Racial Disparity, Research Paper Example

Black and Latino Police Officers: Discrimination Barriers in the Workplace

Despite the passage of numerous US federal laws that prohibit discrimination, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination Act of 1967, and the more recent Civil Rights Act of 1991 which mandates monetary damages related to discrimination in the workplace, African-American and Hispanic police officers continue to face various types of discrimination on the job that negatively affect internal law enforcement management and the control of police operations. As a matter of fact, discrimination against African-American and Hispanic police officers in the workplace has led to a number of lawsuits, mostly because of barriers based on three types of discrimination–racial, religious, and sexual orientation.

As to racial discrimination or racial disparity, this type is by far the most common. In many instances, the basic civil rights of African-American and Hispanic police officers are violated by being forced to work within a hostile environment that fosters “derogatory remarks, racist graffiti on lockers, and similar conduct” by mostly white police officers. To make matters worse, these violations are often tolerated by superiors and are sometimes viewed as “part of the game” related to newly-recruited African-American and Hispanic officers. As E.J. Goodman points out, one of the worst problems associated with racial discrimination is retaliation against police officers that file discriminatory lawsuits against their employers. In many cases, these police officers become “outcasts in many precincts” and are forced to endure censure and ridicule from their fellow white officers (2004).

In addition, although not as prevalent as it was in the 1960’s and 1970’s, African-American and Hispanic police officers still find themselves being assigned as patrol officers to black and Hispanic neighborhoods, due to a mindset that minority communities are more likely to be sympathetic to police officer of their own race; also, African-American and Hispanic police officers continue to be overlooked for assignments to specialized, high profile units, such as forensics and undercover work (Dempsey & Forst, 2011, p. 184). Certainly, the barrier of racial discrimination and disparity within a police department or precinct holds the potential to greatly upset internal functioning by placing one officer against another simply because of a difference in skin color. It also lowers self-esteem and self-worth among African-American and Hispanic police officers which in turn affects their performance on the job. As to intervention techniques, the best solution would be twofold–mandatory classes on race discrimination in the workplace and a systematic weeding out of individuals that refuse to alter their discriminatory practices.

Another discriminatory barrier that has increased over the last ten years or so is religious discrimination, especially against African-American officers that practice Islam and Hispanic officers that adhere to the religious principles of the Roman Catholic faith. Due to the events surrounding the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, discrimination against Muslims in police departments and precincts has increased substantially, due in part to a misunderstanding that all Muslims support terrorist activities and organizations and live outside of traditional American culture. In some instances, Muslim police officers are forbidden to wear beards and headwear that are part of their normal religious practices. Also, many white police officers view Muslim officers with suspicion and are often unwilling to work alongside them. Of course, discrimination on religious grounds is illegal in the United States, due to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As to Hispanic officers, many that practice Catholicism refuse to participate in protecting abortion clinics from attacks by extremist groups and individuals, due to believing that abortion is murder and goes against the teachings of the Catholic Church. In these instances, the overall impact on internal police operations is one of negativity, much like the impact of racial discrimination. In essence, if police officers cannot work together as a team, then not only will the department or precinct suffer but also the communities that depend on protection via the police working side by side without being burdened by subjective discriminatory practices and viewpoints. As to interventions, mandatory classes on religious discrimination in the workplace would help to educate officers (particularly white officers) on cultural differences, thus lowering the incidences of discrimination in the police force.

Another barrier related to discrimination is sexual orientation. As David Alan Sklansky relates, despite federal laws forbidding discrimination based on sexual orientation, many gay and lesbian police officers continue to experience “strong pressures to keep their sexual orientation hidden or at least unadvertised,” especially when it comes to gay male police officers (2006, p. 1223). However, due to being a relatively new phenomenon, particularly with African-American and Hispanic police officers, it is “difficult to estimate the number of gay and lesbian police officers” currently working in various police departments and precincts in the U.S. and exactly how many have come “out of the closet” concerning their sexual orientation (Sklansky, 2006, p. 1223). Much like the previous two barriers, being racial and religious discrimination, the impact of the presence of gay and/or lesbian police officers on the force decreases officer efficiency and serves as a distraction related to performing duties both in the department/precinct and on the street. Also, the best intervention technique would be to educate officers on the facts related to sexual orientation that in the end would create a better working environment for all police officers.

References

Dempsey, J.S., & Forst, L.S. (2011). An introduction to policing. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning.

Goodman, E.J. (2004). City settles discrimination lawsuit by black and Latino officers. Gotham Gazette. Retrieved from http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/law/20040220/13/876

Sklansky, D.A. (2006). Criminology: Not your father’s police department: Making sense of the new demographics of law enforcement. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. (96)3, 1209-1243. Retrieved from http://www.law.berkeley.edu/faculty/sklansky/conference/Not_Your_Fathers.pdf