Everything from family traditions to personal experiences influence how people see the world. Police officers will have their own unique perspective on life, just like anyone else will. Most individuals will treat certain people differently because of their life experiences and traditions.
Unfortunately, hidden or implicit biases in police officers can impact how they do their job. Certain people are at substantially higher risk for suffering violence during an encounter with law enforcement than others.
Officers may not realize that their internal biases impact how they perform their job, but the statistical analysis of encounters with law enforcement in Chicago makes it clear that inherent bias affects how police officers do their jobs.
Black Americans have more risk for police violence than other racial groups
In an analysis of police encounters in the likelihood of violence during an interaction with law enforcement, researchers found a troubling trend. Although black Americans only make up about 32% of the population in Chicago, they represent 72% of all the violent police encounters.
Compare that with white Americans, who also represent about 32% of the population but only 10% of the times police use violence during an encounter. Essentially, black residents and visitors in Chicago have 14 times the risk that white people have for police brutality during an encounter with law enforcement.
Internal bias should not affect how someone does their job or the safety of other people. If you believe that you experienced police brutality because of the bias of the officers involved, you may want to discuss the situation with an attorney familiar with this complex area of law.