On August 9th 2014 African American Michael Brown was shot and killed by White Police Officer Darren Wilson. This incident caused the issue of police brutality and illegal use of deadly force to be once be put into the national spotlight. The black community does not trust the police, use force against them or stop and search and the police mistrust stereotypes perpetrated from the media and because of the amount of African Americans who live in high crime areas, and recently the fear of retaliation. The best way to improve relations between the african american community and the police is for the police to start wearing body cameras, which will allow the police to be held accountable for their actions and so black people will have to worry
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For instance, in New York City many of the the higher crime areas are also home to larger populations of African Americans which would many of the criminals in these high crime areas black.(meares) This in turn, plays to the police’s confirmation bias that since the police are arresting more black people in these high crime low income that on average a black person they see on the street in these areas is more likely to commit a crime than a white person. This is also the case in many low income areas in other major cities around the country. Furthermore, another reason for the police distrusting African Americans is that a black person is more likely to join a gang in a major city than a white person.(source) Also, another reason for the police’s perceived prejudice against black is they the way the media portrays African Americans. In television and film, minorities are more likely to be portrayed as criminals than white people (Racial Resentment). This in turn, makes it more likely that the police will be more suspicious of African Americans and makes society more likely to see African Americans as an offender rather than the …show more content…
An example of how communities are trying to fix relations is by the use of citizen police academies. The citizen police academy is a program set up by police in an attempt educate the public to what police officers do on a day to basis. The reasoning behind this program being made is the thought that if the public is more informed of what police officers do, that they would be more supportive of their local law enforcement agencies. The program is about 30 years old and was first used in Orlando Florida during the late 1980s. Some of the information that these citizens police academies provide is introducing the participants to their local police academy, discuss the many issues of the criminal justice system and crime and also provide the participants with many hands on activities to keep them engaged. However, one of the biggest drawbacks for this program that often times it has a low participation and therefore the police cannot do this hands on work and inform the community on such a personal if their community does not want participate in these citizen police academies.(Lee) The best way to promote the trust of police and hold them accountable for their actions would be to pass legislation the makes it mandatory for police officers to wear body cameras. Many criminal justice experts believe that requiring
For instance, in New York City many of the the higher crime areas are also home to larger populations of African Americans which would many of the criminals in these high crime areas black.(meares) This in turn, plays to the police’s confirmation bias that since the police are arresting more black people in these high crime low income that on average a black person they see on the street in these areas is more likely to commit a crime than a white person. This is also the case in many low income areas in other major cities around the country. Furthermore, another reason for the police distrusting African Americans is that a black person is more likely to join a gang in a major city than a white person.(source) Also, another reason for the police’s perceived prejudice against black is they the way the media portrays African Americans. In television and film, minorities are more likely to be portrayed as criminals than white people (Racial Resentment). This in turn, makes it more likely that the police will be more suspicious of African Americans and makes society more likely to see African Americans as an offender rather than the …show more content…
An example of how communities are trying to fix relations is by the use of citizen police academies. The citizen police academy is a program set up by police in an attempt educate the public to what police officers do on a day to basis. The reasoning behind this program being made is the thought that if the public is more informed of what police officers do, that they would be more supportive of their local law enforcement agencies. The program is about 30 years old and was first used in Orlando Florida during the late 1980s. Some of the information that these citizens police academies provide is introducing the participants to their local police academy, discuss the many issues of the criminal justice system and crime and also provide the participants with many hands on activities to keep them engaged. However, one of the biggest drawbacks for this program that often times it has a low participation and therefore the police cannot do this hands on work and inform the community on such a personal if their community does not want participate in these citizen police academies.(Lee) The best way to promote the trust of police and hold them accountable for their actions would be to pass legislation the makes it mandatory for police officers to wear body cameras. Many criminal justice experts believe that requiring