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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 12:36 am
Time: 12:36 am
Results for bias in law enforcement
1 results foundAuthor: Rights Working Group Title: Reclaiming Our Rights: Reflections on Racial Profiling in a Post-9/11 America Summary: In the summer of 2001, racial justice advocates were in the midst of a flurry of exciting developments. After years of work by advocates to fight back against the racially discriminatory impact of the “war on drugs,” the End Racial Profiling Act (ERPA) had been introduced in both houses of Congress. An August hearing in the Senate encouraged hopes for passage within the year. In the private sector, giant corporations Xerox and Microsoft were being sued for racial and gender discrimination, and Coca Cola had just reached, in 2000, a record $192 million settlement in a racial bias case brought by African American employees. The Third World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance was held in early September in Durban, South Africa, to celebrate the end of apartheid and a new global commitment to fighting racial injustice. Then, on September 11th, the tragic attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., changed the nation in a single day. The loss of human life was staggering — there were nearly 3,000 victims killed by the attacks including nationals of more than 70 countries of every race and religion. Not only did all of the passengers on the planes used in the attacks die, but thousands more were killed in the crash sites of the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and the field in Pennsylvania, and hundreds of rescue workers, fire fighters and police officers also gave their lives. Many more residents and rescue workers became ill and some also died in the months and years after the attacks, as debris and dust from the collapsed buildings were proven to be toxic for nearly one year after the attacks. In addition to these terrible losses, another significant loss occurred — the loss of civil liberties and human rights protections for many communities in the U.S. In particular, the problem of racial and religious profiling expanded dramatically under a number of new or revised government policies and programs. The decision in 2001-2002 by the Bush Administration to detain men of Arab, South Asian, or Muslim backgrounds as suspects in the new “war on terrorism” resulted in the arbitrary detention of more than 1,200 individuals. It coincided with a dramatic increase in harassment of and hate crimes against people in those communities. The newly-created Department of Homeland Security (DHS) devoted new and expanded resources toward the detention and deportation of immigrants, increasingly encouraging local police to enforce federal immigration laws and raising concerns about the racial profiling of Latino communities. DHS also joined forces with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies to dramatically expand surveillance and information-sharing activities through such initiatives as fusion centers and suspicious activity reporting. These activities have led to allegations of racial profiling of Arab, South Asian, Muslim, and Latino communities by federal agencies. Many state governments joined their federal counterparts in implementing racial profiling as a law enforcement technique. In 2007, the Los Angeles Police Department was forced to cancel a mapping program designed to identify potential extremists in Middle Eastern, Arab, and Muslim communities in Los Angeles after residents protested the plan. In the last two years, a number of states have claimed new authority to enforce federal immigration laws, enacting “papers please” legislation and mandating that local police ask individuals about their immigration or citizenship status. The infamous law enacted in Arizona in 2010—SB 1070—has now been copied and passed in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina, and Utah, with Pennsylvania holding legislative hearings on similar legislation. Ten years later, the Rights Working Group (RWG) coalition sees the anniversary of these events as a chance to pause and remember — to reflect on our losses since September 11th and to reclaim those rights lost in the aftermath of the attacks. This collection of essays, from public offi cials, policy advocates, grassroots organizers, law enforcement offi cials, and community leaders, shares personal reflections of the struggle to overcome the pervasive human rights problem of racial profiling. Their stories and suggestions are insightful views into the challenges of the work but also the signifi cance of the struggle. Congressman John Conyers, Jr., who first introduced ERPA in 2001, offers an introduction for this collection of essays, noting why the legislation is needed today more than ever. Karen K. Narasaki reminds us that racial profiling is not new, and that we must remember the historical lessons from World War II and the internment of Japanese Americans in order to avoid making the same errors of targeting a particular community out of fear. Laura W. Murphy shares her personal recollections of the encounters her African American family had with law enforcement, and how her experience drove her and others at the ACLU to promote ERPA as an important response to biased policing. Monami Maulik describes her work as a community organizer who was overwhelmed by the racial and religious profiling targeting her community after September 11th and the steps she took to fight back. Shahid Buttar notes that September 11th was used to justify new government powers of surveillance and information-sharing that have resulted in further racial profiling of Muslim, Arab, South Asian, and other immigrant communities. Nadia Tonova and Christian Ramirez discuss the pervasive use of racial profiling on the northern and southern borders of the United States, where border communities increasingly fear contact with both the police and Customs and Border Protection officers. Pramila Jayapal offers insight into the expansion of immigration enforcement programs that have led to racial profiling of Latino and other immigrant communities across the country, impacting community safety and residents’ trust in the police. Former Police Chief Art Venegas highlights the importance of law enforcement officers taking steps to combat racial profiling within their own departments in order to be effective at promoting community safety. In the concluding essay, Senator Benjamin L. Cardin explains his commitment to reintroducing ERPA later this year, noting that racial profiling is not only an ineffective law enforcement technique but also a violation of our constitutional rights. Rights Working Group is grateful to all of them for contributing to this effort. In considering where we go next in the fight against racial profiling, Rights Working Group has provided a list of recommendations at the end of the report, including urging policymakers and community members to join the RWG Racial Profiling: Face the Truth campaign. Dr. Tracie Keesee has graciously contributed recommendations to law enforcement officers working to end racial profiling within their departments. Details: Washington, DC: Rights Working Group, 2011. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 19, 2011 at: http://www.rightsworkinggroup.org/sites/default/files/RWG_911AnnivReport_2011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.rightsworkinggroup.org/sites/default/files/RWG_911AnnivReport_2011.pdf Shelf Number: 123406 Keywords: Bias in Law EnforcementHuman RightsImmigrantsRacial DiscriminationRacial Profiling (U.S.)Racial Profiling in Law EnforcementTerrorism |