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Nikolas Needham
RWS 2
Professor Grado

There have been many recent events that have contributed to the racial divide in the
United States. The shooting or harassment of unarmed black people has become a very common

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news story. The black community feels the police are using unnecessary force and specifically
targeting the black community. Although the police generally maintain that they are following
correct procedure, some people might maintain that the recent police actions are racially biased.
Understanding the root causes of Racial Profiling by Police is necessary to reduce controversial
incidents that are seen as racially motivated.
Research Questions:
1. Are police biased against African Americans?
2. What criteria must be met in order for a police officer to kill an unarmed man?
3. Are African-Americans more likely to commit crime?
4. Has the perception of police harassing African Americans been rising or falling?

NO PRIMARY RESEARCH. I LEFT MY COMPLETED SURVEYS AT HOME AND

FORGOT TO BRING THEM TO CLASS.

1. Are Police Biased Against African Americans?

There has been a recent rise in tension between the African American community of the
and the Police Departments in the U.S. Multiple incidents have occurred in these past year or
two where an unarmed black man has been murdered by a police officer. The black community
feel the police officers are racially profiling these men and are intentionally killing these people
based on the color of their skin. But of course the police department deny any accusations of
murder or racial profiling. According to Charlene A. Carruther, political organizer and writer
from huffingtonpost.com, black people of the U.S. do not feel safe in their own

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community. The introduction to her article starts off with her talking about her personal
experience with police racial profiling and how ten years later she can still find three cop cars
within one square mile almost anywhere in her neighborhood. She states later in her article, A
future for Black people in America must include full decriminalization of acts not considered to
be criminal when performed in non-Black bodies. Our call to action must support restorative
justice practices, quality public school systems and good living-wage jobs. The call for an end to
mass criminalization must include a call to the end of the Anti-Black Police State. Carruther is
claiming that black people are systematically criminalized and killed for acts that would be
regularly recognized as harmless when non-Black bodies perform them. It also seems she is
breaking down the situation and questioning how the black community can feel safe when they
cannot even trust the people who are supposed to be protecting them and making the world a
safer place.
In an article written by J. Correll, it reviews A Chicago study and two Denver studies
that assessed how community participants compared to trained police officers in shoot/dont
shoot scenarios, where the race of the armed or unarmed target was manipulated. So basically
the cops were in a shooting range where the racially based targets would pop up and some would
be armed or unarmed and the cops would have to take out the threats. Studies show that the
community police consistently exhibited racial bias. In the other study the officers underwent,
they had to shoot all the armed targets except this time it was timed. The cops had to finish in a
certain time limit and in doing so, the studies showed that the cops aimed primarily for black
people.
2. What criteria must be met in order for a police officer to kill an unarmed man?

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The specific criteria that must be met in order for a police officer to kill an unarmed man
is Such [deadly] force may not be used unless necessary to prevent the escape and the officer
has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious
physical injury to the officer or others. This quote came from american.aljazeera.com in an
article titled Police use of lethal force-what does the law say? The author writes about the three
unarmed black men who were killed in different situations in the recent months. According to
the law and the code, an officer only has the right to use lethal force if he feels the suspect poses
a threat of death or injury to the people surrounding him. In the case of Michael Brown, he was
18, unarmed and shot multiple times to death. The officer claims Brown tried to get his gun and
shoot him but when he couldnt he began to run. The officer then began to fire off multiple shots
while chasing the fleeing Brown, eventually catching him and killing him. But according to the
law you may only used deadly force when the suspect is armed or is a threat to the public. In
what way is running away, unarmed, considered deadly? To go along with that, you are running
and a police officer is shooting bullets at you. Would you just stop running and allow yourself to
get shot? And why didnt he just shoot him in the leg? Why did he have to shoot him four times
in the arm and 2 times in the head, a total of 6 shots? The biggest question is why did the officer
not use his taser gun? He could have easily stunned Brown and tackled him to the ground.
All of those questions yet remain to be logically answered. The main argument in
Browns case however, is that out of nowhere he rushed to the squad car and tried to reach in the
car and grab the gun so he could kill the officer. That just doesnt add up. The black community
is getting fed up with the fact that the officers who killed these men are not getting convicted of
any crime. Out of the five unarmed black men whove been killed, none of the officers have been
convicted of any crimes. The chief of the police departments of those cities just comes out with a

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bullshit story, apologizes for the tragedy, then reassures that it will not happen again. The
problem is that it keeps happening, just in different places. The black community are beginning
to gain distrust for the government and the authority over them.
The most recent example of the cops being overlooked occurred in Phoenix, resulting in
the death of a man named Rumain Brisbon. The police claimed to have seen Brisbon selling
drugs and when he approached and frisked him, he had thought he felt a gun in his pocket. When
he asked for Brisbon to show his hand, Brisbon reached for his waistband area and was killed
on sight. But according to an article on huffingtonpost.com, No criminal charges will be filed
against a white Phoenix police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man in December
during what authorities described as a struggle.
3. Are African-Americans more likely to commit crime?
African Americans are not more likely to commit crime according to the crime statistics
on www.fbi.gov. Even though the stats were provided only through 2013, Im sure there has not
been that big of a difference where the numbers would shift dramatically. Up through the year
2013, the results show there were a total of 9,390,473 police charges filed. Of that total,
6,502,919 charges were committed by white people. Black people only had 2,640,067 total
charges filed against them. That is a difference of almost four million people.
In reviewing the chart, not only did white people lead in total overall charges, but they
also had the highest totals within each category of charges. Therefore, police have no facts or
evidence to justify being on higher alert when approaching black people. According to the stats,
they should be have their attention on white people since they are committing the majority of
crimes around the U.S. Instead, the police officers focus is on black people and for this reason
the black community feels the police are racially bias towards them.

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As a matter of fact, I started writing this paper a week ago. While I am half way finished
writing it in McDonalds yesterday, I saw on the news that another unarmed black man was
killed by a police officer. This time it was caught on camera, The black man had been pulled
over for a broken tail light and decided to turn and run from the cop. After what appeared to be
an unsuccessful attempt at tasering the man, the officer immediately pulls out his pistol and fires
8 shots. The black man falls face first into the grass. Two minutes later he lies there in
handcuffs, dead. Then, the cop goes back and grabs something and throws it next to the dead
body to try and plant something. The craziest part about this situation is that this is the second
racially motivated offense for that specific officer. He will be charged with murder this time.
4. Has the perception of police harassing African Americans been rising or falling?
After seeing all the recent events that have occurred, it seems like the perception is rising
and the people of Ferguson have plenty to say about it. They say the killing of Michael Brown
just
Broke the camels back. New York Times interviewed a 33 year old black man named Mr.
Moore who lives in Ferguson. Moore claimed, The people in North County not just
African-Americans, some of the white people, too they are tired of the police harassment.
He also claimed to have attended a few Ferguson Council Meetings. He said the tension
between the black committee members and the white members is rising greatly. There are hostile
arguments going on between the people, and the black community are basically saying they have
had enough.
Moore later closed his interview with this strong concluding sentence, I understand the
anger because its psychological trauma when you see so many people

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being shot or people being falsely accused. I do not condone the violence that erupted during
some of the protests, but I do understand the frustration. And if I were younger, I probably
would have joined them.
After reading this article and some other ones as well, I have concluded there has been a
rise in the perception that the police are harassing African-Americans.
In all, the black community is starting to feel like they are being targeted and they have
had enough. It is not just happening in one town either as you can see from my research, and it is
creating more and more tension. I do not know what is going to be done for this community
problem to be resolved but something must be done quickly in order to bring peace once again.

Reference Page

Charlene A. Carruthers. (2015, April 5) Black Future Month: End the Anti-Black Police
State. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charlene-carruthers/end-theantiblack-police-_b_6604488.html
J. Correll. (2009, June) The Police Chief. Retrieved from

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http://www.fairimpartialpolicing.com/bias/
Ehab Zahriyeh. (2014, August 12) Police use of lethal force - what does the law say? Retrieved
from
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/8/12/michael-brown-policeexcessiveforce.html
David Shcwartz. ( 2015, April 1) Phoenix Cop Who Killed Unarmed Black Man Wont Face
Charges. Retrieved from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/02/phoenix-cop-killed-black-man-nocharges_n_6989540.html
FBI. (2013, January) Table 43: Race Arrests . Retrieved from
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.2012/tables/43tabledatadecoverviewpdf
John Eligon. ( 2014. August 16) Deep Tensions Rise to Surface After Ferguson Shooting.
Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/17/us/ferguson-mo-complex-racial-history-runs-deepmost-tensions-have-to-do-police-force.html

GRAPHS

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