Any effective program to reduce racial discrimination must address both the symptoms and the underlying cause (Hawley). Symptoms here refers to direct and outwards discriminatory treatment that officer display towards minority citizens. To address this the department should draft and implement an office-wide, top-to-bottom policy that expresses the department’s “zero-tolerance” for discriminatory actions while on duty and in the exercise of an officer’s capacity as a law enforcement official. Moreover, the department should establish a responsible person to monitor, enforce, and amend the policy as necessary. While addressing the symptoms should satisfy most discriminatory incidents a deeper and more long-term solution can only be reached by eliminating the root reason why officers treat minority citizens in a discriminatory fashion. Without addressing this issue, zero-tolerance policies may fail to control all officers all the time (Hawley). Accordingly, the department needs to take two steps. First, it should increase the hiring of minority officers to serve on the force. A more diverse force not only makes it more representative of the community, but also acts a deterrent for those officers that want to act in a discriminatory way. Second, the department should implement a basic racial sensitivity program that all officers must go through with follow-up continuing education or refresher course every year. These programs should include hearing from the victims of police discrimination and it has affected their life. The programs should also allow officer to voice their concerns or reason why they feel they need to act in a certain way. The purpose of the program and refresher courses is to increase the possibility that those officers will get to understand what makes them act as they do and what ways they can change their actions.
Works Cited
Hawley, William. “Strategies for Reducing Racial and Ethnic Prejudice: Essential Principles for Program Design.” Southern Poverty Law Center. tolerance.org, 2016. Web. 16 Feb. 2016. www.tolerance.org/supplement/strategies-reducing-racial-and-ethnic-prejudice-essential-pr
