Black kids in Minneapolis face a bleak outlook when looking toward to their future. According to a new report from the American Civil Liberties Union of Minneapolis the difference between Blacks’ and whites’ arrest records between 2004 and 2012 shows an alarming gap.
A letter penned to Mayor Betsy Hodges and Police Chief Janee Harteau points out that a commitment made by government officials to protect and serve everyone equally and fairly in Minneapolis differs with the actual number of arrests in the area. Though good intentioned, the reality is that many Black juveniles will find themselves introduced to the criminal justice system before the SATs.
The ACLU found that the Minneapolis Police Department arrested Blacks at disproportionate rates compared to whites and at higher rates than the national average. Black juveniles who live in the Twin Cities are arrested more often for lower-level offenses, including marijuana possession, “disorderly conduct, ” and truancy, compared to white juveniles. More simply the school-to-prison pipeline is higher for Blacks who are introduced to disciplinary action for these low-level juvenile behaviors. Many of them develop negative opinions of police and are untrustworthy of law enforcement later in life.
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Arrest and sentencing disparities are common on the national level with Blacks often being arrested and sentenced to longer terms than white offenders. The ACLU points out that data provided by the Minneapolis Police Department shows that a Black individual is 8.86 times more likely to be arrested for disorderly conduct, 7.54 times more likely for vagrancy, and 16.39 more times likely for curfew/loitering than a white individual. Blacks are 11.51 times more likely to be arrested for pot possession than whites. That figure is higher than the national average that a Black person is four times more likely to be arrested, even though pot use for both races is the same.
One possible theory as Think Progress suggests is “broken windows” policing, in which police target minor offenses with the aim of thwarting more significant crime. For example a juvenile arrested and charged with possession of marijuana could suggest a charge of possession with attempt to sale, if police officers find evidence that the offender may be a drug dealer. That in turn might lead to a weapons charge. From there, an arrest record, even without a conviction, makes finding employment and suitable housing difficult. An arrest could limit educational opportunities and financial aid. A second theory could be that the level of police activity is higher in areas where Blacks tend to live making them more susceptible to stop-and-frisk policing, common in cities such as New York, but figures are rarely reported in other cities.
The report notes that the Uniform Crime Report used by the FBI doesn’t recognize Latino as a separate race, which means there could be an over-reporting of white arrests. That would most likely mean the gap would increase even more if those numbers were updated. The ACLU has asked the Minneapolis Police Department for recent statistics that could show how well these measures are being put into place.