Rodney King Riots In L. A.: A Case Study

In the United States equal treatment of minority groups has differed based on religious, historical and cultural reasons. Law enforcement strategies and tactics are an example of how black minorities are being treated differently in this country then the majority. The 1996 Rodney King Riots in L.A. was one of first televised police related incidents that showed the country the level of police relations and african americans relations, and has since become of major concern and incidents involving white police officers and african americans have become subject public scrutiny. This essay argues that current policing strategies and tactics are in need of reform because they are leading to increased public distrust amongst african american communities. Police altercations with blacks that involve a deadly shooting or excessive force lead to a negative media framing of the situation hurting …show more content…
The long term impact is felt in black communities where there little to no trust for law enforcement, and that distrust can carry over for generations creating problems for both law enforcement and african americans. The use of police stops whether it be traffic or stop, question, frisk have been seen as a way for law enforcement to target african americans. This policy leads to negative perceptions of police officers “living in neighborhoods where minorities are more likely to be stopped, frisked, and have force used against them may be associated with ill effects for neighborhood residents” (Sewell and Jefferson 2016). Often these tactics are viewed as biased towards blacks and other minorities “the potential role of implicit bias in producing disparity in police interventions was highlighted by a New York City judge in 2013 reflecting on the disproportionate representation of racial/ethnic minorities among people stopped and frisked by members of the New York City Police Department” (Fridell and Lim 2016).