“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!” As I turned to the evening news August 9th, 2014, I heard the sounds of an event that would soon change a nation. I was fifteen, when the famous shooting in Ferguson, Missouri left one man dead, one man accused of the worst, and one nation changed. For the first time in my lifetime, riots began breaking out, military force was used on American civilians, and a controversy that suddenly mattered to me, emerged. That August summer night, I wouldn’t have been able to imagine how these six shots changed the way American law enforcement would police, and the way the American public would view their local law enforcement. The topic of the relationship between law enforcement and the people to whom they serve is an issue of concern.  I decided to further examine how Ferguson affected the way law enforcement is viewed by minorities across the United States and how this image affected the way law enforcement police. Although the events of Ferguson changed the way the public views law enforcement, the American Justice system effectively upholds a high standard of justice to the citizens for which they serve and protect.

In 2014, the investigation of Officer Daren Wilson caught the attention of the American people nationwide. In Ferguson, Missouri, white police officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown, a black man, killing him. According to one eyewitness report, Officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown in the back as he was walking away. As a result of this eyewitness report, the Justice Department conducted a thorough investigation into the events that unfolded in Ferguson. The Justice Department’s investigation included several eyewitness reports, physical evidence, and forensic reports which contradicted the first eyewitness report. Prior to being shot, evidence was revealed in the investigation that Michael Brown had posed a physical threat to Officer Darren Wilson. Officer Wilson did not shoot Brown in the back. The Justice Department’s investigation concluded, much to the frustration of the African-American community of Ferguson, that Officer Darren Wilson had not committed any prosecutable crimes.

The Justice Department, after investigating Officer Darren Wilson, conducted a second investigation into the conduct of the Ferguson Police Department. The investigation revealed that several emails containing racist jokes were had been exchanged throughout the police department. The Ferguson Police Department was also found guilty of discriminatory intent. The Ferguson’s police force unconstitutionally polices African American minorities for revenue. This becomes evident when looking at the facts that prior to the killing of Michael Brown, black people in Ferguson were twice as likely than white people to be searched during a stop, receive a citation and be arrested during the stop. The Ferguson Police Department used the local black population hard earned money for a primary source of revenue for the city. Even though the Ferguson Police Department is corrupt and unethically policed, I would suggest does not represent the majority of law enforcement.
Following the events in Ferguson, Missouri, Sunil Dutta, a self-described “a liberal academic” explains how he decided to become a police officer in Los Angeles Police Department “hoping to make a difference.” Dutta, writes of his first traffic stop as part of the Los Angeles Police Department, when he spotted a reckless driver speeding through the streets of Van Nuys. After he pulled the pick up over, Dutta writes that the driver began to yell at him, accusing him of pulling over the truck because the driver was black. He writes of how, after his very first traffic stop, he found himself being accused of an unjust, racially-motivated stop. Sunil Dutta differentiates between using race to profile a wanted criminal and racial profiling as a general screening process of the general public.
When searching for a wanted criminal who has committed a crime, police officers search individuals that fit the descriptions given by witnesses. These descriptions include age, gender, tattoos and, of course, race. Racial profiling, is different because it targets groups of people based only on their race or ethnicity. Racial profiling based on personal prejudices is both illegal and immoral when used by police officers. Members of racial minorities have a perception that police unfairly single-out members of specific ethnic and racial groups based on their own prejudices.  There are unfortunate effects of the construed views many minorities have of police officers. These consequences include deepening the divide and mutual mistrust between police officers and the communities to which they serve. There is a solution to stopping worsening tensions by installing video cameras to every police patrol car. These cameras will hold police officers more accountable while protecting them from false accusations. Misconceptions held by minorities has led, in many cities, a mutual mistrust. Finding ways to strengthen relations between law enforcement officials and the public should be a priority in every police department.

The police department of Ferguson, Missouri was rightly held accountable for their misconduct within the department. This included one officer being fired and two others put on disciplinary leave. The prejudicial culture allowed in the Ferguson Police Department was not only an embarrassment to the profession but also permitted illegal profiling of the black population. I do, however, question the implication of the medias portrayal of the event that these practices represent the majority of police departments around the country.

I was able to understand a new point of view in the tension between black citizens and white police officers in Dr. Sunil Dutta’s article published in, entitled, “Police Use Criminal Profiling to fight Gangs and Crime.”  Even though this particular topic is regularly publicized on social media, television, magazines and newspapers around the country, very little is presented from the point of view of the police officers. Dr. Sunil Dutta is an Indian-American professor at Berkeley who has served on the Los Angeles Police Department for seventeen years. I agree with Dutta’s view that racial profiling is immoral. Singling out a citizen based only on their race is a corrupt act. As Dutta states, however, much of the general public and members of racial minorities have confused racial profiling and using race, amongst several other characteristics, to profile wanted criminals filling description given by witnesses to an actual crime. As previously stated, this type of profiling to catch identified criminals is both legal and ethical. Profiling minority populations based on personally held prejudice, especially in law enforcement, is wrong. Although the unjust practice of racial profiling happens today, the percent of police officers who practice this illegal and immoral policing practice is low. Those who unethically police are held accountable for their misconduct. These consequences include getting fired, being put on administrative leave or suspension. Law enforcement officials are also held accountable by their superiors and the general public.

Throughout my research, I have found article after article talking about the corrupt workings of the American Justice System. This inspired me to survey minority teenagers in Joliet. Twenty-nine percent of the people who took the survey were Navajo. The Navajos surveyed have spent a majority of their life in various cities around the country. Twenty-eight percent of people who participated in the survey were Syrian-American. The Syrian-Americans who took the survey travel regularly throughout the United States and abroad. Forty-three percent of the people who took the survey were African-American. The African-Americans who were surveyed had lived in the L.A. area for all but the last three years of their lives. I conducted this survey in November 2015. The people surveyed had never been convicted any felonies. The survey question asked was, whether or not they had ever been personally discriminated against by a police because of your race? One-hundred percent of people who took my survey said that they had never felt discriminated against by police nor witnessed other minorities being discriminated against by police in Joliet, previous place of residence, or in their travels in the US and abroad. Many of them even went as far as to defend police officers and the American Justice System. Although those surveyed offered a broad experience as a whole, their experiences are unlike those in Ferguson.

After receiving the unexpected results from my survey, I wanted to know how the unpopular portrayal of police officers in the media has affected the police officer’s ability to effectively do their job. Recently I interviewed Officer Robert Reed, former Chief of Police for the Joliet Police Department. Officer Reed has been working as a law enforcement officer for thirty-six years.

With all the recent reports of police officers and law enforcement being racially biased I wanted to know if Officer Reed had ever been accused of racially profiling someone. Officer Reed said, “Yes, I was out on patrol one day on the interstate at about one o’clock in the morning when I saw a car driving the wrong direction. I pulled him over and approached his car. The man in the driver’s seat then accused me of pulling him over only because he was Indian.” Officer Robert Reed provided a story similar to the one Sunil Dutta had experienced. Officer Reed continued telling of how this was an untrue accusation and there was no discriminatory intent explaining, “[The driver was] driving the wrong way on the interstate, but that it was one in the morning and completely dark. Even if it was light out I wouldn’t be able to see the race of the person in the driver’s seat through the head rest.” Both Officer Reed and Officer Dutta faced similar false accusations for traffic stops. When someone feels that they are being racially discriminated against, they have the right to hold the officer accountable by reporting the incident. However, police officers should have protection from false accusation.

Another inquiry I needed perspective on was how law enforcement has changed since Ferguson. Officer Robert Reed explained that after Ferguson many people were angered at the way the Ferguson Police Department conducted affairs. Unfortunately, many channeled that anger towards their local police department and the law enforcement profession even though the police department in Ferguson inaccurately represented law enforcement officers as a whole.

After the interview with Officer Robert Reed and the survey conducted with the minorities of Joliet, I began to see how the construed views of Ferguson may have impacted police relations nationwide. The 2014 event in Ferguson, may have caused minorities to fear law enforcement. Minority mistrust of police officers, in some cases, has caused individuals who have been stopped by law enforcement officials to be more confrontational which can cause a seemingly routine interaction to become enflamed.

As shown in Ferguson, even where a department has been found guilty of fostering a culture of racial bias, the individual officer, in the heat of a confrontational event, did not have discriminatory intent. Hearing the perspective of law enforcement from Officer Reed and Dutta, helped me to balance the very real issue of race and policing in America. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012), police work is a physically demanding, dangerous and a stressful job that requires long, around-the-clock shifts while only making an average yearly pay of less than $57,000. The men and women who work in law enforcement deal with dangerous criminals every day to make the communities for which they serve safer. Officer Reed explained how police are charged with assessing dangerous and intense situations and “must make life or death decisions in an instant.” Police officers work tirelessly to protect all the people in the communities for which they serve.

As an American citizen, reading about a corrupt police force in Missouri is disturbing. Officer Reed addresses the “bad cop” perception that unfortunately results after events such as Ferguson when he states, “even though ‘bad cops’ do exist, they are a minority.” I feel that a productive perspective into the discussion of racial profiling in the police profession is differentiating definition between illegally racially profiling and profiling criminals based on an eyewitness description. The few police officers who take part in the illegal practice act of racial profiling are held accountable and face consequences including suspension. Unfortunately, the acts of the few unethical police officers have tainted the perception the public for which they serve have for local law enforcement.

The divide between minorities and police officers has grown substantially since Ferguson. Both Officer Dutta, and Officer Reed are in agreement that mending police relations should be a high priority around the country. I feel that both officers and civilians hold a shared responsibility in restoring communal peace. I feel that utilizing cameras as a way of holding officers accountable, while protecting them from false accusations, is a step in the right direction. The Justice Department served as an effective check and balance in Ferguson. Because the American Justice system works, officer Darren Wilson was exonerated even though the Ferguson Police Department was found guilty of fostering a culture of discrimination.

The media can be an important force affecting the way the public views law enforcement officials. Covering productive changes in policing practices along with educating the public of the day-to-day challenges officers face will substantially help regain a level of trust and respect of the police. The media can also provide information explaining how to file a complaint or report when an officer is not following proper conduct. This would allow the public to hold their local officials accountable. Police relations and accountability are an important part of successful law enforcement and should be a priority in departments across the United States.

Ferguson is an example of the imperfection that exists in law enforcement. It is also an example that through the checks and balances of the Justice Department, corrupt police departments are held accountable when they unethically police. Through the insights of officers Dutta and Reed, we see that police work is affected not only by the perception of the officers, but also the perceptions of the public they serve. With national media coverage of events such as Ferguson, communities around the country are brought in to the conversation about race relations and policing practices. Although the police department in Ferguson was corrupt and a poor example of the profession, they were held accountable for their misconduct. The law enforcement officers continue to hold a high standard of justice to the communities for which they serve. Despite the events of Ferguson and the resulting changes in public perception of policing, I believe that police work continues uphold a high standard of justice to the citizens for which they serve and protect.