For one to become a police officer, one must have the passion to protect people and property in a fair and transparent manner. Apart from passion, the federal government has put in place an extensive training program that police officers must undergo with intentions of equipping them with skills, knowledge, and abilities to handle the various policing tasks. However, in as much the government tries to mould the personality of police officers to match those of a public servant handling sensitive and complex tasks, there are some historical beliefs that seems to have a much heavier weight on some police officers. These historical beliefs make some police officers to act in a specific way unconsciously without realizing that in the face of the law, the things they are doing are illegal and can land them to trouble. In efforts to avoid getting caught up by the law, they tend to apply self-justification as well as make use social power to manipulate the situation and overturn the outcome.
Through such powers and abilities, they are able to commit a crime and get away with it while making the victim appear like he/she was the offender and in deed deserved what he/she got. This is a sad and unfortunate thing to be taking place especially in the present era when the world is highly civilized and a lot of historical beliefs eroded away (Feeney, et al., 50). Since police officers in the US and other states where members of community belong to different races and tribes still applies Lucifer effect when handling issues, it is important to address the situation so as to wake up the unconscious side of law enforcers and bring them to reality. This shall hence make use of a recent case where a police officer in South Bend, Indiana shot a black colored man and critics have it that the police officer applied discrimination and biasness in this case. In this case, it shall hence focus on identifying the degree of unconscious factors namely implicit bias, self-justification, and social power and how they contributed to the outcome of the incident. According to CNN news on the 23rd of June 2019 reported by Dan Merica and Vanessa Yurkevich, the South Bend police department had an issue to resolve. In this case, the city mayor Pete Buttigieg had to appear before the South Bend police department in order to reassure the general public that everything was in order after the shooting of a 54 year old black man by a white police officer. The members of public lamented that the police in this region who are mainly white have a tendency of shooting black people who are the minority race in South Bend without justified reasons for their actions.
The department of police takes no action against such police officers and hence the members of the public felt that racial discrimination is being applied by law enforcers who should be protecting the interest of the general public (CNN News, 2019). The fact that the police officer and the mayor are from the same race is something that makes many people to belief that justice would not be served. The more reason is that there have been historical injustices committed by different police officers in the region against minority races and no legal action has been taken against such police officer. Moreover, many people claimed that the police would use their powers to make the mayor of the city to overlook things since the mayor and the white police do not value people from minority races. According to the police event captured, implicit bias is evident in the way the shooting take place and how the matter is being handled. It is evident according to the case that the police officer who did the shooting did so unconsciously simply because he/she detected a black-colored person. This is a deep rooted problem in the US history where people could be arrested and jailed for no justified reason making American jails overcrowded by innocent people (Menifield, Charles, 66). The more reason is that white police officers have a historical belief that colored people are criminals and hence noticing them requires the police to take a legal action against the person.
Despite the police officer who shot the man not being identified in the case, self-justification is evident from the mayor’s arguments. The mayor is directly defending himself and the police claiming that there could have been a mistake and the issue are very challenging but the right bodies would look into the matter (Menifield, Charles, 69). This is self-justification in itself as no one is accepting the mistake and taking responsibility for the actions. This is claim supported by Tavris, Carol, and Elliot, (2) as they claim “Most people when directly confronted.by evidence that they are wrong; do not change their point of view or course of action but justify it even more tenaciously”. Due to self-justification, the out is that justice is denied for the victim as those who should be taking responsibility are claiming that they will look into matter hence delaying the matter the more as they internally feel that whatever happened was the right thing. This element is unconsciously determining the outcome of the case because no action is being taken against the shooting event which is by all means illegal. Social power is being applied to conceal the crime committed by an officer and hence make the shot man appear like he was on the wrong side of law (Feeney, et al., 49). The fact that the mayor seems reluctant to take action could simply mean that the police officer acted under the orders of a much higher power. This could be the case as described by Zimbardo, Philip, (10-11) under the Lucifer’s effect where it is stated “the powerful do not usually do the dirtiest work themselves…. Systems create hierarchies of dominance with influence and communication going down”
It is a reality that police officers who hold an important and powerful position in the society are sometimes blinded by historical and individual beliefs which make them act unconsciously. Their actions can be dire but the challenge is that their strong and stun belief makes them to apply implicit bias, justify their actions, and eventually use their power to get away with any wrong. This is how unconscious elements can affect the outcomes where the innocent die and suffer while the perpetrators of discrimination and other crimes roam freely and hold powerful positions.
Works cited:
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Alexander, Michelle, and Cornel West. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. , 2012. Print.Bottom of Form
Dan Merica and Vanessa Yurkevich. Under Pete Buttigieg, racial tension has long plagued South Bend's Police Department (June 23, 2019). Retrieved from: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/23/politics/pete-buttigieg-south-bend-police-department-officer-involved-shootings/index.html
Feeney, Mary K., Lisa Carson, and Helen Dickinson. "Power in editorial positions: A feminist critique of public administration." Public Administration Review 79.1 (2019): 46-55.
Menifield, Charles E., Geiguen Shin, and Logan Strother. "Do White Law Enforcement Officers Target Minority Suspects?." Public Administration Review 79.1 (2019): 56-68.
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Tavris, Carol, and Elliot Aronson. Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts. , 2015. Internet resource.
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Zimbardo, Philip G. The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. New York: Random House, 2007. Print.