Police Deterrence, Racial Profiling, and Solutions
1. Deterrence and Police Work
The doctrine of deterrence, deriving from the principles of the Classical School, is the foundation of criminal justice in many countries. The core ideas of this doctrine are:
- The pursuit of pleasure motivates human behavior.
- Individuals have freedom in decision-making.
- Criminal justice, by punishing criminal conduct, counteracts the pleasures it can bring.
- Punishment serves as both a general and specific deterrent.
Common sense suggests that a greater police presence on the streets should directly correlate with a decrease in delinquency. Police effectiveness, and thus crime deterrence, depends on three factors:
- The number of officers
- Organization of the police force
- The policing model
1.1 The Number of Agents
While common sense might suggest that more officers equal less crime, this isn’t always true. Mediterranean countries generally have more police than Northern European countries. Italy has the highest number of troops, and Spain has twice as many police officers per capita as the UK. This difference may be due to historical reasons, such as a high concentration of police in rural areas that were once hotspots but are no longer so.
Interestingly, Denmark, a country with a very low crime rate, has one of the lowest police-per-capita rates. This suggests there isn’t a direct correlation between the number of police and the crime rate in a given country. Research has found that the sheer number of officers isn’t effective in reducing crime unless two other crucial factors are considered: organization and the policing model.
2. Police Discrimination or Racial Profiling
“Racial profiling” refers to the practice where police officers consider certain individuals as criminal suspects solely based on their perceived ethnicity, race, or phenotypes that differ from the majority population. Police acknowledge that this practice is discriminatory and counterproductive. It not only fails to enhance security or reduce crime but also violates the rights of members of our society.
One of the most common manifestations of racial profiling is when police stop individuals with foreign features for identification and searches without any apparent signs of criminal activity or for administrative detention. This disproportionate targeting of minorities leads to several negative consequences:
- These marginalized groups, as victims of crime, often lose confidence in the police and live in fear.
- Police efforts become overly concentrated on visible, easily detectable, and often minor offenses.
- There’s a rise in arrests of individuals belonging to minority groups, seemingly confirming the police’s incorrect hypothesis that certain minority groups are responsible for more criminal activity.
This incorrect assumption perpetuates one of the most damaging myths about racial minorities: that they are inherently conflicting, criminal, and a danger to society.
3. Suggestions for Improvement
Firstly, we must emphasize the importance of training for State Security Forces and Corps. Continuous training should be mandatory and of high quality.