Recently, the criminal justice system has seen a rise in systemic injustices. (Briggs, 2014). Other people are excluded from enjoying their rights and privileges because justice is not administered to everyone equitably as it should be. The most prevalent injustices in our society are racial profiling and implicit prejudice, which is what motivated me to fight against them. Additionally known as segregated social cognition, implicit prejudice. Stereotypical beliefs or behaviors are what unconsciously influence a person's understanding, behavior, and choices, making one biased. Profiling and bias in this case refer to the discriminatory actions of police officials of targeting persons based on their race, religion, ethnicity and national origin for criminal offenses. Muslims and blacks are the most common victims of these two vices today.
Education and Training of Police Officers
Training and education of police officers regarding implicit bias or racial profiling is an emerging trend that helps solve the inequality issue in the criminal justice system (Hope, 2015). The common goal for training and education is to change individual's attitudes towards the minority groups, in this case people of color or different religion. Research shows that through continuous training of the police officers their attitudes towards the minority groups change towards considering them as normal citizens.
This study hereby outlays the effects that should be highlighted when training and educating the police officers regarding the issue of racial profiling and explicit bias.
First, many innocent blacks are detained or killed without committing any offenses therefore their livelihood and that of their families get destroyed (Briggs, 2014). Secondly, the minorities have been denied their rights and basic needs based on their color, origin or religion. Lastly, innocent little children become victims of these justice inequalities, thereby affecting their future. Most often they resent against the police when they are grown.
According to Richardson et al., this education and training is necessary because the probability of an officer killing unarmed black person is higher than the rate at which unarmed white persons are being killed (2014).
The estimated probability is 3.49 times which is significantly high. Innocent people who pose no threat at all have been shot by police officers who judge them by the virtue of being black or Muslims. Research also indicates that there is no relation between the levels of violence in a region with the number of killings done by police officers in the same areas.
Blacks or people of Hispanic origin have been illegally searched without consent or stopped over by traffic police officers just by the fact that they are 'different' (Briggs, 2014).
Police officers demand compliance from this minority groups even though they do not have legal authority over such claims. Research shows that contraband has been found on white drivers double the number of times as regards black or Hispanic drivers yet the latter two are being searched four times higher that the white drivers, a circumstance that is clearly unfair.
Sheriffs have been reported to engage in unlawful detention, arrests and stops of the minority groups (Hope, 2015).
Police officers use force when executing their duties amongst these minority groups as compared to when dealing with the whites. Whites seem to be protected more that the minority when it comes to patrols in the residential or work areas. Police use more intensive force on them, for example violently pushing them to the wall and roughly using handcuffs or other weapons when arresting them as compared to white arrests.
Creation of New Policies and Training on Implicit Bias
There are a number of activities that can be engaged to solve the inequality at hand in the criminal justice system (Hope, 2015). A few examples are new innovations, laws, policies, practices or training. The study will however focus on training on implicit bias and new policy formulation. In order to curb the injustices in the department, creation of new policies and training the officers on implicit bias is crucial.
Policy Formulation
New policies that aim to eradicate the system inequalities should be formulated to help the department revert to the right track (Glaser & Knowles, 2008). For instance, policies that aim to disarm the police officer should be enacted, allowing only specific departments to own arms while the rest perform patrols unarmed. When police officers are disarmed, the number of shooting leading to death will drastically reduce. Anti-racism training policies should put in place hence enabling police officers to be sensitized about inequalities. By having police officers being trained on yearly or quarterly basis about racial discrimination, the inequalities levels in the system will reduce.
Police officers should also undergo de-escalating training hence policies that commission them to undergo such programs should be formed (Glaser & Knowles, 2008).
This equips them with skills on how to behave when faced with an incidence, which will greatly reduce the irrational killings by the officers. De-militarize policy will be of great importance if enacted since the police officers will be deprived of arms or military equipment they do not really need and in turn the number of killings among the minorities will greatly deflate.
Policies which aim to reduce the conflicts between the police officers and the minority groups should be enacted (Hope, 2015).
These regularities should bring them to a common ground hence solving their differences. Laws obliging the officers to live in the areas of work should also be enacted. This will help them identify criminals more swiftly hence avoid shooting innocent persons due to misjudgment. All these actions will assist to reduce the imbalances in the system since the minorities will respect the police officers as those who deliver their service to the community. Moreover, the rights of the minorities will also be adhered to.
Implicit Bias Training
Training on implicit bias helps the police department employees administer justice equally among the citizens (Briggs, 2014). Through training on implicit bias, the eyes of the police are opened to realize bias prevalence and its effects. Human rights and privileges and the necessities of keeping or observing them are made known to the officers, a circumstance which helps significantly in eradicate this subjectivity. Schemes of monitoring and supervising the law officers activities can be created via training programs. The training offers possible strategies that will help the police officers overcome implicit bias hence helps in eradicating it in the process.
Through sensitization, police officers get to appreciate human diversity hence viewing the minorities as fellow citizens (Glaser & Knowles, 2008).
This factor greatly reduces the number of offenses committed by the officers against blacks. Seminar forums held for the law enforcing officers enable them understand the importance or rather the significance of the minority groups hence treating them right like their fellow white citizen.
According to Briggs, when the minority groups' rights are respected and are treated without favoritism like the other citizens, there will be less resentfulness towards the police officers (2014).
The blacks and other minorities (Muslims and people of Hispanic origin) will as a result respect the entire law enforcing workforce since they are being respected and considered equal as the other citizens. As a result the number of crimes committed by the officers will significantly dwindle. The whites and the minority groups stand a chance of peacefully co-existing when they are both treated without partisanship.
Supporting Evidence of the Plan
The polices and training on implicit bias stated above have been implemented in other countries and seem to be working well to eradicate the inequality issues within the criminal justice system hence enabling peace prevail in such nations (Briggs, 2014). This proves the fact that they are relevant and efficient organs when it comes to the fight against police actions of side lining the minority groups therefore eradicating present unfairness.
In the United Kingdom (UK) and New Zealand, police officers undertake patrols armless, carrying short-guns in their cars which they use only precautiously (Glaser & Knowles, 2008).
During critical ordeals, they mostly resort to calling specialized forces to handle such situations. This has greatly reduced the number of innocent minorities being killed by police officers. The Canadian government trains their law enforcing officers concerning the issue of racism. This has elevated the level at which the minority groups are being respected and incorporated in the country's affairs. As a result the number of killings or frustration-related violence committed against the minority groups by the police officers have greatly reduced.
The state of Georgia has already taken the initiative of de-escalation training among the police officers (Briggs, 2014).
They are being taught on how to handle diverse situations without necessarily shooting the suspects. This has been reported to minimize the number of killings by about 11% in the year 2016. The government of Australia has adopted the policy of reducing arsenal from their police hence leaving them with only the necessary tools to carry out their normal daily duties. This has gone a long way in curbing the excessive use of arms by the police officers against the people they are supposed to protect.
Community policing has proved to be very efficient in solving the issues of inequalities in the criminal justice system (Glaser & Knowles, 2008).
For example in Switzerland the police patrolling a given area live in the same place hence enabling them to understand and note the patterns of the residence. By doing so, they are able to point out the common activities of the area hence avoiding mistaking minority groups for crimes they are not liable to. The police officers also get integrated with the residences of the area hence appreciating the diversity of the region. They treat each citizen equally thus less resentment cases about the police are presented.
Implicit bias training program was initiated in the United States during the Bill Clinton's reign (Glaser & Knowles, 2008).
He assigned funds to the police training on the issue of implicit biasness with the aim of reducing the inequalities within the criminal justice system. This step has gained popularity in the recent years and has proved to yield positive impacts in the US. Since it's commissioning, the minority groups are being slowly accepted into the society. It is a work in progress scheme hence the positive outcome ought to increase with time as the training carries on.
Research indicates that the number of brutal killings amongst the blacks and other minorities have greatly reduced after the introduction of implicit bias training to the police department (Briggs, 2014).
The vice is estimated to have dropped by about 34% from 1900's. Blacks and other minority are slowly being integrated in to the society and treated on an equal platform as the whites. This is a significant drop which proves the training's efficiency.
Expected Outcome
By incorporating the stated solutions above, the criminal justice will be able to solve the inequality issue; progressively the department will be free from bias issues or complaints (Glaser & Knowles, 2008). The number of killings resulting into shooting done by policemen will greatly reduce, since they will become more conscious of their activities or acts. The officers will become keener when handling crime incidents, therefore reducing the number of minority killings.
The traffic police officers will learn to make stop-overs when necessary and not prejudiced towards the drivers' racial alignment.
This step will enable the minorities enjoy traffic rights just as the other citizens (Briggs, 2014). By disarming the police officers, they learn how to handle crime cases without necessarily using arms. Dialogue will therefore be widely employed when handling criminals hence making them submissive to the officers.
In addition, the training activities undertaken to improve the system with the aim of eradicating inequalities will help in equipping the officers with extra skills of handling different situations (Johnson et al., 2015).
They will therefore act diligently when executing their duties. These reforms will also help to minimize the level of force used while arresting blacks and other minorities hence making them feel accepted in the society. Security patrols in regions where the minorities are residing will help to hinder or alter the emergence of gang groups. This aspect will mean that the number of crimes committed will drastically reduce in the country.
Through community policing the minority groups and the police officers are able to come into a consensus with respect to the law through dialogue (Johnson et al., 2015).
Common grounds are formed amongst them hence reducing police brutality as well as minority protests and demonstrations. Acceptance of the minorities by the police will lead the other white citizens to do the same hence creating a peaceful co-existing community.
Through understanding their powers, the police officers will claim compliance only when necessary or when liable to be respected, therefore avoiding cases where the minorities are harassed (Briggs, 2014).
By indulging in proper, objective inspections the police will be able to reduce the number of shootings of un-armed black persons or other minorities. Human rights and privileges will be made known to the police officers through training and education hence most of them will comply and as a result avoid sidelining the minority groups.
The minority groups are likely to comply with the laws of the state hence reducing the crime rates when they are fairly treated (Glaser & Knowles, 2008).
This will mean that the number of protests or demonstrations carried out by the minority groups will significantly drop as a result of fair respect extended to them as similar to the whites. All these actions will result into a peacefully co-existing society since the minority rights will be observed. The nation will therefore be integrated hence progressing in all aspects ranging from economical to social angles.
Estimated Duration
The proposed solutions need to be employed progressively and systematically hence is considered work in progress (Johnson et al., 2015). Before it is completely assimilated, it will have to pass through various stages and authorities for consideration and amendments. Being a democratic country, the citizens' views need to be embraced, a facet that will further slow down the process. Considering the change reported last year with regards to the minority killings reducing by 34% only from the 1900s, it is evident that inequality eradication process within criminal justice system will take a long time. However, the government being the final decision maker, can enhance the whole procedure by hastening the compliance processes.
References
Briggs, C. (2014). The Reasonableness of a Race-Based Suspicion: The Fourth Amendment and the Costs and Benefits of Racial Profiling in Immigration Enforcement. S. Cal. L. Rev., 88, 379.
Glaser, J., & Knowles, E. D. (2008). Implicit motivation to control prejudice. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44(1), 164-172.
Hope Sr, K. R. (Ed.). (2015). Police corruption and police reforms in developing societies. CRC Press.
Johnson, D., Farrell, A., & Warren, P. Y. (Eds.). (2015). Deadly injustice: Trayvon Martin, race, and the criminal justice system. NYU Press.
Richardson, L. S. (2014). Police racial violence: Lessons from social psychology. Fordham L. Rev., 83, 2961.
