IMPLICIT BIAS AND THE LAW ENFORCEMENT USE OF FORCE
Currently, one explanation for unproductive and distrustful community and police relationships is that of unconscious, or implicit, bias on the part of law enforcement officers. The suggested result is a disproportionate or inappropriate type and rate of contact and/or use of force with a particular human or societal component.
Implicit bias has been identified as present in institutions of higher education, industry, health care, and in children as young as six years of age. Bias and human tendency can be predictable, and may be used by economists, politicians, and other decision-makers to predict human behavior and develop strategy and policy.
It is believed bias extends through all segments of society and race because it was, and is, an evolutionary requirement for human survival. Human beings innately perceive anyone different from themselves as a potential threat as the brain has developed this fundamental capacity to facilitate survival (Amodio, D., 2014). Researchers have found that these complex survival processes are supported by a network of neural structures in multiple regions of the brain. The amygdala receives direct input from all the senses, enabling the body to quickly and subconsciously respond to perceived threats before any deliberative (slower) thought occurs. This survival process reacts to social threats in exactly the same way it reacts to physical threats. Unconscious bias, then, is the immediate, reflexive, defensive reaction to the “other (Bergonzi, C., 2015).” Behavioral economist Dan Ariely reminded, “We usually think of ourselves as sitting in the driver’s seat, with ultimate control over the decisions we made and the direction our life takes; but, alas, this perception has more to do with our desires — with how we want to view ourselves — than with reality (Being Human).”
Unconscious bias is “implicit” if the subject is unaware of it or mistaken about its nature (Perception Institute) and is influenced by personal experience, and founded upon learned associations between various qualities and social categories. Implicit bias may provide a “positive or negative mental attitude towards a person, thing, or group that a person holds at a subconscious level” (Macrae, Stanger, and Milne, 1994). Explicit stereotypes are the result of intentional, conscious, and controllable thoughts and beliefs and usually directed toward a group of people based on what is being perceived and developed from personal interactions with people and media exposure (Edmonds, D., 2017). There is no current agreement as to the accuracy of implicit bias testing and analysis, or if this type of bias can even be eliminated or mitigated.
A societal criticism is that law enforcement officers have an inappropriate explicit or implicit bias, with the implication that such bias is preventable and/or can be eliminated. Spencer, Charbonneau, and Glaser concluded in their research, “As difficult as their job may be, and as big a toll as it may take on them emotionally, it is important to bear in mind that police officers are normal human beings with normal brains and mental processes. Consequently, they are prone to make the same stereotype-biased judgments the rest of us are. Because they are often operating under conditions of uncertainty, high discretion, and stress and threat, the pervasive stereotypes linking Blacks and Latinos with violence, crime, and even specifically weapons are likely to cause them to make misattributions in seeking to disambiguate the intentions and behaviors of citizens. This can lead to racially disparate rates of stops, searches, arrests, and use of force (2016).”
Law enforcement officers consciously or subconsciously collect experience/information that may influence perception and bias from the media, organizational and individual threatening and posturing, the neighborhoods they patrol, field encounters, and training. Bias and perception may also be regularly augmented by data identifying areas, behaviors, and persons likely to be engaged in criminal activity and/or pose a physical threat. This experience could be expected to be reflected in law enforcement contact types and rates and subsequent uses of force.
QUESTIONS
What are the biological/evolutionary reasons for bias?
Can physiological survival processes be completely eliminated or modified? Why, or why not?
Can a trained law enforcement officer be expected to perform their duties outside of human performance capabilities and limitations?
Can bias be eliminated or mitigated through training? Why, or why not? If so, how? Would the tax payer be willing to fund this training?
What role does the media have in the biases of society and law enforcement officers? Is there a relationship between these components?
How could public threats towards law enforcement officers influence perceptions and actions?
How does data/information influence society’s perception of law enforcement officers and the rates and types of contact and uses of force? Is there a consequence of misrepresenting or misinterpreting that data?
REFERENCES
Amodio, D. (2014). The neuroscience of prejudice and stereotyping. Nat Rev Neurosci. Oct;15 (10):670–82. doi: 10.1038/nrn3800. Epub 2014 Sep 4.
Being Human (2017). Bias; How Fair Are We? http://www.beinghuman.org.
Bergonzi, C. (2015). Understanding Bias and the Brain. Briefings Magazine, May 11. Korn Ferry Institute.
Blake, D. (2016). Unpacking implicit bias in policing. PoliceOne.com
Edmonds, D. (2017) BBC Magazine, June 5. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-40124781
Gaertner, Brown, Sam, Rupert (2008). Blackwell Handbook of Social Psychology: Intergroup Processes. ISBN 9780470692707.
Macrae, C., Stangor, C., Milne, A., (1994). Activating Social Stereotypes: A Functional Analysis. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 30, 370–389.
Perception Institute (2017). https://perception.org/research/implicit-bias/
Spencer., K., Charbonneau, A., Glaser, J. (2016). Implicit Bias and Policing. Social and Personality Psychology Compass 10/1: 50–63, 10.1111/spc3.12210.
