Degree Program

Graduate

Major

Leadership Studies

Abstract

What role does ethics play in policing Black America? The criminal justice system has a race problem (Obama, 2017; Alexander, 2010). Data shows that racial disparities exist within corrections (Robertson, 2014). The numbers of minorities that are entangled within the courts, the number of arrests made by police and the numbers of unarmed blacks who have recently been killed by the police, support the notion that who have been given a pass by county prosecutors and states attorneys (Chaney & Robertson, 2015). Amadou Diallo, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and John Crawford are just a few of the names of unarmed blacks who have been killed by law enforcement (Hall, Hall, & Perry, 2016). Effective targeting of blacks (hot spots policing) by the police officers is an important component which needs further examination (Massey & Denton, 1993). To fill this gap in the literature, this study will analyze the perspective of the police officers when they interact with people of color.

In addition, according to Starratt (1991), there are three ethics that should be addressed: the ethic of critique, the ethic of justice, and the ethic of care. These ethics complements the others as it relates to the various outlooks that bring about wholeness from a community perspective (Callahan, 1998). Ethics gives the necessary information needed to make choices with the full understanding of the consequences so that the circumstances that one seeks to achieve are more balanced.

Lastly, unconscious or implicit racism and prejudice are racial biases that individuals are not consciously aware of and that are a result of the socialization process and exposure to racial stereotypes through the media and their social environment (Glaude, 2016).

Hence, this study aims to understand the perspective of the police officers through the lens of ethics and provide pedagogical recommendations that will assist future research.

Start Date

23-2-2018 1:30 PM

End Date

23-2-2018 2:45 PM

COinS
 
Feb 23rd, 1:30 PM Feb 23rd, 2:45 PM

Ethics and the Policing of African Americans and Those of African Descent in America

What role does ethics play in policing Black America? The criminal justice system has a race problem (Obama, 2017; Alexander, 2010). Data shows that racial disparities exist within corrections (Robertson, 2014). The numbers of minorities that are entangled within the courts, the number of arrests made by police and the numbers of unarmed blacks who have recently been killed by the police, support the notion that who have been given a pass by county prosecutors and states attorneys (Chaney & Robertson, 2015). Amadou Diallo, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and John Crawford are just a few of the names of unarmed blacks who have been killed by law enforcement (Hall, Hall, & Perry, 2016). Effective targeting of blacks (hot spots policing) by the police officers is an important component which needs further examination (Massey & Denton, 1993). To fill this gap in the literature, this study will analyze the perspective of the police officers when they interact with people of color.

In addition, according to Starratt (1991), there are three ethics that should be addressed: the ethic of critique, the ethic of justice, and the ethic of care. These ethics complements the others as it relates to the various outlooks that bring about wholeness from a community perspective (Callahan, 1998). Ethics gives the necessary information needed to make choices with the full understanding of the consequences so that the circumstances that one seeks to achieve are more balanced.

Lastly, unconscious or implicit racism and prejudice are racial biases that individuals are not consciously aware of and that are a result of the socialization process and exposure to racial stereotypes through the media and their social environment (Glaude, 2016).

Hence, this study aims to understand the perspective of the police officers through the lens of ethics and provide pedagogical recommendations that will assist future research.