Relationships of Police with Minority Groups

Introduction
There seems to be a national-level divide between ethnic/racial minority populations and law enforcers. Studies indicate a record decline in citizens’ satisfaction with law enforcers, with the Hispanic and African-American communities displaying lowest levels of police force satisfaction. Countrywide statistics for the year 2014, presented by Gallup, suggest that under half the Hispanic population in America and not even thirty-five percent of the African-American population believes they will be treated justly by policepersons (Smoot, 2016). In this paper, the link between minorities and policepersons with regard to racial politics and race will be delved into.
Racial Issues
Linkages between racial/ethnic minority groups and law enforcers pose a few highly complex and persistent policing issues worldwide. Though these associations have the potential of being congenial and positive, they usually aren’t. Minority communities, for instance, largely find they are unable to avail themselves of services they have a right to enjoy, including law enforcement protection. To be more specific, policepersons might overlook spousal abuse and other such offenses in a given minority population out of the mistaken belief that such conduct is commonly witnessed in these populations (Weitzer, 2014; Natarajan, 2014). Another, more dire issue is the direct police-minority discord, which, on law enforcement’s part, can involve violence, unjust enforcement or persecution.
Racial profiling — besides religious profiling, national/ethnic profiling still afflicts the nation in spite of the constitution’s assurance of equality to all. Researchers suggest racial profiling is rife in the country, with Hispanics and African-Americans reporting disproportionate incidents of stop-and-frisk encounters with policepersons despite their low likelihood of offending or being in possession of contraband (Natarajan, 2014). For instance, in Illinois State, Hispanic and African-American drivers depicted a twofold possibility of being searched following traffic stoppage, as compared with Whites, though Whites depicted two times the likelihood of being in possession of contraband.
Politics and Race
Societal and historical aspects contribute to law enforcement and community bias intensity towards minorities. With increase in duration of being perceived as foreigners or inferior beings, the likelihood of being subject to discrimination increases. Wars or times of unrest may trigger hostile attitudes towards, and treatment of, a particular migrant group or the overall minority population, which citizens start viewing as being the “enemy”: Such treatment was meted out to Japanese Americans in the WWII era; similarly, Western Muslims (whether citizens or residents) began to receive hostile treatment following the 9/11 terror attacks (Cao, 2011). Further, law enforcement discrimination might take place when most members of a given society believe a minority population doesn’t support and adopt the values of the majority.
Prominent experts consider America’s war against drugs to be an intensive political approach geared at translating race-based hostility and fear into a political opportunity to be availed of both by Democrats and Republicans. Moreover, this war institutionalized the prejudiced politics of providing protection, strengthening white advantage. Considering the glaring differences in apprehensions, condemning, confinements and amount of bail to be paid, African-Americans are undoubtedly meted out more exacting punishments via US drug regulations. Researchers reveal equal drug consumption likelihood by Whites and African-Americans, with the former displaying greater drug-selling likelihood. African-Americans make up 12% of the overall drug-consumer population, but constitute 38% of detainees for drug-related crimes and 59% of state prison inmates for drug-related crime (Gamal, 2016). Racial protection politics has led to disproportionate African-American incarceration, in addition to a systematic African-American under-protection policy.
Conclusion
Currently, while problematic police-minority relationships are commonly perceived, the former are ever more aware of these issues and have adopted sweeping measures for tackling them. The top suggestions by lawmakers, civil rights frontrunners, and politicians include law enforcement organizational diversification (through the recruitment of personnel from the underrepresented ethnic/racial minority communities) and multicultural training to law enforcers.






References
Cao, L. (2011). Visible Minorities and Confidence in the Police 1. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 53(1), 1-26.
Gamal, F. (2016). The Racial Politics of Protection: A Critical Race Examination of Police Militarization. Cal. L. Rev., 104, 979.
Natarajan, R. (2014). Racial profiling has destroyed public trust in police. Cops are exploiting our weak laws against it. Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/12/15/racial-profiling-has-destroyed-public-trust-in-police-cops-are-exploiting-our-weak-laws-against-it/?utm_term=.61831eb2ee3f on 6 November 2017
Smoot, S. M. (2016). THE PRESIDENT'S TASK FORCE ON 21ST CENTURY POLICING: PROCEDURAL JUSTICE, POLICING, AND PUBLIC HEALTH. S. Ill. ULJ, 40, 427-561.
Weitzer, R. (2014). Police race relations. The Oxford Handbook of Police and Policing, 339.