THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE

SYSTEM: POLICE BRUTALITY

IN MINORITY COMMUNITIES
John Llamas

Definition
The Criminal Justice System is not a single entity. It is

comprised of several institutions that implement one of

three components: law enforcement, adjudication, and
corrections.
Law enforcement: the police, operating under state or
federal agencies, monitor crimes and make arrests.
Adjudication: the court system serves to determine ones
wrongdoing and deliver justice.
Corrections: if guilty, offenders are taken by this authority
to serve their consequence (jail, prison, parole, etc.).

History of the Criminal Justice System

Although the CJS has been around through most of

human civilization, reform was first catalyzed in the United

States by William Penn during the late 1600s. Instead of
barbaric punishments, he advocated for jails and prisons.
Ultimately, these reforms were enacted in Pennsylvania
toward the late 1700s. (Garland 20)
Policing models in the United States were heavily
influenced by early police forces from London. Our current
law enforcement was shaped by the tactics and values of
the first British police force, known as the Bow Street
Runners. (Beattie 14)
The U.S. Constitution formed the Supreme Court, but the
Judiciary Act of 1789 expanded the judiciary courts of the
United States. (Marcus)

Development
Overtime, there have been several reforms to change law

enforcement agencies, the courts, and corrections. There

have been successful efforts to expand agencies and
courts to adequately serve jurisdictions. Also, there have
been changes to corrections that serve to prevent
inhumane and unfair consequences. However, the
process through the criminal justice system has remained
almost the same.
The following slide shows a flowchart of the process
through the criminal justice system, after a crime. (Source:
U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics)

Police Brutality in Minority Communities

Studies show that law enforcement discriminates against

minority communities.
In January 2015-May 2015, of 385 analyzed fatal police
shootings, the Washington Post discovered office-involved
shooting deaths were rampant and African-Americans
were killed at 3x the rate of others. (Kindy)
Researchers Brad Smith and Malcolm Holmes examined
civil rights criminal complaints in cities with populations
over 150,000. They discovered communities with higher a
percent of African-Americans and Hispanics were related
positively to complaints. (Smith 1035)

Police Brutality in Minority Communities

This brutality can be traced to the 1950s when LAPDs

Bureau of Internal Affairs ignored cases of excessive use

of force against Hispanics and African-Americans.
(Escobar 195)
In the 1950s, LAPDs Chief Parker met with local media
outlets to discuss how the media would cover crimes
related to police brutality against minorities. (Escobar 198)
A national study of police-involved shootings show that
ratios are higher in minority communities where minorities
are underrepresented in the police force. (Fan 910)
Officers involved in these shootings are usually not
charged with a crim. (Fan 912)

Societys Current Perception

Currently, there is a huge divide between law enforcement

and minority communities. Given the medias increased

coverage of police-involved shootings against minorities,
law enforcement agencies are being portrayed as
aggressive and bias toward certain ethnicities.
Police brutality against African-Americans has given birth
to Black Lives Matter, a movement against racial profiling,
police brutality, and systematic racism within the CJS.
Criminal justice reform was a hot topic within the 2016
election cycle. Many minority-led organizations
campaigned for candidates that shared their views, and
propositions that could mitigate police brutality.

Moving Forward
Police brutality can be decreased by ensuring police

officers are held accountable for their actions. (Smith

1053) If an officer is involved in a homicide, he must be
tried for it, just as any other individual would.
Police departments have to be reflective of the
demographics within their communities. Cities with equal
representation reported lower amounts of criminal
complaints. (Smith 1053)
Although LAPDs Bureau of Internal Affairs carried its
flaws, this mechanism can effectively examine
misconducts within a police agency. As an independent
organization, this bureau could be utilized to ensure an
agency is enforcing the law, absent of biases and selfinterests. (Escobar 179)

Moving Forward
A citizens review system could be utilized to examine how

a community feels about local law enforcement so that the

agencys operations are aligned with the interests of the
community. (Smith 1054)
Frequent town halls can foster communication between
agencies and its citizens to bolster relationships and
alleviate any existing tensions.
Public policy reform regarding the penalties of racial
profiling and policy brutality can be heightened to
discourage police officers from wrongfully engaging in
these unjust acts.
Citizens can exercise their right to vote to elect candidates
who share their interest for criminal justice reform.

Functionalist Analysis
The criminal justice systems role in society is to enforce

social order through ours laws, limit misconducts, and

penalize those who commit these misconducts.
This institution is able to influence other parts of society
by promoting social stability. It steers individuals from
wrongdoings and encourages them to act in compliance
with the law.
Through its laws over a jurisdiction, this institution is able
to foster a consensus of shared norms and values.
This institution defines the way a society should conduct
itself.

Conflict Analysis
In certain communities, this institution might enforce laws

that do not share the values of every members. Thus, it

generates a conflict between whose values are actually
enforced.
Only certain individuals and groups are capable of
defining what misconduct is in a society.
This institution carries flaws as members of it can
discriminate against individuals from certain ethnicities,
religions, genders, social classes, and so on.
This institution's flaws pave the way for movements, like
BLM, that fight for social change to emerge. Individuals
are able to connect in order to push reforms that address
the problems of the criminal justice system.

Works Cited
Beattie, J.M. (2012) The First English Detectives. The

Bow Street Runners and the Policing of London, 1750

1840. Oxford University Press. p. 14
Escobar, Edward J. "Bloody Christmas and the Irony of
Police Professionalism: The Los Angeles Police
Department, Mexican Americans, and Police Reform in
the 1950s." Pacific Historical Review, vol. 72, no. 2, 2003.,
pp.171doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/phr.2003.72.2.171.
Fan, Mary D. "Violence and Police Diversity: A Call for
Research." Brigham Young University Law Review, vol.
2015, no. 4, 2015., pp. 875914https://
login.ezp.pasadena.edu/login?url=http://
search.proquest.com/docview/1837554375?
accountid=28371.

Works Cited
Garland, David (2002). "Of Crimes and Criminals". In

Maguire, Mike; Rod Morgan; Robert Reiner. The Oxford

Handbook of Criminology, 3rd edition. Oxford University
Press. p. 20.
Kindy, K. (2015). Fatal police shootings in 2015
approaching 400 nationwide. Washington Post. Retrieved
5 December 2016, from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/fatal-policeshootings-in-2015-approaching-400-nationwide/
2015/05/30/d322256a-058e-11e5-a428c984eb077d4e_story.html?utm_term=.52a8ea01d852
Marcus, Maeva (1992) The Documentary History of the
Supreme Court of the United States, 1789-1800,
Columbia University Press, ISBN 0-231-08867-1

Works Cited
Smith, Brad W., and Malcolm D. Holmes. "COMMUNITY

ACCOUNTABILITY, MINORITY THREAT, AND POLICE

BRUTALITY: AN EXAMINATION OF CIVIL RIGHTS
CRIMINAL COMPLAINTS*." Criminology, vol. 41, no. 4,
2003., pp.10351063https://login.ezp.pasadena.edu/login?
url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/220694903?
accountid=28371.