The current state of affairs between police and the minority community

Notably, there is an accrued conflict, push and friction between the minority groups
and police an aspect that has resulted in development of a volatile relationship between these
two groups in the American society. As a result, the created relationship has resulted in a
complex and rather enduring problem in American society which time to time has caused
multiple problems. For instance, there is the claim that some minority groups are deprived
police services and protection which they are entitled to. On the other hand, there is also the
claim that police officers refrain from providing security with the claim that some of the
minority groups are too violent, and police are usually moving targets in those communities.
A more acute problem is when there is a direct skirmish between the minority groups and
police which is very unsettling. All these social notions some of which are vague raises the
question of whether the current situation between the two social facets is due to perceived or
real injustices towards the minority group.
Checking whether the current claim on the state of affairs between the minorities and
the police is complex process as it is evident that there many variables in play for the whole
process. Though there no an accrued excuse for police lack of fairness and poor attitude
toward minorities as it reflects the value of the larger community, sometimes the police might
perceive the discriminatory attitude and behavior justified towards a given group. This aspect
is created by the prejudice of the larger community towards the minority group a notion that
indicates that the current claim of injustices by the minority groups are real ad they might
even be worse than we think (Roles Moak, Ten Bensel, 2016). Most minor communities are
still being viewed as inferior and alien a prejudice that has further been reflected by the action
of the police when delivering their services to the minority groups.

The reality of the injustice that is accorded to the minority groups by the police can
further be reflected by a closer look at the recruitment policies and the whole process at large.
What is evident is that the recruitment process of police in United States largely reflect that of
the larger community and this aspect further determines the racial and ethnic direction of
policing. The effort to ensure diversity in the police force has proved to be difficult, and with
current racial problems facing the country, the policing process becomes one of the tools that
largely propagates racial and ethnic discrimination. In police recruitment policies, there is the
assumption that the United State society is united, which is not the case. The policies should
be a position embrace racial diversity that exists in the country and accept that there is an
accrued conflict between the police and minority groups (Paoline Gau, & Terrill, 2016).
There are expected problems when the whole police force is made of a community that is
conflict with another as biases are expected to arise in the policing process.
In modern American society, it is evident that the police department has realized that
there is conflict between police and the minority groups and has tried to develop approaches
that will in reducing the problem. This single gesture by the police is true indicator that there
a conflict between the police and minority groups which has, in turn, develop to multiples
cases of injustice propagated by the police force (Oliveira, & Murphy, 2015). An example of
the reforms that meant to reduce this conflict was community policing reform which was
pinned in the late 20 th century. But the reforms proved to be ineffective due to lack of police
accountability in most of the affected areas a notion that allowed many police department to
get away with many cases of social injustices towards members of minority groups.
The reality of the conflict between police and minority groups and the injustices that
accorded to them can further be reflected by a review of the number of incarcerated people of
people. Notably, African American make up about 12% of the total national population.
However, they account for about 25% of all arrests in United States and about 30% of those

incarcerated in prison and jails. This statistic paints the whole picture of the conflict that
exists between the police and the minority group. There is an accrued presumption of guilt
that has been accorded to minority groups in United States which have furthered the conflict
between the groups and police.

Conclusion

Based on the above argument, it is true to conclude that the conflict between the
police and minority groups is real and it has resulted in multiple acts of injustices on the
minority. There is great gap in the policing policies that require to be addressed if some of the
vices in police departments are to be stopped. Though many efforts have been made to deal
with the problem, there is the need to view the problem from the ground and strive to change
the perception of the police and major communities towards the minority groups.

References

Roles, R., Moak, S. C., & Ten Bensel, T. (2016). Perceptions of police among Hispanic
immigrants of Mexican origin in the southeast United States. American Journal of
Criminal Justice, 41(2), 202-219.
Paoline III, E. A., Gau, J. M., & Terrill, W. (2016). Race and the police use of force
encounter in the United States. The British Journal of Criminology, 58(1), 54-74.
Oliveira, A., & Murphy, K. (2015). Race, social identity, and perceptions of police bias. Race
and Justice, 5(3), 259-277.