Disproportionate Minority Contact Essays

Disproportionate Minority Contact Essays Disproportionate Minority Contact Essay Disproportionate Minority Contact Essay Jake Huston 11116850 Criminal Justice 205 10/30/11 Research on police and prosecutors reveals that uniformly they disagree that discrimination occurs in their agency and office. What then explains the disproportionate minority contact that occurs and the disparate treatment within the prosecutor’s office? Although police and prosecutors may contend that discrimination does not occur within their agency but that does not mean discrimination doesn’t occur. The facts show that minorities are targeted much more than whites. There are many factors that contribute to this. I don’t believe it is any one agency that specifically targets minorities but rather the criminal justice system as a whole. The interplay between the media, the criminal justice system, and the public has a huge influence on discrimination within the system. Another big factor in the disproportionate minority contact is the fact that the poor, troubled inner cities are filled with mostly minorities. The culture within these poor neighborhoods perpetuates a crime mentality that becomes an easy target for the criminal justice system. I argue that the discrimination doesn’t come from a racial bias but rather from the criminal culture created in poor areas. The media has a lot of power over the criminal justice system. The media’s ability to change public perception is a key element in the discrimination we see in the police and prosecutors agencies. As the media plays up an issue the general public responds with fear. This in turn puts pressure on police to crack down on the issue. The police widen the net and arrest more offenders for lesser crimes. This makes it appear that crime goes up due to the increased number of arrests. The media communicates this to the public and people become even more concerned. This causes legislators to make changes in the laws such as mandatory minimums. We are all exposed to the discrimination portrayed in the media. Most people describe the typical criminal as a young black male. Most people think this way because it is what we see being covered on the news. In the video Law and Disorder in Philadelphia the policemen said they are able to tell right away who is a criminal and who isn’t. This is blatant discrimination. The video also shows that the police are concentrated in poorest parts of Philadelphia that have the most crime. These projects are filled with minorities. If the police are concentrated in the poor areas with minorities and not in the predominantly white suburbs there will obviously be more minorities being arrested than whites. The culture of the inner city greatly helps to perpetuate crime. Thomas Winston in the documentary Life and Death of a Dealer talked about how growing up he felt that there was no option besides crime. He started selling drugs at the age of 13. He also said that a dealer can make $15,000 a week but working minimum wage only yields about $110. (1) In the book Code of the Street by Elijah Anderson he describes how the culture in the streets is accepting of drug trafficking. On page 110, subchapter THE CULTURAL ECONOMIC CONNECTION, Anderson says that the lack of jobs has made the underground economy an easy and lucrative industry to enter. He talks about how a family whose main concern is paying bills wont let the criminality deter them. If you can’t find a job you are going to find some way to make money. This acceptance of criminality creates many problems. In Law and Disorder in Philadelphia the cop says that he couldn’t point out one house in the neighborhood that isn’t involved in the heroin trade. This is possible because of the culture in very poor area. (2) Anderson refers to the book the Philadelphia Negro written by W. E. B. Du Bois in 1899. Du Bois said that the â€Å"submerged tenth† is characterized by irresponsibility, drinking, violence, robbery, thievery, and alienation. He also said that the problem that kept young African American men from jobs is a lack of education, connections, social skills, and white skin color. These are all true today, over 100 years later. People in these neighborhoods don’t trust the police and generally refuse to help them in any way. People here don’t live by the same code of ethics that the rest of society does. (3) Anderson says the â€Å"code of the street† is a set of informal rules governing impersonal public behavior, particularly violence. This is evident in the first chapter as he describes a trip down Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia. At the top of the street is the upper class area people stroll down the street openly with no fear. It is racially diverse where you see blacks, whites, and all other races mixing socially. The buildings are all very well maintained. As you move down the street into the poor area the buildings start to see bars and the windows, they look rundown and some have even collapsed. It becomes much less racially diverse and the street corners and open areas are filled with mostly young blacks. The middle and upper class blacks from up the street do not associate themselves with the lower class. 4) On pg. 50 Anderson tells about how he overheard a black person mutter â€Å"street nigger† to a black friend after they had a small altercation with a low class black. This shows that the middle and upper class does not associate themselves with the poor and that there is a distinct cultural difference. Everyone here has a much different attitude. Instead of the carefree strolls up the stree t you see everyone â€Å"watching their back†. There is a flagrant disregard for laws in this area. (4) Anderson talked about seeing a young teen walking through Vernon Park drinking a beer in broad daylight. This is something I would never expect to see in a park near my home. After reading Code of the Street and watching both videos I can easily see why there is the disproportionate minority contact in the criminal justice system. The poor inner city is filled with crime due to lack of opportunity. People are going to do whatever they have to do to survive. Since the inner cities are filled with minorities they are the ones targeted by police. If the inner city were filled with white people, there would be the same criminal culture.