[molson]

I don't know if race had anything to do with these two particular incidents, but obviously race has always been a big issue/concern in law enforcement. I've been thinking about this in the context of the discussion that came up a few pages back about racism then v. racism now, about whether racism "still exists." I think everybody agreed that the situation has changed a lot. But in some ways, I think "modern", subtle, inherent, cultural, subconscious racism (and sexism) can be even more insidious and damaging than the old-fashion slur-yelling kind.

Because now, prejudice and bias is still in every corner of our society, but - we don't really often see it directly like we did in the old days. But the numbers prove its there. Not just in law enforcement, but in salaries, job opportunities, cab wait times, housing, characterizations in the media, it's everywhere. Some of it can be explained by economic racial disparity, but even controlling for that, that bias and prejudice is there. And what makes the underlying cultural racism so insidious and damaging is that we don't realize that we're doing it. Bosses aren't literally saying, "well, this is a black women, so let's go ahead and knock 20% off the salary". Racism and sexism are particularly terrible things because they can impact even well-meaning people, even people who speak out against racism, even people who sincerely believe that they have no biases themselves. So it can always be "somebody else" that is the problem, even within the ranks of law enforcement, or employers, or whatever.

So in this thread and elsewhere, there's posters who recognize that insidious hidden nature of racism, but don't treat it that way when it comes to law enforcement. Instead, the officers are all just dirty racists who love to hassle black people. Any decision they make, whether it be stopping someone for walking in the middle of the street, or for using force, is always viewed as being directly based on race. "The same thing would never happen to a white person" because officers are racists and liars. Basically, they're reacting to these officers as if they're the more overt 60s'-style KKK racists, as opposed to people who, like everyone else, live in this society with prejudice and bias underlying everything.

I don't see how productive that is because it doesn't bring them to the table, even the "good ones." (As I said way earlier in this thread, when you group all officers or prosecutors, you nullify the ethical ones, which makes improvement impossible. We're the people actually trying to make things better - as opposed to just bitching on message boards.) It makes them defensive. How couldn't it? You're judging them based on a group category and assuming things about their intentions based on those stereotypes. The generalizations and assumptions made here are harsh, and it's so easy to take offense to them, and I probably take much less offense to them than average just because I've seen these issues from a bunch of different sides.

There are more productive ways to approach these issues than anger and these broad accusations. I've been a part of some of them in officer trainings. They get right to the heart of things - recognize modern racial prejudice for what it is - an evil that can effect anyone, even the liberal, even the tolerant, even those who strive to be open-minded. One part of that training that really stuck with me is how different cultural groups react differently to encounters with law enforcement. Things that would look defiant and challenging if coming from an American teenager are actually signs of deference and respect and submission when coming from a Mexican. Well trained and seasoned cops know this, poorly trained rookie cops might not.

Another example is what types of concrete factors actually contribute to a reasonable suspicion finding to justify a Terry stop or a Terry frisk. We really try to emphasize why "gut feelings" are not helpful by focusing on the concrete things that actually contribute to a reasonable suspicion justification. Because "gut feelings" are never truly based on your "gut" - they're based on prior experiences, biases, ignorance, or other inappropriate factors. I have no idea how good these kinds of trainings are in other places, but even when they're great, in a class of 100, you're still going to get a handful of idiots who either don't have the aptitude to make these distinctions, or are actually racist in an old-timey sense and are smart enough to hide it. For those people - I'd like to make it easier to fire them, and I guarantee you most police departments feel the same way.