Deck 6: Racism and Policing

Question 1

Which of the following discourses of democratic racism did high-ranking police officers in the Toronto Police Services invoke when responding to allegations of racial profiling in 2003?

A) Discourse of Colour Blindness
B) Discourse of Equal Opportunity
C) Discourse of Moral Panic
D) Discourse of Liberal Values
E) Discourse of Denial

Answer 1

Discourse of Denial

Question 2

Which of the following scenarios would be considered an example of racial profiling?

A) A police officer who stops an Asian male for speeding
B) A police officer who tickets a Black male for a violation that only surfaced following the traffic stop
C) A police officer who stops an individual who fits the profile of a crime recently committed
D) A police officer who uses a racial slur while investigating a traffic accident to describe one of the injured parties
E) All of the above

Answer 2

A police officer who tickets a Black male for a violation that only surfaced following the traffic stop

Question 3

Which of the following is an example of institutional racism in policing?

A) An officer using racial slurs in encounter with civilian
B) The department fails to investigate claims of police brutality
C) A Black officer who only stops white drivers
D) Community policing
E) Allowing those who follow the Sikh religion to wear turbans while on duty

Answer 3

The department fails to investigate claims of police brutality

Question 4

Aboriginal peoples have also complained about incidents of racial profiling. In recent years, tensions between Aboriginal communities and police forces in Saskatchewan have escalated because of

A) Little progress in land dispute claims
B) Several cases of Aboriginal men found frozen to death after coming into contact with police
C) Major raids on the reserves targeting youth gangs and drug traffickers
D) The establishment of the Saskatoon Aboriginal Crimes Task Force (SACT)
E) Increasing incidents of hate crimes targeting Aboriginal peoples that have garnered little response from the police

Question 5

The strength of the police culture helps to perpetuate which discourse of democratic racism when it comes to dealing with the larger public?

A) Discourse of equal opportunity
B) Discourse of colour blindness
C) Discourse of balkanization
D) Discourse of binary polarization
E) Discourse of national identity

Question 6

Why would hiring more 'visible minorities' as police officers not necessarily bring about an end to allegations of racism within this institution?

A) Assumes that 'visible minorities' are only ones capable of identifying racial discrimination
B) The absence of political legislation monitoring the thoughts of individual officers
C) Would only change systemic racism and not the views of individual officers
D) Possibility that 'visible minorities' will only engage in reverse racism
E) Both A and B

Question 7

Which of the following examples can be considered 'under-policing'?

A) Number of police officers visibly present at Caribana
B) Length of time police take to respond to hate activity directed towards racialized peoples
C) Community policing
D) Presence of police officers stationed in high schools in predominately urban areas in Ontario
E) The under-representation of black and Asian female officers currently on the force

Question 8

What accounts for the tensions that exist between law enforcement officials in Canada and racialized communities?

A) The discourse of binary polarization
B) Over-policing
C) Police brutality
D) Feelings of distrust and hostility on both sides
E) All of the above

Question 9

Which of the following factors may contribute significantly to racial inequality in imprisonment before trial?

A) Police discretionary actions
B) Judicial misconduct
C) Administrative backlogs in the courts
D) Location of police stations
E) Legal precedents

Question 10

Studying racism in policing does not necessarily mean that all police officers are racist. Rather, these studies are more concerned with

A) Identifying the worst police officers and getting them kicked off the police force
B) Institutional practices and cultural behaviours that produces, supports, and strengthens racially different outcomes
C) Finding areas in the day-to-day activities of police officers where anti-racism strategies can be implemented without too much fanfare
D) Bringing about a complete overhaul of policing institutions across the country
E) Proving that racism does not constitute that much of a problem in the area of policing

Question 11

It has been argued that the police engage in selective enforcement. For example, the police are more likely to place priority on 'street' crimes compared to 'white-collar' crimes. Identify one of the consequences of selective enforcement by the police.

A) The police will only investigate white-collar crimes when the victims are disadvantaged members of the dominant group, such as defrauding the elderly
B) The police are, in effect, removing a large segment of the community from potential criminal liability
C) The police are essentially ensuring that white-collar criminals receive harsher sentences if, and when, they are caught
D) Criminals who engage in 'street' crimes are going to start learning how to commit 'white-collar' crimes
E) White-collar criminals are now free to do whatever they want because they don't have to fear being ever prosecuted

Question 12

The Canadian criminal justice system reflects and promotes the interests of

A) Everyone equally
B) White males only
C) Visible minorities and special interest groups
D) The lower-class
E) The more powerful members of society

Question 13

The concept of 'over-policing' refers to

A) Those situations where more than one police officer responds to the scene of a crime
B) An individual police officer who uses excessive force against a citizen
C) Disproportionate stop-and-search rates by the police
D) The extent to which police use discretion in the surveillance of a community or particular group
E) Crimes that the police describe as a priority

Question 14

Identify the statement that is a notable result of over-policing.

A) Charges tend to be more frequently laid against Blacks and other minorities
B) Police-Community relations are much stronger in areas with over-policing
C) This policing practice has resulted in lower rates of prison admissions for visible minority groups
D) This policing practice has drastically increased the rates of prison admission for ethnic groups from Eastern Europe and Asia
E) The Supreme Court of Canada recently abolished this policing practice because it violates freedom of movement clauses in the Charter

Question 15

In recent years, the Toronto Police Services have assigned many more police officers to control cultural events, such as Caribana when compared to other annual events (e.g. Santa Claus parade, Gay Pride parade). Critics argue this is a blatant example of which policing practice?

A) Racial profiling
B) Community policing
C) Over-policing
D) Under-policing
E) Racialization of crime

Question 16

Those who have not experienced a stop-and-search by a police officer might consider racial profiling to be a minor inconvenience. However, studies have shown that there are real and direct consequences of this controversial policing practice, particularly

A) For those large numbers of innocent citizens who are arbitrarily stopped and/or searched
B) For police officers who have to face constant allegations of racial profiling
C) For the entire society because of the impact that it has on race relations in major Canadian cities
D) For those people who received a traffic ticket for speeding
E) For members of the white community who want to experience racial profiling

Question 17

The police contribute to the racialization of crime in many different ways. One way that this is accomplished lies in the symbiotic relationship between the police and ________.

A) The Conservative Party
B) White supremacist organizations
C) The school system
D) The courts
E) The media

Question 18

Which of the following examples can be considered 'under-policing' when it comes to relations between the police and members of Toronto's 'Black' community?

A) Number of police officers visibly present at Caribana
B) Length of time police take to respond to hate activity directed towards minority peoples
C) High percentage of intra-racial homicides solved by police in Toronto
D) Presence of police officers stationed in high schools in predominately urban areas in Ontario
E) When high-ranking police officials deny that racism in a problem in the police force

Question 19

In a criminology class, John states that he believes most of the gang-related activity taking place in Sault Ste. Marie is committed by Asians. Which of the following term best describes what John is engaging in?

A) Selective identification
B) Discourse of Multiculturalism
C) Passive racism
D) Racialization of crime
E) Criminal profiling

Question 20

North American studies have consistently found that both the print and electronic media represent and reinforce images of Blacks as criminally prone social threats. According to the text, this is an example of

A) Objective media reporting
B) The racialization of crime
C) Racial profiling
D) Discourse of White Victimization
E) New racism

Question 21

Up until the late 1970s, many of the recruitment and hiring criteria that police departments were using were inherently discriminatory, such as having height and weight restrictions. This is an example of what form of racism?

A) Systemic racism
B) Institutional racism
C) Individual racism
D) Aversive racism
E) Symbolic racism

Question 22

Identify which of the following recruitment and hiring criteria employed by police departments up until the 1980s is an example of institutional racism.

A) Standardized math tests
B) Conducting interviews
C) Asking for references
D) Canadian citizen requirements
E) Selecting specific media outlets to advertise careers in policing

Question 23

Despite several initiatives aimed at attracting people of colour to police work and some improvements in the rates of recruitment, impediments continue to exist making it quite difficult to attract visible minorities. One such impediment is

A) The fundamental differences in the perceptions of the police role between Whites and racial minorities
B) The low annual salary for a police recruit
C) The positive image of policing as a profession that exists in minority communities
D) Requiring potential new recruits to move away from their families for a period of 18 months
E) The failure of police departments to create a separate unit for minority officers

Question 24

Police officers have generally felt they are accountable to the laws of the land, rather than to the public they serve. According to the text, this is an example of which discourse?

A) Discourse of Liberal Values
B) Discourse of Moral Panic
C) Discourse of White Victimization
D) Discourse of Accountability
E) Discourse of Equal Opportunity

Question 25

Despite initiatives that the police have put in place to reduce tensions with minority communities in Canada, the public has not really participated in these programs. This might be due to

A) The lack of support from police leadership and rank-and-file officers for this type of involvement
B) The unwillingness of minority groups to come together and sit down with the police
C) A lack of funding
D) The absence of government interventions
E) The fact the police are not willing to change the way they go about fighting crime
True & False Questions:

Question 26

Discussing a concern that biased behaviour exists among police officers is the same as saying that every police officer does so.

Question 27

After making an arrest, police officers do not have any influence on decisions made throughout the criminal justice process.

Question 28

Over-policing can be seen in the discretionary decisions and behaviours of individual police officers.

Question 29

The widespread and disproportionate use of stop-and-search for certain communities is a harmless policing practice.

Question 30

One of the most significant and potentially long-lasting impacts of over-policing is its effect on children and youth.

Question 31

Rather than feeling that the police are there to protect them from crime, individuals from some visible minority communities feel that they needed to be protected from the police.

Question 32

Allegations that Canadian police forces are particularly slow in responding to domestic violence calls in minority communities is an example of under-policing.

Question 33

Police shootings of young white males in urban centres such as Montreal and Vancouver in the 1990s was the only reason a government commission into police use-of-force was created.

Question 34

The lack of an effective, impartial, and independent complaints procedure is viewed as a major stumbling block in ensuring the police treat all members of the community in a non-discriminatory manner.

Question 35

Police-community relations programs have usually been developed by the police as a response to resolving police-community conflict.