The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

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involvement in criminal activity by minorities and black attitudes and respect toward
authorities are also believed to account for this occurrence.
Many of the personnel in Scott County admitted that they believe there is some
discrimination or bias by police at the arrest stage. Studying the results of the self—
reports indicates that almost all of them chose the police as the stage in which bias is
most likely to occur. Several reasons were provided to support this belief.
I’ve heard the word nigger, both here in our office and at the police, and I
guess I consider that blatant racism, when blacks weren’t present and also
when they were.
The police are more likely to be biased because they are out there working
with those minorities every day and they have to put up with the abuses.
But, even minority officers get picked on by the minorities because they
say they are turning against them.
There are more police officers and they have the potential to have more
diverse opinions. More racism is possible if there are more people.
You like to think that all of the police are fair but when I talk to the kids I
realize that they do discriminate. They stop blacks a lot quicker than they
would whites and check them out, especially the juveniles, and after
awhile you just realize that black kids will face police scrutiny more than
the average white kid and even Hispanics unless they are in a
neighborhood that is middle class.
Some think the police are just generally more prejudiced and that is why there is more
bias at that stage.