Answer discussion question and reply to two student post
What ethnic and gender differences characterize policing today? What is the social significance of this diversity?
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Kaitlyn Grissom,
A 1968 survey of police supervisors found a large difference between the number of black and white officers in leadership positions. One of every 26 black officers were promoted to sergeant while in whites it was 1 in 12. Only 1 in every 114 black officers was promoted to lieutenant whereas among whites it was 1 in every 26. Today, many departments are encouraging a diversity among officers as more than 30% of all metropolitan Detroit police force are black. While the amount of ethnic minorities in the force are growing drastically, women are still unrepresented. According to a survey done by National Center for Women and Policing, women only occupy 12.7% of all law positions nationwide (Schmalleger p.207). Ethnic diversity is important along with diversity training so that officers are able to communicate with the cultural variation in communities. Some benefits of recruiting more women is that they tend to use less physical force than men and are better at de-escalating situations with citizens than their male counterparts. Diversity is vital in criminal justice careers in order to balance the demands of the job.
Schmalleger, Frank. (2017). Criminal Justice A Brief Introduction. Pearson.
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Richard Walker
This week’s reading provided a lot of information regarding standard operating procedures and incidents that initiated laws. I enjoyed reading about cases where police officers, such as Franceso Serpico, stood up against corruption. ( Schmalleger, 2018). Many changes and training have been implemented into departments nationwide. Ethnic and gender differences are also contributing to policing today.
The police force in our country has most commonly been predominately white. It still is but there has been an increase in the amount of Black and Latino officers. According to our textbook, Criminal Justice: A Brief Introduction, the rate of non-white officers is increasing. In 2003, the number of Black officers increased by thirty-seven percent, and Latino officers increased by ninety-eight percent. The text also points out that women are still underrepresented in law enforcement. There are an estimated 90,000 female officers, twenty percent of all law enforcement. ( Schmalleger, 2018).
There is a need for diversity in this field as-is with any. It makes sense to have a fair representation of officers that resemble the communities in which they serve. The lack of women in the department continues to be an issue as is the lack of non-white officers in higher positions. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done. There must also be a focus on ending racism and discrimination within the force.
Reference
Schmalleger, F. (2018). Criminal justice: A brief introduction. Pearson.
