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Law Enforcement Perception and Race Relations

John W. Liles II

LEPSL 500

February 11, 2019

Nuno Tavares
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Law Enforcement Perception and Race Relations

James Comey provided the audience of Georgetown University with an insightful

perspective about law enforcement and race relations in America today. He did not shy away

from the truth of past mistakes by law enforcement and admitted there is a disconnection

between the community and police. A Pew Research Center Survey supports many of the

comments made during his speech as well. Further, he did not deny that certain biases exist in

some form within the law enforcement community and brought forward ideas about correcting

them. The following will be a compare and contract perspective of the themes, evidence, and

argument from the Director and the PEW report. Finally, the themes and evidence, both

complementary and contradictory, of the two resources will also be assessed.

When discussing bias, the director was candid about admitting that it is a regular part of

police culture because, as humans, we all carry bias and law enforcement officers are no

exception. However, in contrast, he believes officers overwhelmingly sign up to help people but

develop some form of cynicism that complicates their interactions over their tenure. He cites the

example that a majority of officers’ arrests made in particular neighborhoods are offenders who

are predominantly young black men. Those numerous negative contacts create bias when

encountering a law-abiding black man in the same neighborhood (Comey, 2015).

Director Comey adds a contrasting perspective by suggesting the causes of the bias on the

officers part can be due to continuous negative interaction based on the circumstances of these

black men, i.e., they come from broken homes, did not receive a quality education, live in

poverty, are unemployed or born into crime-ridden neighborhoods that cause them to participate.

The suggestion is that these black men essentially inherited the life they are living. Bias is then

prevalent based on these real and perceived interactions. The question becomes, how can these
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biases be addressed and how can we improve relations between the police and the communities?

He suggests that law enforcement as a whole can start by having empathy to understand the

people they encounter. He emphasized the problems with relations between the police and the

community can be addressed when law enforcement actually “see” the people they serve.

However, in contrast, he says “seeing” needs to work in both directions. Therefore, both must

find a way to “see” each other better. He posed the question, “do we actually even know the

people we serve and do they know us?” If we do not, then there must be an investment in the

maintenance of a community by increased Community Oriented Policing (COP).

Through COP we can begin to address the different attitudes and perceptions of both

police and community members. As an example, the PEW survey indicates there are differing

perspectives on deaths of blacks at the hands of police. For example, two-thirds of all police

officers say deaths of black people by police are an isolated incident. However, only four-in-ten

members of the public agree with 60% believing that these deadly encounters are the result of a

broader problem between blacks and police. He suggests that expanding COP is important to

building relations in the community, which is not easy and come with many challenges because

of numerous negative high profile encounters. As stated in the PEW report, “police say their

jobs are harder now as a consequence of recent high-profile fatal incidents involving blacks and

police” (Morin, Parker, Stepler, & Mercer, Janu). The report identifies that about eight-in-ten

believe policing is more challenging and dangerous because of these high profile incidents.

Another area of concern with race relations identified in the PEW survey is the officer’s

perceptions of tension between police and minorities. The survey supports the notion that a

majority of police officers have good relations with whites, Hispanics and Asians, with 56 %

even stating relations with blacks are good as well. However, as the report indicates, their
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response varies depending on the ethnicity of the officer, which indicates only 32% of black

officers believe relations are good with blacks in the community. What do these varied

responses tell us? One indication is that there is still much work to be done creating racial

proportionality of the police force in the community they serve. Director Comey supported this

idea when he said that a police force should be racially diverse and should reflect the community

they police. Although a point of contention with creating a diverse police force comes with

specific challenges. Director Comey indicates recruiting has been one of the many hurdles law

enforcement organizations face. Finding the most qualified and motivated candidates are not

always readily available or even have an interest in public service.

We in law enforcement must focus on the importance of improving relations with the

community. Whether we are of the same ethnicity, upbringing or circumstance of those we

police we can remain no less empathetic during encounters. We must continue to recognize our

personal bias and work to eliminate them. We must also continue to strive to build trust. These

very ideas are supported in a report commissioned by President Barack Obama aptly named ‘The

Presidents Task Force on 21st Century Policing.’ The report discusses how to build trust

between law enforcement agencies and the people those organizations serve. On the opening

pages of the report it states, “Building trust and nurturing legitimacy on both sides of the

police/citizen divide is the foundational principle underlying the nature of relations between law

enforcement agencies and the communities they serve” (p.1). The main take away is that

relationships matter. Seeing and knowing those we serve will build trust and create solutions to

bias and all will benefit from those efforts.

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References

Comey, J. (February 12, 2015). Law Enforcement & Race Relations. Retrieved from

http://https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4528067/james-comey-full-speech

Morin, R., Parker, K., Stepler, R., & Mercer, A. (January 11, 2017). Behind the Badge. Pew

Research Center. Retrieved from

http://http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2017/01/11/behind-the-badge/

Ramsey, C., & Robinson, L. Co-Chairs (2015) The Presidents Task Force on 21st Century

Policing