Racial Bias in Boston and New York
A study was published recently that highlighted an important problem with the Boston Police Department. The study shows that 63.3 percent of people stopped by officers are black. This number is particularly disturbing because black people account for only 24.4 percent of Boston's population. The data of over 200,000 stop-and-frisks was gathered over a four-year period and reminds us that racial profiling is still an issue. This chart from the Huffington Post illustrates that the vast majority of people stopped are black.
The Huffington Post article relates the incidents in Boston to a similar case in New York City. New York City's "broken windows" policy "focuses on aggressively enforcing quality-of-life offenses to deter more serious ones". Similar to the stop-and-frisk encounters in Boston, 81 percent of all violations were issued to black and hispanic people. The summonses are most often given out in black and hispanic areas of the city. In some cases, over 10 percent of all people in black and hispanic areas have been given summonses. This highlights the racial bias that is very prevalent in the city's police department. Black and hispanic people are much more likely to be stopped-and-frisked in Boston and given a summons for a quality-of-life offense in New York City.
I like that this brings attention to more than just New York which we all know has these issues but it also brings into perspective cities like Boston that you may not expect. It also makes me wonder if this is spreading to more and more cities, and whether its getting better or worse.
ReplyDeleteVery Interesting Article, I liked how you compared both cities and the similarities they shared in the treatment of Blacks. I read elsewhere that just recently the mayor of New York has begun steps in ending Stop and Frisk. I hope this will at least show some hope for the future.
ReplyDeleteThis was very intriguing for me. I had heard about these unequal stops in New York but never knew that they were in Boston as well. Despite living in Boston for several months now, I have never been stopped by an officer, probably because I'm white. The two images helped me to see exactly how discriminatory this is. New York recently stopped its stop-and-frisk program; hopefully Boston will do the same as well.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that the most people who are stopped by the police are black or hispanic in both cities. I believe that the situation may not only happen in these two areas. In other parts of the countries, minorities will face the same problems. The police agencies label people through their races, and this unfair treatment may cause the stronger conflict among different race groups. Therefore, it may cause the higher criminal rate.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found interesting about this article is how it displays a clear division in how Whites and Blacks are treated by the US justice system, which reveals a clear disparity in how these groups are treated and are overall able to function in society. I could imagine that the fear of being stopped and frisked could instantly make something as simple as walking around the town much more terrifying.
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