I am due Unit 9 assignment NLT Monday 11 June 2018.

Literature Review

Teresa Jordan

PSL7020

Michael Webb

May 13, 2018

Racial disparities in traffic stops have continued to become an issue in the United States. To begin with, most Cities and States in America have been dominated by white police men and women. Even in the areas which are mostly inhabited by non-white population, you will still find the police departments dominated by the whites. For instance, researches have shown that in Missouri city where at least two-thirds of the population is African Americans, the police department comprises of 97% white police officers (Frank et al., 2017). Such imbalance calls for diversity among the police in order to solve the problem of racial disparities in traffic stops across the entire America. Several studies have revealed that most non-white drivers are often pulled over by the white traffic officers. It is still unclear why most data indicates that African American drivers are mostly pulled over while driving on the roads, especially by the white police officers. The 2014 BJS survey showed that out of the American drivers pulled over while driving, 13% were African Americans, 10% were Hispanic, and 10% were Whites (Engel, Calnon, & Bernard, 2002). In addition, it is evident that most Black drivers have a high probability of being stopped over for car search for no apparent reason. And the police officers tend to use extra force when handling black drivers, even in instances where physical resistance has not been encountered (Chiricos, Welch, & Gertz, 2004). 

Earlier reports indicated that African American drivers have a high probability of being pulled over by traffic police officers because they are often fond of carrying drugs and other illegal commodities in their vehicles. However, this report was refuted due to the fact that further surveys showed that both Whites and Blacks almost abuse these drugs at the same rate. In fact, the Black population is likely to be charged five times more that the White residents when found in possession of marijuana (Borooah, 2001). At one point, police officials from Greensboro claimed that racial disparities in traffic stops witnessed among the Black population was as a result of the Blacks living in the neighborhoods which have high levels of crime. As such, police officers tend to patrol more often in such areas leading to pulling over and conducting searches on their vehicles (Ayres, 2002).

To curb racial disparities in traffic stops, diversity in the police department needs to be considered. During the police recruitment process, the US Government must see to it that all races get a balanced share in the recruitment. As such, no particular race will be seen as to have dominated the police force more than the others. During the deployment process, the cities and states dominated by a given race should mostly have police officers of that race. For instance, in the regions dominated by the Hispanic population, the at least 70% of the police officers deployed there should be from the Hispanic race and vice versa (Becker, 2004).

Cultural competency and ethics also contributes heavily in minimizing racial disparities in traffic stops in America. During the police training process, the recruited police officers must be informed on the need to diligently adhere to professional ethics as opposed to being racially bias in the course of performing their duties (Barnum & Perfetti, 2010). Despite being born and raised in different cultural background, the police officers are expected to follow the code of conduct and regulations when handling a particular driver irrespective of his/ her cultural background. A distinct case of racial profiling was witnessed in Ferguson, Missouri, which led to mass protests. It happened that out of the drivers pulled over by the traffic police offers, majority of them were African Americans. To make the matter even more worse, 3 of the African American drivers ended up being shot dead simply because of committing minor traffic offences such as having broken back lights, license plate missing, and ignoring a lane change signal. Such cases could have been avoided if the police force put into consideration cultural competency, ethics and diversity (Anthony, Elizabeth, & George, 2017).

Effective communication, be it individual or teamwork, helps in maintaining a warm work environment. In the police department, effective communication creates a conducive work environment meaning happier police officers interact with the public in a positive manner. Among the police force, effective communication starts with the top leadership in setting clear standards and methods to be followed (Alpert & Walker, 2000). The senior police officers should routinely set expectations ranging from the goals to teamwork interactions. The outlined expectations and set goals should be clearly stated by the leadership in the police force so as to minimize any form of confusion among the rest of the police officers.

We can expect the police force to curb racial disparities in traffic stops if the police officers themselves are confused with regards to what they are expected to do. Clearly laying out expectations is critical in the following common areas: anti-discriminatory and diversity policies; and policing procedures. One of the key elements to effective communication is being able to listen and understand what other people say. The police force should be in a position to instill its officers with the approaches to speak to the public. This entails engaging in open-door policies where the public is allowed to address their issues. This also involves offering debriefings on its projects, tip boxes, as well as conducting regular surveys. Thereafter, all the feedback obtained should be put into consideration and following it with actions as expected (Alpert, MacDonald, & Dunham, 2005).

Other than clearly defining communication policies, the police force must ensure that its officers adhere to them. The police officers will react positively when the expectations are well understood and when they also realize that their superiors consistently adhere to the rules as well. There should be no selective choosing of communication policies to adhere to as this will make the junior police officers to act as they wish. For communication to be effective, it must begin with the top police leadership and thereafter flows down the line to the rest of the police officers. Therefore, the top leadership must set the standards so that others follow the suit. The standards entail seeking feedback, addressing obstacles, setting action plans, and celebrating success (Alpert, 2007).

In this article, the authors conducted a study to look into racial profiling in traffic stops across several cities and states in America. The study found out that racial disparities existed in traffic stops with African Americans as the most affected. It was evident that most white police officers preferred pulling over vehicles during daytime because they in a position to visualize the skin color of the driver. In Greensboro, the African American only account for about 39% of the driving age residents. However, it is surprising to note that out of the drivers pulled over by the end of year 2017 in Greensboro, African Americans constituted about 54%. In addition, most African American drivers were stopped by white traffic police officers for regulatory violations which the officers could discretely ignore. On the other hand, White drivers would be stopped and then let go without being charged or receiving a warning. Experts saw this as a form of racial profiling (Anthony, Elizabeth, & George, 2017).

In the article, it has also been noted that in the previous years, there were minimal use of force by the traffic police officers during arrest. In most cases, it was the Black drivers who encountered such force from the police as some were putting up resistance. Of late, the use of force is quite common and 80% of the cases involve the Blacks even though some of these drivers never put up some resistance at all (Anthony, Elizabeth, & George, 2017). The traffic police department always attempts to defend themselves by alluding that most Black drivers are fond of attempting to flee when asked to pull over.

The article commends the efforts which were being put up by Medlock Harold, Fayetteville Chief. Besides deploying more traffic police officers in the areas which experience high crime rate, Medlock asked his officers to put much emphasis on the motorists who drive while drunk, over-speed as well as those who deliberately ignore stop signs and traffic lights. Indeed, it is difficult to visualize drivers who commit such violations. As such, this will minimize racial disparity because the officer will not be able select who to stop.

A study was conducted for a period 12 months where approximately 600,000 traffic stops were analyzed in Connecticut. The report revealed that the most affected motorists were from the Hispanic and Black races. In the article, Joseph reveals that during daytime, most Hispanic and Black motorists were being pulled over because their ethnicity and race are quite visible. Also noticeable was the fact most White traffic officers were the ones pulling over vehicles belonging to the Hispanic and Black motorists (Joseph, 2015).

By law, a traffic officer is not supposed to pull over a vehicle without proper evidence suggesting a violation of traffic or likelihood to have caused a crime. However, this not the case when it comes to Hispanic and Black motorists. It has been noted that White officers would often pull over Hispanic and Black motorists not to issue a ticket due to a traffic violation but just to search the vehicle for likelihood of having committed a crime.

The article reveals that since the year 2010, traffic officers have pulled over and searched vehicles belonging to blacks more times as compared to vehicles owned by whites. Out of the consent searches, 21% of Black searches have led to contraband being found. This in contrast to the 27% of White owned vehicle searches having contraband (Joseph, 2015).

References

Alpert, G. P. (2007). “Eliminate race as the only reason for police-citizen encounters.” Criminology & Public Policy, 6, 671-678.

Alpert, G. P., MacDonald, J. M., & Dunham, R. G. (2005). “Police suspicion and discretionary decision making during citizen stops.” Criminology, 43, 407-434.

Alpert, G. P., & Walker, S. (2000). “Police accountability and early warning systems: Developing policies and programs.” Justice Research and Policy, 2(2), 59-72

Ayres, I. (2002). “Outcome tests of racial disparities in police practices.” Justice Research and Policy, 4, 131-142.

Anthony, G. V., Elizabeth, L. G., & George E. H. (2017). “The Issue of Racial Profiling in Traffic Stop Citations.” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 33(4).

Barnum, C., & Perfetti, R. L. (2010). “Race-sensitive choices by police officers in traffic stop encounters.” Police Quarterly, 13, 180-208.

Becker, S. (2004). “Assessing the use of profiling in searches by law enforcement personnel.” Journal of Criminal Justice, 32, 183-193.

Borooah, V. K. (2001). “Racial bias in police stops and searches: An economic analysis.” European Journal of Political Economy, 17(1), 17-37

Chiricos, T., Welch, K., & Gertz, M. (2004). “Racial typification of crime and support for punitive measures.” Criminology, 42, 358-390

Engel, R. S., Calnon, J. M., & Bernard, T. J. (2002). “Theory and racial-profiling: Shortcomings and future directions in research.” Justice Quarterly, 19, 201-225

Frank, R. B. et al. (2017). “Racial Disparities in Traffic Stop Outcomes.” 9 DukeForum for Law & Social Change, 21-53.

Joseph, A. (2015). Connecticut Study Finds Racial Disparity in Traffic Stops. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 5, 2018 from https://www.wsj.com/articles/connecticut-study-finds-racial-disparity-in-traffic-stops-1428452635