Racism has existed in the world since the beginning of time. People have always been looked on differently because of their race, skin color, religion and beliefs. Hate and prejudice towards members of other races, especially black people, have been shown in America since its creation. Many believe that racism in America was abolished half a century ago and although many things have changed, racism can still be identified in many aspects of modern American culture, including the safety and protection of it. Racism in the police force of our great nation is quite a controversial subject. Some say that it is not the police officers fault that minorities create more problems than whites while others believe that officers look to prosecute minorities. There is a theory that the racism has always been here, the only difference now is that social media has caused the country to become aware of it. What makes me qualified to talk about racism in our country is that I am half black. I have experienced racism before and know how it feels like to be discriminated against simply because of my skin color. I have not experienced racism from police officers personally, but I do believe it is a problem in America. This problem interests me because it is a problem in our country. It isn't in another wealthy country over in Europe or a third world country in Africa; it's a problem right on our soil.

In New York, a black women was dancing in her car at a red light. An officer approached her and asked why she was driving without her hands on the wheel. She was then taken into custody for a few hours and released. The following day, she was asked to come pick up her car which is a 2003 BMW 325Ci. When she arrived, she was told she needed to be put in handcuffs to take her to her car. She was then put into an ambulance and sent to Harlem Hospital where she was sedated. While being held there for eight days, medical records show that personnel at the hospital repeatedly tried to get her to deny that she owned a BMW, that she was a banker, and that Barack Obama followed her on twitter. Once released, she was hit with a $13,000 medical bill. The police department's actions in this situation are completely unnecessary.  A white women would not have been questioned about owning a nice car. All they had to do is simply run the plates on the car to determine whether to car was hers or not. And a simple background check would confirm that she is a professional banker. While the lawsuit says it was those three basis for determining whether she was delusional and bi-polar, a white women would not have been detained and forcefully admitted to a hospital. This source is obviously biased towards the police department and their actions towards the woman. I find it hard to believe that they didn't target her because she was black. 

Three officers in Trenton, New Jersey were responding to a report of possible gunshots in an apartment complex. The officers, who were not in standard police uniforms, abruptly hoped out a grey minivan and approached three young kids. One of them took off running and before a chase even began, he was shot seven times below his waist. Luckily, he survived the wounds. The officers claimed they believed he was reaching for a gun while he was running away, but a witness who watch the whole event unfold says otherwise. She states that the boy did not even have a chance to run away and that he was reaching to pull up his sweatpants. There was no probable cause to shoot him. What really pokes out in this investigation is that a law enforcement witness spoke with local reporters and stated that she finds it suspicious that police did not find the gun on the street until the morning after because there was a lot of people searching overnight. The article itself is automatically biased against the police because it is about a 14-year-old unarmed black kid who was gunned down for running away from three men hopping out of a normal looking car. The information included in the article includes statements from a local witness and a statement from a law enforcement witness along with the obvious facts that an unarmed boy was shot by police.

Police officers in New York arrested three black teenage athletes who were waiting outside a store. The reason the teens were there was not because they were looking to cause trouble, but because they were waiting for a school bus to take them to their basketball game.  The officers charged the teens with disorderly conduct and obstruction after they explained why they were waiting and when their coach arrived on the scene. The coach asked what they were doing wrong and the officer reportedly told him if he had a big enough caravan, he would take them all downtown. The boys were forced to pay $200 dollars in bail before they could leave. Everything about this is wrong and messed up. The officers saw the group of black teens and stereotyped them for being trouble makers. The charges were dropped thankfully, but it still does not excuse the actions of the officers. It is sad that kids cannot even wait to do what they love without being stopped and harassed by police. 

My question on whether there is racism in American police is not a simple yes or no question. It has been a controversial subject in light of recent events involving the shootings and death of black men, women, and kids. To determine the answer, an individual must examine cases of possible prejudice and discrimination and determine how it could be the product of racism and why it would be.  In all of the sources provided, the one thing in common is that the police acted extremely unprofessional and if the civilians were of a different skin color, the situation would have been handled differently. These perspectives only fuel my passion in writing this argument. From this point on, I do not think I cold revise my research question much more because it is focusing on racism in one department of the society. 
