NCJ Number
144809
Date Published
1993
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This paper examines police stereotyping of ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom and the implications of this for the effective policing of communities with a high percentage of minority ethnic groups.
Abstract
As used in this paper, the term "ethnic minority" for British residents refers to persons of Southeast Asian, African, and Caribbean origin. The author contends that the police, as well as other elements of the criminal justice system, generalize about entire communities based on their experience with the small percentage in the identifiable community who commit crime. Crimes committed by white people, on the other hand, are not taken by the police to be symptomatic of the whole white community. Police have thus erroneously regarded certain sections of the population as being more inclined to commit crime. Factors that contribute to the perpetuation of the police tendency to stereotype ethnic minorities are the lack of ethnic minority officers, who would tend to mitigate police stereotypes of ethnic minorities, and the lack of police training designed to prevent stereotypical thinking. One manifestation of stereotyping and an effort to perpetuate it is the highly selective release of crime figures that reinforce the image of the black youth as a mugger. Although the police cannot be blamed for the problem of racial discrimination in its various forms, they should provide a role model for the just, equitable, and professional treatment of all citizens, regardless of their ethnicity. 25 references