The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

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the result of disproportionate involvement in criminal activity, patrolling patterns, and the
attitudes of the youth.
. . . more attention on patrolling that area and if you put them there on the
streets more often the chances are that they are going to see more and the
chances are that they are going to arrest more, but then again the black
community has requested that too.
No, I don’t think that a racist cop would last long in Waterloo, not that we
haven’t had some. But, I think that they usually find a way to get them off
the Street and get them somewhere else...Most of the arrests of juveniles
come from the mouths of other juveniles.
To think that they go out and they see one person breaking into a car that
is black and one person breaking into a car that is white and say that they
are more likely to arrest the black man, I don’t believe that. Once the
interaction starts, attitude plays a role. I have had both white and black
kids tell me where to go and what to do with myself. If I were to say who
does it more I would have to say the black kids.
On the other hand, there are other decision makers who see the police treating black
youth different than white youth.
Back when I first came to Waterloo, I saw police picking up blacks and it
seemed that they were getting more serious charges than whites. It seemed
like for a brief period that there was kind of a slow down on things like
that but just like the race relations kind of things, for a while it seemed to
cool down and now it is coming back so it is like a rolling ball. I actually
think that these racial things make a difference. Because usually after
something happens racial then there is a whole surge of police picking up
blacks it seems sometimes just for nothing.
Well, I do. I hate to say it but certainly in the police force racism and
sexism is alive and well with some of the officers...I