately all people, and eliminate racial bias and prejudice overall. This article states that it should be the implicit biases that are challenged and attempted to be changed. Fridell says that police that are employing explicit biases will not change their behavior through training. She suggests that in order to alter implicit biases members of law enforcement should go through implicit bias training and use-of-force training using counter stereotypes. These methods would be useful in changing the way that members of the police treat civilians and also eventually change the public view and trust in law
Scientists are saying that there are two types of bias that are occurring sometimes simultaneously and sometimes in separate cases within the police force; implicit and explicit. In the Democracy Journal, Lorie Fridell writes that “explicit bias involves holding stereotypes about groups based on animus or hostility toward that group,” and that implicit biases often still connect stereotypes to given groups, but also “can occur outside of conscious awareness, even in well-intention individuals (Fridell 1).” This is extremely important information in understanding police bias and also is vital to the efforts to change the culture of the police, and ultimately all people, and eliminate racial bias and prejudice overall. This article states that it should be the implicit biases that are challenged and attempted to be changed. Fridell says that police that are employing explicit biases will not change their behavior through training. She suggests that in order to alter implicit biases members of law enforcement should go through implicit bias training and use-of-force training using counter stereotypes. These methods would be useful in changing the way that members of the police treat civilians and also eventually change the public view and trust in law