Race and Police Discretion According

Race and Police Discretion

According to Smith, Visher, and Davidson (1984), it is clear that racial bias plays a part in the arrest of individuals for suspected crimes. In general, African-American suspects are arrested more often than Caucasian suspects. This appears to be true whether the complainant is present or not, but is more significant when the complainant is present. Perhaps the police want to appear as though they are doing their jobs thoroughly, or perhaps they are simply looking for excuses to arrest more African-American individuals. Also, having a complainant present gives the officer a witness and also provides the officer with a 'good reason' for the arrest, so that the officer will not be as easily accused of arresting someone 'just because' that person was African-American. Speculation of the reasons behind this could go on for some time without actually being resolved.

What is clear from studies conducted, however, is that race does affect whether someone is arrested, and this creates undue and unnecessary stress on individuals of color, even if they are not engaged in criminal activity (Harrell, 2000). Despite this, though, there are others who do not agree that race is a factor for arrest. These individuals instead argue that race is used as an excuse, and that more African-Americans commit crimes, so it only makes sense that they are arrested in higher numbers. While there may be some truth to this argument in some areas of the country the number of African-Americans, specifically African-American males under 25, that are arrested is still highly disproportionate to the number of African-Americans living in this country today (Smith, Visher, & Davidson, 1984). Until this is recognized by law enforcement and steps are taken to adjust this discrepancy, nothing will change. Because of this it appears that race will likely always be a factor, at least for some officers, when it comes to determining whether to make an arrest.