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484 Michael D. White range of behaviors in varying degrees of seriousness, from racial profiling to use of force to failure to take appropriate action. Regardless of the seriousness, racially biased policing is discriminatory, and as such, it is both illegal and a form of police misconduct. This chapter highlights the accountability mechanisms that can be put in place to prevent and reduce the prevalence of racially biased police actions. Two general categories of mechanisms were reviewed: those that are within the police department (internal) and those that are outside the purview of the department (external). On the internal side, intensive recruitment, selection, and training can help insure that only the best, most qualified officers are deployed on the street. Candidates who are prone to misconduct such as racial bias will be successfully weeded out. Once on the job, proper supervision and guidance through administrative policy will promote appropriate street behavior, and an effective Early Warning system and proactive Internal Affairs unit will identify problem officers before their behavior escalates to more serious forms of misconduct. Finally, the chief sets the tone for the entire department, and he or she can create an environment where racially biased actions are not condoned, and where officers are held to account for their transgressions. Still, the long history of failed efforts by police to control their own officers clearly demonstrates the need for additional support through external accountability measures . These measures involve a wide range of stakeholders, including the courts, the prosecutor, the government (state and federal), special interest groups, the media, and the residents of the community. The reception by police to external accountability measures has varied considerably, with a fair amount of outright resistance. The police, however, are accountable to all of these stakeholders, and each plays an important role in preventing and responding to racially biased policing. Last, there is no single-best accountability mechanism, and the optimal approach for a police department and the community it serves is to rely on a complete accountability package with multiple measures, both internal and external. The measures that make up an accountability package may vary across departments and communities , and that is to be expected given the unique culture, environment, and history of towns and cities—and their police departments—throughout the United States. What becomes critical is that the police department, community, and other stakeholders view their collective roles as equally important, and together, they work to identify the mechanisms of accountability that best meet their specific needs and effectively prevent police misconduct. N o t e s 1. From Los Angeles Police Department Mobile Digital Terminal (MDT) transmissions. Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, p. 4. 2. New Jersey State Police, Interim Report of the State Police Review Team Regarding Allegations of Racial Profiling, p. 4. 3. Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, pp. 4–8. Other examples that illustrate racial bias include: “sounds like monkey-slapping time”; “hi . . . just got mexercise for the night”; “wees be reedy n about five”; and “don’t be flirting with all ur cholo girlfriends.” Preventing Racially Biased Policing through Internal and External Controls 485 4. Each of these accountability measures will be given superficial treatment because of page constraints. See Walker, Taming the System; and White, Current Issues and Controversies in Policing, for more complete coverage of these measures. 5. See Mollen Commission. 6. Skolnick and Fyfe, Above the Law; Fyfe and Kane, Bad Cops. 7. Fyfe and Kane, Bad Cops, p. ii. For divergent perspectives regarding the impact of racial representation in police departments on misconduct (i.e., within-race versus across-race police misconduct), see Alpert and Dunham, Understanding Police Use of Force. 8. Skolnick and Fyfe, Above the Law. 9. Departments vary in the selection tests they use, and the order in which they use them. 10. Walker and Katz, The Police in America; White, Current Issues and Controversies in Policing. 11. Kappeler et al., Forces of Deviance, p. 91. 12. Tomaskovic-Dewey et al., “Looking for the Driving While Black Phenomena.” 13. Fyfe, “Training to Reduce Police-Civilian Violence,” p.163; Kappeler et al., Forces of Deviance ; Armacost, “Organizational Culture and Police Misconduct.” 14. Walker and Katz, The Police in America. 15. Weisburd et al., Police Attitudes Toward Abuse. 16. Walker and Katz, The Police in America. 17. Kappeler et al., Forces of Deviance. 18. Skolnick and Fyfe, Above the Law. 19. Mollen Commission, p. 112. 20. Skolnick and Fyfe, Above the Law. 21. Skolnick...

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