The Latino Hispanic community has been considered to be the largest minority population in the United States making up a greater percentage ever since the massive immigration of the community into America at the turn of the 20th century. Police officers play a vital role especially in the relationship between the government and community residents. The view and perceptions of police about different communities varies depending on ethnicity or race. Most police officers have a generally positive experience with the Hispanic community as these officers feel respected and trusted by people of the Latino-Hispanic community. However, other police officers feel that most people from this community are very aggressive and are involved in many criminal activities and due to this experience the Latinos are mostly subjected to illegal detention, illegal arrests, corporal handling and arrest on weak suspicion by the police department. Language barriers also lead to negative experiences between the police and the community as most police officers cannot effectively communicate with this community and therefore misunderstandings. Cultural differences also result into additional challenges as most people from this community are not particularly familiar with standard police procedures. The language barriers existing between this community and the police should be eliminated in order to avoid misunderstandings (Finkelstein, 2006).
The Asian community consists of a broad aspect of distinct groups. Many people from this community usually experience challenges with the society especially the police department. Several events that have taken place across the United States have proven that many police officers have challenges especially understanding the diversity of behaviors, customs, values and activities associated with distinct Asian communities. The police have had different negative experiences with the Asian community especially when it comes Asian gangs that are engaged in criminal activities such trafficking of humans, narcotics and firearms. On the other hand these community feels that there human rights are being persistently violated through police misconduct. The Asian community has been considered to be economically successful, socially accepted and very conservative and therefore police have had particularly positive experiences with this community. Furthermore, the police experience low criminal behaviors levels with this community.
Many attempts have been made to enhance relations between the police and the African American community and in addition the police have negative experiences with this community as they struggle to ensure trust between them and the community and all this has led the police to use inappropriate force against people of this community. The police encounter aggressive experiences for this community as they engage in crime. On the other hand African Americans experience physical and verbal misconduct from the police. Positive experiences have also been observed with the police making efforts to build trust with this community and African Americans findings better appropriate ways to relate with the police force. The government should pass laws that will protect the African American community from inappropriate force by the police.
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The relationship between the Muslim community and the police department has been considered to be very dysfunctional. However the police department is making efforts to rebuild trust. The police have had violent experiences with the Muslim community particularly with regards to terrorism and their belief in the radicalizing force. However some police officers have encountered positive experiences with the Muslim community. Policies and strategies should be implemented in order for both parties to express willingness to embrace a better relationship. Intensive training of the police department in order to instill a better perception of this community in order to avoid discrimination is very essential. The police should also consider the Muslim culture as they look forward to a better relationship with the Muslim community (Steverson, 2016).
- Finkelstein, J. (2006). Reaching the Latino community. Community Oncology, 3(6), 343-345.
- Steverson, L. (2016). Warning! Signals of Crime and Disorder: Community Reactions and Police Response. Symbolic Interaction, 39(3), 516-518.