Investigatory Traffic Stops in the United States and Their Relationship with Race
Pulled over: Charles Epp At. El.
In the United States today it is undeniable that police and citizen relations are at a rocky ledge regarding recent cases of racism in the media, and first hand accounts of unethical police practices. Tools although legal in the eyes of the supreme court are generally viewed as unethical by the people violated by them. Almost every driver I know has been stopped by the police, and has a story to tell about it. A section of chapter one of “Pulled Over” talks about how after a person is a victim of a unethical traffic stop, the story is generally spread to friends and family alike. The author uses real cases provided by victim …show more content…
It is stops like these that create tension between the police and citizens. This ticket was dropped, but still creates a distrust from my local police department. Although in the case of Whren v. U.S in 1996, the supreme court decided that police had the power to stop for any offense against the driving code. This is incredibly easy to find, leading to officers pulling over citizens for little offenses just to explore their personal business. Thus, this single case granted the permission for officers to conduct investigatory stops …show more content…
African Americans view traffic stops as a means of investigation and unjustly so. Whites tend to view them as a justified stop, and may be able to escape a ticket with proper attitude. African Americans tend to view themselves as targets in contrast to whites viewing themselves as citizens deserving leniency. It is very interesting how different races can have such different ideas on concepts when we are all just the same with different colored skin. Our criminal justice system definitely has an issue with racism, but to be fair that is not always the case either. I do not believe white police officers, such as the ones recently portrayed in the media intend to kill African American people. If in the same situation with a white victim officers would have likely done the same action. In order to get a handle on these race issues, the author suggest Police leaders should promote professional norm of not stopping drivers or pedestrians except when justified by clear evidence of criminal behavior. (Epp Et al. Kindle Pg 1216 of 5710) Only then will issues of police distrust begin to lower, as well as situations where non compliant suspects end up
Pulled over: Charles Epp At. El.
In the United States today it is undeniable that police and citizen relations are at a rocky ledge regarding recent cases of racism in the media, and first hand accounts of unethical police practices. Tools although legal in the eyes of the supreme court are generally viewed as unethical by the people violated by them. Almost every driver I know has been stopped by the police, and has a story to tell about it. A section of chapter one of “Pulled Over” talks about how after a person is a victim of a unethical traffic stop, the story is generally spread to friends and family alike. The author uses real cases provided by victim …show more content…
It is stops like these that create tension between the police and citizens. This ticket was dropped, but still creates a distrust from my local police department. Although in the case of Whren v. U.S in 1996, the supreme court decided that police had the power to stop for any offense against the driving code. This is incredibly easy to find, leading to officers pulling over citizens for little offenses just to explore their personal business. Thus, this single case granted the permission for officers to conduct investigatory stops …show more content…
African Americans view traffic stops as a means of investigation and unjustly so. Whites tend to view them as a justified stop, and may be able to escape a ticket with proper attitude. African Americans tend to view themselves as targets in contrast to whites viewing themselves as citizens deserving leniency. It is very interesting how different races can have such different ideas on concepts when we are all just the same with different colored skin. Our criminal justice system definitely has an issue with racism, but to be fair that is not always the case either. I do not believe white police officers, such as the ones recently portrayed in the media intend to kill African American people. If in the same situation with a white victim officers would have likely done the same action. In order to get a handle on these race issues, the author suggest Police leaders should promote professional norm of not stopping drivers or pedestrians except when justified by clear evidence of criminal behavior. (Epp Et al. Kindle Pg 1216 of 5710) Only then will issues of police distrust begin to lower, as well as situations where non compliant suspects end up