I believe that a big systematic issue in today’s world is the over-policing in low-income neighborhoods. specifically, the neighborhoods and areas that have a very high percentage of black people. This has been an issue since the very beginning of policing. There have always been issues with policing and as time goes on it seems that there have just been efforts to hide some of these issues. The issue with over-policing is that those who reside in these over-policed areas are much more likely to face unwarranted treatment than those that live in better areas. Living in low-income areas already brings forth so many challenges such as redlining, worse education, and low funding. Policing is one of many issues that those residents face. For an African American living in a low-income neighborhood, you are 2.7 times likely to be met with physical force and 10 times more likely to be stopped by the police than white people that reside in wealthy neighborhoods. Studies have been done that show us that white and black people smoke marijuana at similar rates. The debate about whether to use it should be legal or not is relevant. Black people are Four times more likely to get in trouble for weed than white people are though they use it at very similar rates. A huge reason for that is because low-income neighborhoods are policed very heavily, those that reside in them, typically minorities, are far more likely to get into legal problems than their white counterparts that live in better areas. All these reasons plus many more are reasons why low-income neighborhoods should not be overpoliced in the way there are today.
Moving forward there are many steps that must be taken in order to create a more comfortable environment for those who are living in low income areas. Many believe that to put people in these communities on an equal footing that residents of these communities take on a role protecting their neighborhoods. State policy won’t be enough to achieve reform. Putting some of the power to the people in the community are the steps that would help. Currently in New York City there have been efforts by the people to make this happen. Communities United for Police Reform has organized numerous community groups aimed to establish reform through gathering members from the communities, members, lawyers, researchers and activists to establish policing transparency Oversee police activity and make sure they are held accountable. Other communities can take a look at what’s being done in New York and try to implement these methods in their own communities.
Citations:
Interview: How policing in one US city hurts black and poor communities. Human Rights Watch. (2020, October 28). Retrieved November 4, 2021, from https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/09/12/interview-how-policing-one-us-city-hurts-black-and-poor-communities.
Interview: How policing in one US city hurts black and poor communities. Human Rights Watch. (2020, October 28). Retrieved November 4, 2021, from https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/09/12/interview-how-policing-one-us-city-hurts-black-and-poor-communities.
Thank you for diving deeper into this important issue! Although this issue, this injustice, mainly impacts those in low income neighborhoods, it is important for everyone to realize what is happening and put in effort to stop it. Looking at the police department, they need to think over why there is more policing in low-income neighborhoods; are they more dangerous compared to other neighborhoods? And are they actually more dangerous, or are there just more cases there because there is more enforcement in those areas?
Thank you for sharing this! It is something I have been noticing in my hometown of Dayton, Ohio as well, and is important to recognize it as an issue that needs to be stopped. I want to know why the police system believes low income neighborhoods are more dangerous than the higher income neighborhoods, in ways that aren’t racially motivated. You also included very powerful graphs and images, which do a great job of conveying your information in an understandable way. Good job.
This is indeed true in the areas where low-income people live in the United States, which is a sad problem. Most of the people living in low-income areas are African Americans and Asian Americans. What does it mean that the police have excessive law and order in these areas? It is obviously unreasonable to say that there is no racial injustice. The chart you provide gives readers a very intuitive understanding and a very good presentation.