In this article, a philosophy professor at University of Central Florida, Jennifer Lisa Vest, claims that she was a victim or racial profiling by law enforcement members of the Orlando Police Department. Jennifer Lisa Vest states that she was pulled over for a broken taillight but insists that it was not broken. Jennifer Lisa Vest’s argument that she was racially profiled implies that the Orlando Police officers that pulled her over did not have a reason to and that they were motivated by her race (Jennifer Lisa Vest is of mixed race).
Jennifer Lisa Vest is a well-educated professor, having earned her doctorate in philosophy from University of California Berkeley. Hearing her credentials and prominent role in society, you would not suspect that she would be a victim of harassment from law enforcement. However, including her race as a factor, Jennifer Lisa Vest transforms into a person of interest for law enforcement and a victim of racial profiling.
Throughout the stop for the “broken taillight” Jennifer Lisa Vest was denied the ability to take her medication and was verbally slandered in front of passing students. Since this incident greatly upset Jennifer Lisa Vest, she has gone out of her way to ensure her ticket is mitigated or erased and has even proposed solutions to help eliminate racial profiling.
Some of Jennifer Lisa Vest’s suggestions include: retraining cops and receiving a public apology.
A few things resonated with me when I read this article. Not only was she racially profiled. The incident occurred near her work, and having her students witness the encounter had a direct negative effect on her. In class we discussed how in certain racially profiled cases, the public notices who is pulled over, and they register what they see. Subconsciously, society uses these instances to outline what they believe criminals and “bad guys” are within their head. If you consistently see white middle aged men being pulled over the image in your head for criminals would be that of a middle aged white male, the same is true if people consistently see a greater amount of people of color pulled over.
Not only is Jennifer Lisa Vest put in the situation where she is helping aid the public’s image as to what kind of person is pulled over, but she is also sending a message to her students as to what kind of person she is. Since this incident hit close to home in many ways, Jennifer Lisa Vest’s backlash has been large. I cannot blame her. Her backlash highlights a significant problem for law enforcement. Their racial profiling may be institutionalized within their program, and individually, police may not have any biased opinions about anyone making any decision on the job and using race as a factor will back fire. In this case, Jennifer Lisa Vest is making everyone aware of what she was put through and her disdain for the Orlando Police Department. This, however, will greatly hinder the police department because the police department would like to engage in community policing. The catch is that for community policing to work, there needs to be a sense of trust and communication between the public and law enforcement, not hatred.
I think that it would be interesting to implement different strategies into law enforcement when racial profiling occurs and see what helps to eliminate or at least greatly diminish its practice. Some suggestions could be paperwork, retraining, fines and much more, with the understanding that none of them are perfect options. Another question I have is, can each county have different rules? Perhaps different societal structures calls for different practices. Where would you choose to do trial runs?
As the demographics of Eldorado changes and the new wave of residents move in--that is, as groups of racially and ethnically diverse high-income professionals increase--racial profiling will certainly emerge/intensity as a social problem. However, just as the humiliation Professor Vest experienced inspired her to propose potential solutions, I predict that some of the respected members of the fictional city will probably come up with their own remedies; remedies that are better tailored for their particular community. Given the historical insularity of police departments, I believe this prediction (department-specific protocols for dealing with racial profiling) is both a more likely scenario and a more promising avenue than national or state-wide regulations.
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This blog, as well as the one on Tyler Perry, highlights how high profiled or affluent minorities have the power to raise public awareness and create further accountability whereas minorities from historically disadvantaged communities are seemingly powerless in the struggle against racial profiling. When upper-class, high profiled or affluent minorities, fall victim of racial profiling they unlike lower-class minorities have the power to do something about their victimization. This is evident with Tyler Perry’s media coverage of being a victim of racial profiling, as well as Jennifer Vest’s ability and power to create a huge backlash against the Orlando Police Department because of her victimization. Therefore, as affluent upper-class and an ethnically diverse group of people move back to Eldorado it is evident that racial profiling will be perceived as a more serious social problem, since those that hold power will begin to feel the inefficiency and humiliation of racial profiling, and consequently retaliating against such malpractices.
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I think this article really emphasizes the issue law enforcement officers are now facing with racial profiling during a pullover. I think that Jennifer Lisa Vest's case is a good example of the magnitude of repercussions that come after a single stop. I definitely agree with you on the point that racial profiling does heavy damage to its victims because it sends a negative message to society that it is actually justifiable to act on stereotypes. I think that Vest's solutions seem to hit the root of them problem - which is that police officers are not trained in conducting stops professionally. They do not know how to use their judgments based on behavior rather than on stereotypes, which is why I think retraining officers that have been hit with the most criticism about racism would be the most effective solution. I think this goes back to what our Oakland PD officers shared with us in lecture a while back - it's important to notice the behavior not the skin color. For Eldorado, as more people begin to immigrate into the cities, it's important for police officers to stay as objective as possible. The danger in racial profiling for Eldorado is that it may lead to the community viewing law enforcement in a negative light. If this were to happen, then the police would have a much harder time doing their jobs. - ML
ReplyDeleteIt's difficult to predict which strategies for combating racial profiling will/won't work, but like Jelizondo says above, the best candidates for raising public awareness about the issue will most likely be those who are higher class and/or well educated. In regards to what technique might work best, I think making police officers fill out more paperwork would be a step in the right direction (especially if they must note the race of the person being ticketed, as some la enforcement agencies have already done). The problem with retraining officers is that the mindset that minorities commit more crimes might already be embedded into many police officer's minds and that will be hard to combat.
ReplyDeleteIn El Dorado this issue of racial profiling affluent, well educated people would especially be a problem in Emerald City, where there has been a lot of gentrification of a very diverse amount of people. So the young, well educated African Americans and Latinos driving into work would especially be at risk for being racially profiled.
-KC
I think the fact that Ms. West is a respected and high profile member of society, this will allow her to really make a statement to society and to raise awareness regarding racial profiling. I also think it was sad how the profiling she encountered was in front of her students and people that probably had a great deal of respect for her and because of this they may think differently of her now.
ReplyDeleteI think in the case of El Dorado because of the wave of immigrants and new people coming in I'm sure there will be some cases of suspected racial profiling. I think in El Dorado the police need to gain the trust of the people and the only way to do that is to keep itself out of as much controversy as possible, especially involving cases of racial profiling.
DR
I think cases like this really expose the police as racial profilers. I think it is safe to say she does not look like part of the lower class from a socioeconomic standpoint the only thing that makes her stand out is her race. I think she is going about it just as she should be which is drawing attention to it letting everyone know this should not be tolerated and even offering some possible solutions. I think as police officers make more mistakes such as this one and more attention is drawn to the issue we may see a shift in the public attitude. It is a shame that she was humiliated like that in front of her students who most likely have great levels of respect for her. I could see a similar problem occurring in El Dorado with higher level income earners moving into the area some of which may be teachers at the nearby university, many of which will probably not be white.
ReplyDeleteErik Kriessmann
Racial profiling is probably very common in El Dorado. As legal and illegal immigrants move to El Dorado for menial jobs such as “lawn services, home cleaning, and child care”, they move into the poorest of neighborhoods. As they work in the wealthier parts of the city for those that can afford menial services, cops will frequently practice aggressive stop and frisks with the immigrants. Officers who do partake in these actions are trying to maintain the residential segregation in El Dorado. Jennifer Lisa Vest believes that retraining cops would be a good solution to racial profiling, but it depends on what type of retraining officers will receive. For example, retraining cops to be more respectful to the people they stop will not solve the problem of racial profiling.
ReplyDeleteEG
Racial profiling is a growing issue and it is a very hard issue to approach. As Professor Musheno stated before, cops insist that they are not racially profiling people, and minorities insist that they ARE being racially profiled. When crime is so racialized and minorities are so criminalized, how do we overcome this? How do we overpower a system that has been institutionalized with these ideas for generations? It has become an issue so deep that it has occupied our subconscious. Cases like Vest's have become all too common in society. Her case, however, shows that aggressive policing tactics do not discriminate between educated and uneducated and law abiding or not. Racial profiling judges on one things only, and that is physical appearance and the "ethnic group" that a person belongs to. This type of policing has been studied by Zimring and others, and has been proven ineffective. A new approach that maintains police legitimacy and procedural justice must be implemented.
ReplyDelete~G.K.N.
I really like that Ana highlighted the tension between community policing and the way public awareness is used as a tool against racial profiling. In order for community policing to work, law enforcement must continually take effort to build trust with the community and cooperate with the community. However, in raising awareness against racial profiling, the community begins to distrust the police because it feels that the police do not treat all members of the community justly. Knowing that racial profiling is an unjust practice, how can we work toward eradicating it while keeping in mind the goal of restoring the relationship between law enforcement and the community? As Professor Musheno mentioned in class, there is a deep distrust that African American communities have toward law enforcement right now, to the extent that whenever the police pulls them over, what immediately comes to mind is racial profiling. I think that restoring the relationship between these two groups is an essential element in solving the whole complex issue of racial profiling, and even though raising public awareness is a crucial step, it must be done with this restoration in mind as one of the goals. With racially and ethnically diverse, high-income professionals residing in Eldorado, it is highly likely that something similar to what happened to Professor Vest will happen, and the response of the racially profiled professional will likely be similar, given the damaging and personal dynamics of the experience, but I think they must not simply speak out against law enforcement, but be willing to think of ways to reconcile with law enforcement. The Eldorado PD is currently at a stage on which substantial change is happening as veterans retire and as the new chief "modernize[s]" the department, address "new problems...and recruit new officers." Thus, it would be a great and important opportunity for people genuinely interested in fighting against racial profiling to speak to the City Council and to the new chief and come up with ways to not only work toward the eradication of racial profiling, but to reconcile law enforcement to communities that have been wounded by the police. This is not a easy process at all and will take much time, effort, and thought, but these things must be kept in mind.
ReplyDelete-WAC
Racial profiling is clearly a major issue; it affects not just African American males but increasingly females as well. There appears to be no differentiation between African Americans or any minority representatives when making these stops; regardless of the social status, clothing choice or the car being driven, the stops appear to be an inevitable part of minority life. The consequences are damaging when racial profiling becomes part of many people’s lives, it destroys any hope of successful community policing because if the whole community does not support the move then it is unlikely that it will be effectual. This story exemplifies the feelings that being stopped in public by the police may cause, in this case it is a professor in front of her students. It is even possible that in another situation the stop could have lead to problems between herself and an employer, like mentioned those that are seen being stopped are often labeled as criminals. Even if states could adapt different rules it is important that once any change is decided to stop the problem it needs to be implemented as part of a nationwide movement
ReplyDeleteSiobhan Livingston
By now it is quite apparent that we have a serious issue at hand regarding race and the way people of color are policed based upon race. Bt this issue is not just affecting minorities. It is affecting all that become aware of it and identify it as a problem that needs to be solved. Whether people witness it for themselves or hear about it through media, it begins to affect the legitimacy of the justice system in the eyes of that feel that they are entitled to protection as opposed to criminalization of law enforcement. We can see that it is not just men, but women as well that can become victimized by racial profiling. This not only affect these people, but also gives way to other issues at hand (i.e. physical or sexual harrasment). There is a clear need for a more reformed justice system that does not seek to criminalize innocent people, but it is not clear exactly how such issues can be regulated and put to an end.
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