Police and Racial and Ethnic Minorities Annotated Bibliography

One of the authors that share this opinion is Bumgarner (2006). In his bookProfiling and criminal justice in America,the author discusses profiling to be a law enforcement issue. The view is that profiling is not only limited to what the police are engaged in towards the blacks but that the whole prosecutorial system is compromised. The author though speaks of profiling by the police as having paid off in several circumstances. This he states that ha been common in the auto theft. The author categorizes profiling as reactive and non-reactive. The former is used by investigators and the latter is mostly used by patrol officers.

Further emphasis on this thorny issue is given by Cole, G. & Smith, C. (2007) in his bookThe American System of Criminal Justice.This author poses a strong argument to suggest that discrimination by the police is evident. Police patrols and to him, find their concentration and focus in non-white areas. Most of the people arrested for drug-related offenses will always be non-whites whether evidence links them or not. A survey done in Connecticut indicated that a black or Hispanic man had to pay bail twice the amount paid by whites for the same offenses. The author goes on and on to give other examples of cases where this discrimination is quite seen against non-whites. The book offers so far the strongest source for this topic and is in support of the thesis statement.

According to Siegel, L. (2008) there is a differential treatment that is depicted by the police and especially in areas of crime. In this book, the author shares how in many cases people of color and Hispanics will always find themselves on the wrong side of the law in terms of police harassment and treatment. The book does not provide detailed information on profiling but gives sketchy yet second-hand information on the way persons of color and Hispanics find themselves mistreated by the police.

Jaynes and Williams (1990) also pose a contribution to this topic. Accordingly, in their booka Common Destiny: Blacks and American society,they give further detailed information on how segregation is felt in terms of justice and law enforcement by the police. In this book, the author goes ahead to give statistics that indicate that police profiling is a nightmare that is with us. Further, this author does not only give emphasis to the profiling by the police but goes ahead to indicate that the blacks and Hispanics face challenges in terms of segregation all around in their lives. It is the frequent arrests that the blacks face that have made them have very as compared to the whites. For example in 1985, 30% of blacks did not work as opposed to 22% of whites. As a sole source for information on police profiling, it is weak. Statistically though, it is a very relevant source of information.

The sensitivity of this issue is further pronounced by Houstons (2000) contribution. His bookPsychological principles and the Black experiencegives focus, on the differences in the psychological perceptions of whites and blacks. The black experience is also focused on by the author where he gives the double-mindedness of blacks and the feeling altogether. As explained by the author, this leads to a lot of frustration and therefore the violent behavior some tend to have. The author speaks of the clash that exists between blacks and whites as being caused by varied perceptions of the two groups. Solutions thereof are accorded.

A more thoughtful approach to the relations between police and the ethnic and racial minorities is given by Roth, B. (1994) in the bookPrescription for failure: race relations in the age of social science. This involves more social research to determine why there are vile relations between the police and these groups. The question is not to establish whether they are there but to find out the motivations behind the strained relationships. The author also emphasizes the part the neighborhoods play in creating poor relationships. The author is of the opinion that just like in black neighborhoods, the same is extended to the relations they experience with the police. The book is good for policymakers and in offering solutions to strained relations more than pointing fingers.