Decoding the Connections Between Policing and Systemic Racism

Since the beginning of 2021, sixty-two Black Americans have been shot to death by police (Statista). The number of white people who have been dealt a similar fate is about double–114 deaths; however, that is despite the fact that Black people comprise just 13.1% of the United States’s population while white people comprise 76.3% (U.S. Census Bureau). The point of these statements is not to root for a proportional increase in violence; instead, these statistics are meant to bring to attention the inordinate number of Black people who are killed by police in the United States, despite the constant reassurance from politicians and police unions that systemic racism and stigmatization is absent from our country’s policing infrastructure. If that were true, the near-constant violent subjugation of Black Americans by police wouldn’t be as prominent as it is today, where even the few months after the 2020 murder of George Floyd were plagued with several police killings of Black people. In this essay, I attempt to define systemic racism and analyze the aspects of our policing system that intersect with race and violence–particularly the way we train officers and hold them accountable–in search of a solution to the violence we have become so accustomed to. While individual racism is a key factor in police mistreatment of Black people, it is just as important to acknowledge the systemic (or structural) racism within institutions of law enforcement that enable their unjust behavior. Furthermore, I argue that this systemic racism in policing is what enables individual bad actors–whether motivated by racial hostility or aggressive psychological traits–to conduct themselves with impunity.

The disparities between the treatment of Black and white civilians by the police is due in large part to systemic racism and must be more fully explored. The steps involved in unearthing even a preliminary solution to racial abuse in policing proceed as follows: first, I define systemic racism; second, I examine statistics at the intersection between police violence and race and suggest probable causes of said violence; third, I determine the extent to which systemic racism shapes policing systems; and finally, I suggest possible solutions to police violence.

With that end goal in mind, we can move on to defining systemic racism. According to Professor Frances Henry, systemic racism refers to “inequalities rooted in the system-wide operation of a society that excludes substantial numbers of members of particular groups from significant participation in major social institutions” (Henry 352). While this definition paints a broad picture, it can be coupled with the definition provided by the City of Toronto’s “Racial Discrimination and Harassment” resource: “[systemic racism] consists of patterns of behavior . . . that are part of the social or administrative structures of an organization, and which create or perpetuate a position of relative disadvantage for racialized persons” (City of Toronto). Of critical importance to my argument is that neither definition means every participant of a systemically racist organization is racist. As writer Radley Balko of The Washington Post writes, systemic racism “means that we have systems and institutions that produce racially disparate outcomes, regardless of the intentions of the people who work within them” (Balko). Essentially, systemic racism is a property of an institution–a property more often perpetuated by the institution’s framework than by its members. Understanding this is key, as is distinguishing between the influence of both policing institutions and individual cops on law enforcement. Thus, the core of this essay lies in examining policing institutions rather than individuals, as it is the former that often have the power to frame and direct the actions of officers.

Both the prejudices and predilections that permeate an institution are bound to be reflected in the actions of its workforce, often regardless of an employee’s preferences. Systemic racism can pollute the work of well-intentioned officers and bolster the work of ill-intentioned officers. For example, even if an officer has no implicit or explicit racial biases, their department’s management might put them in positions that lead to racially disparate outcomes (such as over-policing). Yet if an officer has either implicit or explicit negative biases, their department’s management will likely put them in positions that encourage or reinforce racially disparate outcomes. Those prejudices and predilections of an employee that are supported (whether consciously or unconsciously) by their institution become magnified. That being said, this claim is not meant to retract autonomy from officers–it is the obligation of those participants to confront the inequalities within their institutions, and whether or not they do is testament to their partiality. In what follows, I explore the ways in which officers with malicious intent can escape penalty under systemically racist policing institutions.

Before determining the extent to which systemic racism applies to the American police force, we must parameterize a police officer’s job. In the U.S., police officers are expected to enforce laws, respond to most emergencies, and provide social support. Though we task officers with many responsibilities–perhaps too many–we expect their ideal temperament to be calm and sensible in the face of danger, and we expect them to use force as a last resort. Under a constitution that stresses due process and the presumption of innocence, officers are also supposed to act as impartial law enforcers. However, statistics say otherwise.

Thanks to a massive list of studies compiled by Balko, we see massive disparities in the way African Americans are treated by law enforcement. A 2020 study conducted in California, which analyzed over 1.8 million traffic stops, found that Black people were three times more likely than other groups to be pulled over and searched despite the fact that searches of white drivers more often yielded illicit substances (U.S. News and World Report). A related recent study of over 95 million traffic stops in sixty police departments around the U.S. showed that Black drivers were far less likely to be pulled over at night, presumably because  their race was not as evident as in daylight (Pierson). In the case of arrests for drug possession, studies found that though the rates of marijuana usage by Black and white people was within a percentage point, the former are arrested at nearly four times the rate of the latter (Gal and Kiersz). On a New York City-specific note, non-Hispanic white residents have made up fewer than 15% of marijuana arrests over the past two decades (Drug Policy Alliance) even though they account for 33% of the city’s population (U.S. Census Bureau). Even when arrest-worthy crime is taken out of the picture, force usage by police is still much higher in Black communities: a 2018 study showed that SWAT teams are more heavily concentrated in minority neighborhoods, even when crime rates are adjusted for (Mummolo). Black men are also more likely to serve lengthy prison sentences than white men, even when charged with similar crimes (Mistrett and Fettig). Though there are countless studies illuminating the racialization of law enforcement, the patterns are already apparent in these few illustrative examples: Black people are disproportionately arrested and criminally profiled.

While it is evident that Black people are treated differently by the police, this fact does not necessarily prove that the American policing institution is systemically racist. There are several counters to that assertion, the most common being that African Americans’ higher violent arrest rates is due to their higher crime rates. This point requires nuanced analysis–it is indeed true that between 1980 and 2008 Black people were responsible for 52% of all homicides in the U.S. (Cooper and Smith). Additionally, crime rates are higher in Black communities than in other racial demographics (Peterson). To say that Black communities produce more offenders than white or Hispanic communities is statistically true–however, the underlying causes for this must be examined. John McWhorter writes for Quillette:

Today, the percentage of black people living in poverty is about two-and-a-half times that of whites (22 percent and 9 percent, respectively, in 2018). This disparity in poverty rates means black people are also disproportionately represented in rates of violent crime. Poverty can lead to dangerous survival choices that include lucrative criminal activity.

So, even if one asserts that Black criminals are treated fairly by law enforcement based on the crime rate of their communities, one must take into account that Black individuals  are more often prompted towards illegal activity for the sake of their livelihoods due to economic circumstances, such as wealth inequality. Furthermore, it can be argued that even these racial wealth gaps result from systemic racism that affects Black communities: underdeveloped infrastructure, disproportionate debt (Hanks and Solomon), inordinately low healthcare coverage (Taylor et al. ), and more–all vestiges of slavery and Jim Crow-era legislation. (“Wealth gap” is used here as separate from “income gap”; while the latter is erratic and differs greatly from household to household, the former refers to the slow accumulation of a family’s spending money over generations, which is a better indicator of its degree of social mobility.) Essentially, higher crime levels are indicators of socioeconomic strain within the Black population in the United States.

Even if the death rate for Black offenders is high due to their crime levels, that in no way justifies the way Black people who are not engaging in criminal or violent activity are treated by the police. For an officer to fire on an armed person is one thing; and yet, possession of a gun is still not itself a valid reason for trained, supposedly calm-under-pressure police to open fire (Small Arms Survey). It is inexcusable for an officer to fatally shoot unarmed people. According to The British Medical Journal, unarmed Black individuals are over two and a half times more likely than white individuals to be shot dead by police, and they are three times more likely than white people to be killed when unarmed (BMJ).

Even without reading these statistics, anyone following the news recognizes the horrifying patterns. We’ve seen them before: New York City officer Daniel Pantaleo fatally suffocating unarmed Eric Garner in 2014, the latter repeatedly crying out, “I can’t breathe”; Ferguson officer Darren Wilson shooting unarmed Michael Brown in the chest six times in 2014; San Antonio officer John Lee shooting unarmed Antronie Scott for holding a cellphone in 2016; Louisville officers spraying thirty-two bullets into unarmed Breonna Taylor’s bedroom as she slept, during a botched, unsubstantiated drug raid in 2020; officer Derek Chauvin kneeling for nine minutes on the neck of unarmed George Floyd in 2020, the latter also repeatedly crying out, “I can’t breathe.” There have been 136 unarmed Black individuals shot dead by officers in the past five years alone–and that doesn’t even include those killed by other means (Balko). Even if one cannot see evidence of systemic racism in the ways police treat armed Black offenders, one can see it through the ways police treat those who are unarmed and have the right to be presumed innocent.

Policing institutions create opportunities for violence to take place. They create contexts in which normal civil protections can be bypassed and law enforcement officers are empowered to act as judge, jury, and executioner: Black communities are drastically overpoliced (TuftsNow), Black individuals disproportionately fall victim to conditioned automated traffic enforcement (D.C. Policy Center), and police departments take very little action to combat implicit biases. On top of this partial regulation, a National Public Radio study found that several of the officers who carried out those 136 shootings had troubled pasts with drug abuse, domestic violence, and use-of-force incidents. Studies have shown that people drawn towards policing roles, whether through self-selection or recruitment from a like-minded police department, are often prone to aggressive and authoritarian behavior (Balch). Meanwhile, those who aren’t necessarily aggressive may end up taking out stress-fueled anger on vulnerable targets (Griffin and Bernard).

Hundreds of police officers have been linked to white supremacist hate groups in the past year, especially in states such as Alabama, Texas, West Virginia, and California (German). And it is no surprise that many of these same officers have been fed societally-peddled racial stereotyping for years. Law enforcement institutions have historically promoted distorted and dangerous stereotypes, making conscious efforts to classify Black people (men in particular) as savage and unsophisticated–whether using terms like “brute” in the early twentieth century or using “thug” today (Smiley and Fakunle). All in all, these aggressive personalities, coupled with the institutionalized racism within police departments, compound to form scenarios in which those who wish to inflict racially motivated violence can do so with little repercussion. Ill-intentioned and hostile officers, as well as police departments themselves, make up a law enforcement system that is inclined to inflict government-backed persecution of certain racial minorities.

Now, pointing out how these police departments influence American cops serves two purposes: first, it enlightens us on the major failings of police institutions to combat systemic racism, and second, it suggests to us some possible solutions. Studies have shown that increasing the number of law enforcement officials in any given neighborhood does not lead to lower crime rates at all (Holmes). Instead, over-policing creates tension and leads to unnecessary altercations between officers and civilians. Many have urged police departments to implement instruction in de-escalation techniques as well as incorporate implicit bias training, the latter to reduce possible subconscious racial animosities in police officers. As of 2021, twenty-nine states require some form of de-escalation training (Stockton), which “[equips] officers to distinguish a threat from a civilian in crisis” (BMJ). Up from only sixteen in 2017, these twenty-nine states including California, Illinois, and Maine often have miniscule requirements: the average amount of training is around one hour per year, and the other twenty-one states require no de-escalation training at all.

These solutions are relatively small, at best addressing only the visible effects of systemic racism in the police. And, while de-escalation training has been added to several states’ law enforcement instruction programs over the past decade, few studies have conclusively determined it makes any difference in the ways police interact with civilians (Todak). As for mandatory implicit bias training, most people are not only increasingly aware of their biases but also grow increasingly defensive when asked to speak to the possibility of their own racial biases (Gawronski). As Dr. Art Markman, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas, puts it, “[asking] people to confront their own racism is uncomfortable, and leads to a lot of resistance” (Markman). In my hometown of Austin, Texas–one of the most racially-divided cities in the U.S. (Selby)–mandatory implicit bias training was introduced over the summer of 2020. Though a step that many in the Austin community were calling for, there is little evidence it has worked; in some cases, employees of the City of Austin felt the trainings were insensitive and superficial (McGlinchy), and for other governmental departments in Texas, the trainings were rejected outright for being unnecessary (Weiss).

These findings are unfortunate, and while it is true that these programs may be a starting point in reducing possible internalized racism in employees, they are nowhere near a widespread or approachable solution. However, the greater problem is not that these programs are few and far between. My suggestion is that these trainings are insufficient to properly address systemic racism, primarily due to the fact that they focus on individual bias rather than the ways that racism is structurally embedded in the institutions and procedures of law enforcement. As I mentioned earlier, the influence of an institution outweighs the influence of its individual members; institutions have their own inertia. Programs such as implicit bias training, though undoubtedly helpful in their own respect, carry with them an accusatory nature that can overwhelm and supersede questions of societal prejudice. Far more effective is education that looks at the institution itself; instead of trainings that preemptively suppose guilt and negative biases, we should aim to educate officers on systemic racism–how it affects civilians and suspects, and how it incites unequal policing tactics (i.e., over-policing, use of force regulations, probable cause traffic stops, etc.). Though it seems contradictory, having workers look outward first may lessen tensions and get individuals out of a defensive posture.

Only after examining the way systemic racism affects the policing institution overall will examining internalized racial biases become more approachable. This is not to say that addressing individual racism is not important; however, it would be harder for racist individuals to carry out unwarranted acts of detention and violence if the policing institution precluded them from doing so. Consequently, the broader systemic racism of the institution is better eradicated through education. It is difficult to talk about topics like race and violence when they exist solely as abstract, politicized terms; self-educating about the historic, statistical inequality of the American law enforcement system is a far better way to tackle these intense conversations.

In the end, we cannot “fix” racism, or change the minds of those with outright racial biases. However, we can take steps to mitigate racism in our institutions. If this essay has made one thing clear, I hope it is that there are ways to achieve this. Systemic racism is a problem in our police force. Although this doesn’t mean all cops are racist, it does mean that police institutions do little to actively reduce the actions of those who are; in fact, they sustain and reinforce these mindsets and behaviors. Rethinking the way we structure the police and educating ourselves on the historical impact of racism in our police departments is a vital part of combating institutional racism on the whole–not just in law enforcement, but in our government, our schools, and our country. It is our obligation as citizens to undergo this restructuring–to take action and effect change ourselves, no matter how small the first step may seem.

---

Works Cited

Balch, Robert W. “The Police Personality: Fact or Fiction?” The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, 63.1 (1972): 106–19.

Balko, Radley. “Opinion | There’s Overwhelming Evidence That the Criminal Justice System Is Racist. Here’s the Proof.” The Washington Post, 10 June 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/opinions/systemic-racism-police-evidence-criminal-justice-system.

City of Toronto. “Racial Discrimination & Harassment.” City of Toronto Racial Discrimination and Harassment Resource, www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/8f52-Racial-Discrimination-Harassment.pdf.

Cooper, Alexia, and Erica L Smith. “Homicide Trends in the United States, 1980-2008.” PATTERNS & TRENDS, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Nov. 2011, www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/htus8008.pdf.

D.C. Policy Center. “Predominately Black Neighborhoods in D.C. Bear the Brunt of Automated Traffic Enforcement.” 28 June 2018, https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/predominately-black-neighborhoods-in-d-c-bear-the-brunt-of-automated-traffic-enforcement.

Drug Policy Alliance. www.drugpolicy.org.

BMJ. “Fatal Police Shootings of Unarmed Black People in US More than 3 Times as High as in Whites.” 27 Oct. 2020, www.bmj.com/company/newsroom/fatal-police-shootings-of-unarmed-black-people-in-us-more-than-3-times-as-high-as-in-whites.

“Forms of Racism.” Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre, www.aclrc.com/forms-of-racism.

Gal, Shayanne, and Andy Kiersz. “26 Simple Charts to Show Friends and Family Who Aren’t Convinced Racism Is Still a Problem in America.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 8 July 2020, https://www.businessinsider.com/us-systemic-racism-in-charts-graphs-data-2020-6.

Gawronski, Bertram. “Six Lessons for a Cogent Science of Implicit Bias and Its Criticism.” Perspectives on Psychological Science 14.4 (2019): 574–95.

German, Michael. “Hidden in Plain Sight: Racism, White Supremacy, and Far-Right Militancy in Law Enforcement.” Brennan Center for Justice, 22 July 2021, www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/hidden-plain-sight-racism-white-supremacy-and-far-right-militancy-law.

Griffin, Sean & Bernard, Thomas. “Angry Aggression Among Police Officers.” Police Quarterly 6.3 (2003).

Hanks, Angela, and Danyelle Solomon. “Systematic Inequality.” Center for American Progress, www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2018/02/21/447051/systematic-inequality.

Henry, F., & Tator, C. The Colour of Democracy: Racism in Canadian Society. 3rd Ed. Toronto, ON: Nelson, 2006.

Holmes, Zeb. “More Police Does Not Lead to Less Crime.” Sydney Criminal Lawyers, 23 Apr. 2019, https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/more-police-does-not-lead-to-less-crime.

Lopez, German. “Why Police so Often See Unarmed Black Men as Threats.” Vox, Vox, 28 Aug. 2014, www.vox.com/2014/8/28/6051971/police-implicit-bias-michael-brown-ferguson-missouri.

Loury, Glenn C. “An American Tragedy: The Legacy of Slavery Lingers in Our Cities’ Ghettos.” Brookings, 28 July 2016, www.brookings.edu/articles/an-american-tragedy-the-legacy-of-slavery-lingers-in-our-cities-ghettos.

Markman, Art. “We Need to Talk about the Science behind Implicit Bias Training.” Fast Company, 21 Oct. 2020, www.fastcompany.com/90564352/we-need-to-talk-about-the-science-behind-implicit-bias-training.

McGlinchy, Audrey. “After A ‘Damaging’ Diversity Training, City Of Austin Won’t Use Company Again For Similar Workshops.” KUT Radio, Austin’s NPR Station, 13 Sept. 2020, www.kut.org/austin/2020-09-11/after-a-damaging-diversity-training-city-of-austin-wont-use-company-again-for-similar-workshops.

McWhorter, written by John, and Published by Quillette Magazine. “Racist Police Violence Reconsidered.” Quillette, 26 Dec. 2020, quillette.com/2020/06/11/racist-police-violence-reconsidered.

Mistrett, Marcy, and Amy Fettig. “Report to the United Nations on Racial Disparities in the U.S. Criminal Justice System.” The Sentencing Project, 1 May 2018, www.sentencingproject.org/publications/un-report-on-racial-disparities.

Mummolo, Jonathan. Militarization Fails to Enhance Police Safety or Reduce Crime but May Harm Police Reputation. Department of Politics, Princeton University, 2 July 2018, www.pnas.org/content/pnas/early/2018/08/14/1805161115.full.pdf.

Peterson, Ruth D. Race/Ethnicity and Neighborhood Crime in U.S. Urban Areas: Towards an Understanding of Changes Over Time. Ohio State University, sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/dbassesite/documents/webpage/dbasse_090042.pdf.

Pierson, Emma, et al. “A Large-Scale Analysis of Racial Disparities in Police Stops across the United States.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 4 May 2020, www.nature.com/ articles/s41562-020-0858-1.

Small Arms Survey. SAS Press Release – Global Firearms Holdings. 18 June 2017, www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/Weapons_and_Markets/Tools/Firearms_holdings/SAS-Press-release-global-firearms-holdings.pdf.

Selby, W. Gardner. “PolitiFact: Austin among Most Economically Segregated Cities.” Statesman, 26 Sept. 2018, www.statesman.com/news/20180601/politifact-austin-among-most-economically-segregated-cities.

Smiley, Calvin John, and David Fakunle. “From ‘Brute’ to ‘Thug:” the Demonization and Criminalization of Unarmed Black Male Victims in America.” Journal Of Human Behavior In The Social Environment, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Jan. 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5004736.

Statista. “People Shot to Death by U.S. Police, by Race 2021.” 3 May 2021, www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race.

Stockton, Gracie. “21 States Still Don’t Require De-Escalation Training for Police.” APM Reports, 30 June 2021, www.apmreports.org/story/2021/06/24/21-states-still-dont-require-deescalation-training-for-police.

Taylor, Jamila, et al. “Racism, Inequality, and Health Care for African Americans.” The Century Foundation, 7 May 2020, tcf.org/content/report/racism-inequality-health-care-african-americans.

Thompson, Cheryl W. “Fatal Police Shootings Of Unarmed Black People Reveal Troubling Patterns.” NPR, NPR, 25 Jan. 2021, www.npr.org/2021/01/25/956177021/fatal-police-shootings-of-unarmed-black-people-reveal-troubling-patterns.

Todak, Natalie. “De-Escalation in Police-Citizen Encounters: A Mixed Methods Study of a Misunderstood Policing Strategy.” Arizona State University Graduate Supervisory Committee: Aug. 2017, de-escalate.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/De-Escalation-in-Police-Citizen-Encounters-A-Mixed-Methods-Study-of-a-Misunderstood-Policing-Strategy.pdf.

TuftsNow. “The Quest for Justice: Revitalizing Cities.” 8 Sept. 2020, https://now.tufts.edu/articles/quest-justice-revitalizing-cities.

U.S. Census Bureau. “Population Estimates, July 1, 2019 (V2019).” Quick Facts, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219.

U.S. News & World Report. “California Cops More Likely to Stop Black Drivers.” 2 Jan. 2020, www.usnews.com/news/best-states/california/articles/2020-01-02/report-california-cops-more-likely-to-stop-black-drivers.

Weiss, Debra Cassens. “Proposal for Mandatory Implicit Bias Training Is Rejected by Texas Bar Committee.” ABA Journal, 28 Jan. 2021, www.abajournal.com/news/article/proposal-for-mandatory-implicit-bias-training-is-rejected-by-texas-bar-committee.

Whitehurst, Lindsay, and Alanna Durkin Richer. “List of Deaths at Police Hands Grows after Derek Chauvin Verdict.” Chicago Sun-Times, 22 Apr. 2021, https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/4/22/22397542/police-shootings-grow-after-derek-chauvin-george-floyd-verdict.