Racial Bias of Law Enforcement and What it Means for You, the Defendant

It likely comes as no surprise that the criminal justice system is rigged against people of color. Blacks and hispanics are locked up at disproportionate rates, inner city black communities are over-policed as the war on drug plunders on, blacks are more likely to be stopped and frisked, and people of color are given harsher punishments than their white counterparts for equal crimes, according to PolitiFact. All of this adds up to a system that punishes people based on the color of their skin.

Pew Research Center Findings Call for Alarm

According to recent survey administered by the Pew Research Center, entitled “Behind the Badge,” the views of 8,000 law enforcement agents were examined in regards to their jobs, racial issues, community interaction, and more. According to the paper, the national issues regarding law enforcement and race are “at a crisis point in America’s relationship with the men and women who enforce its laws, precipitated by a series of deaths of black Americans during encounters with the police.” Much of the tension is caused by increasing number of high profile cases in which police officers fatally shot a black person. The police killings of blacks has been going on for decades, or rather centuries, though in recent years there has been more attention to and backlash from these killings in the form of protests.

Police Opinion at Odds with General Public

Sixty-eight percent of police officers believe that these demonstrations (protests) are “motivated to a great extent by anti-police bias.” And, only 10 percent of officers think that the demonstrations are motivated by a “desire to hold police accountable for their actions.” Moreover, two-thirds of police officers believe that fatal encounters that prompt demonstrations are isolated incidents and are not part of a large deep rooted problem, while 60 percent of the general public believes that these fatal encounters in which a black victim is killed are indeed symptoms of a larger problem.

White and Black Police Officers Are Not in Agreement

Ninety-two percent of white officers agree that the U.S. has made enough changes to give blacks equal rights as whites, while only 29 percent of black officers agree with that sentiment. This is contrasted by the following: only 57 percent of white civilians believe that the U.S. has done enough to give blacks the same rights as whites, and just 12 percent of black civilians believe so.

Call an West Palm Beach Attorney Today

While white civilians still kill the vast majority of police officers (71 percent), blacks are still seen as the villains by police, and a large percent of the general public holds that view point as well. If you are not caucasian and have been charged with a crime of any type, you are up against a racist system that is designed to work against minorities, and you need the most experienced legal counsel available. Do not hesitate to contact the West Palm Beach criminal defense attorneys of Skier Law Firm today at (561) 820-1508.

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