Deck 18: Gender, Race, and Urban Policing

Question 1

Brunson and Miller's article provides evidence that police techniques involving stops and searches employed in poor, urban neighborhoods

A) employ a polite yet firm encounter with people regardless of age, class, gender, incivility and criminality.
B) employ a race-neutral coding of people which enables them to more easily identify criminals.
C) treat all citizens encountered the same regardless of gender, race, age or religion.
D) are viewed by Black males as physically intrusive, as limiting the use of public space, as prejudicial, and as routinely using antagonistic language.

Answer 1

are viewed by Black males as physically intrusive, as limiting the use of public space, as prejudicial, and as routinely using antagonistic language.

Question 2

Brunson and Miller's research suggests that young Black males in his study

A) were no more likely than anyone else to be stopped by the police when in public.
B) believed that police besieged their neighborhoods because officers assumed many people living there, especially young black men, were criminals.
C) were no more likely than their white counterparts to be arrested before their 21st birthday.
D) were tolerant about the police presence in public places and understood why they were being stopped - to lower crime for the neighborhood.

Answer 2

believed that police besieged their neighborhoods because officers assumed many people living there, especially young black men, were criminals.

Question 3

Brunson and Miller suggests all of the following are true of the average young Black person's views of encounters with police EXCEPT

A) young Black men in the study described police as polite, easy to talk to, and as fair and courteous during stops and searches.
B) police were reported as less harassing in stops when young Black men were in the company of women and children.
C) both male and female respondents shared the belief that police perceive all young Black males as criminals.
D) young Black men reported being frequently stopped and treated as criminal suspects, regardless of the time of day, location, activity, or their destination.

Answer 3

young Black men in the study described police as polite, easy to talk to, and as fair and courteous during stops and searches.

Question 4

Brunson and Miller's survey findings offered evidence of the gendered nature of policing in urban Black neighborhoods in all of the following EXCEPT

A) more young Black males than young females reported being mistreated by police, regardless of whether they were involved in delinquent incidents or not when stopped by police.
B) both Black male and female respondents shared the belief that police perceive all young Black males as criminals.
C) most common complaint by young Black women was being routinely stopped for curfew violations during the night hours.
D) Black female subjects reported overall positive views about the police and their treatment of women in their neighborhoods.

Question 5

Brunson and Miller's survey findings offered evidence of the gendered, racial nature of policing in urban Black neighborhoods in all of the following EXCEPT

A) Black females were less likely to be recipients of aggressive policing tactics such as stops and searches than their male counterparts.
B) young Black women are more likely to challenge police harassment, believing that police will react less aggressively to them.
C) young Black women reported being more likely to be treated as suspects when in the company of young black men than when alone.
D) young Black women reported being stopped like their male counterparts throughout all times of the day and night.

Question 6

Brunson and Miller conclude from their research all of the following from aggressive urban policing of poor Black neighborhoods EXCEPT

A) young Black men were the disproportionate recipients of aggressive policing tactics such as stops and searches.
B) young Black men were burdened by a presumption of guilt that justified aggressive policing.
C) one positive about tough police tactics is that the illegal drug trade is slowed down with the unintended consequence of a loss of jobs for the community.
D) young Black women in poor urban communities view police as unresponsive to their desire for protection and as crime victims.

Question 7

Put yourself in the role of a poor, young, urban Black man or woman. Try to imagine and describe how your social activities, interaction and relationships with others, overall attitudes, and self-concept would be impacted by the police tactics and encounters described in this study. Describe and discuss fully with examples.

Question 8

The police face a challenging job of reducing crime in poor urban neighborhoods in light of many social problems. Imagine you were the police chief of such a community, and received this research report. How would you enact changes in your department's community policing to improve community relations, and lessen harm caused by aggressive policing? Be specific and cite examples.

Question 9

Describe and explain the gendered differences young Black men and women report about aggressive policing in poor, urban neighborhoods.