Bias Policing
What is Bias Policing?
Bias Policing occurs when, whether intentionally or unintentionally,
an officer applies his or her own personal, societal, or organizational biases
or stereotypes when making decisions or taking police action, and the ONLY reason for
that decision or action is because of a person’s race, ethnicity, background, gender,
sexual orientation, religion, economic status, age, culture or other personal characteristic,
rather than due to the observed behavior of the individual or the identification of the
individual as being, having been, or about to be engaged in criminal activity.
The Plant City Police Department’s Bias Policing policy:
It is the policy of the Plant City Police Department to protect the constitutional
rights of all people, regardless of race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation,
physical handicap, religion or other belief system or physical characteristic; and
to treat each person with respect and dignity. While contacting persons in a
variety of situations is not only routine, but also germane to law enforcement
activities, the agency will not accept or tolerate bias policing.
We are here to protect the community: Law enforcement officers are required
to use skills developed through observation, training and experience in order to
identify suspicious circumstances, unusual occurrences and violations of law
(municipal ordinance, criminal and traffic), and to act according to the situation.
We contact people who, according to our training, experience, and knowledge,
are in a place or are acting in a way to make us believe that a crime was committed,
is about to be committed or is in the process of being committed. This proactive
approach aids in the detection and apprehension of criminals, maintains the safety of
our streets and highways, and protects our citizens and community from crime.
We want to do the right thing: Discriminatory enforcement practices can alienate our
citizens, foster distrust of police in the community, invite media scrutiny, legislative
action and judicial intervention, and potentially lead to allegations of constitutional and
civil rights violations. As we perform our duties, it is imperative that we afford all citizens
the Constitutional and fundamental right to equal protection under the law. We use
accepted investigative tools: Criminal profiling is one of many accepted and necessary
law enforcement investigative practices. However, it differs from and should not be
confused with bias policing. One is an investigative tool; the other, a discriminatory
practice.
What is criminal profiling? When we investigate crime, we use every legitimate
tool at our disposal to narrow the list of potential suspects so we can identify, find and
arrest those responsible for the crimes, to bring them to justice and to keep them from
committing more acts against society.
Criminal profiling can assist us by narrowing the field of potential suspects in major
criminal investigations. Based on current and historical law enforcement investigative
knowledge and experience, we scrutinize a set of facts and factors common to specific
(e.g., serial murder with a certain ‘signature’) or general (e.g., narcotics trafficking) criminal
activity. From these facts and factors, we may be able to identify a type of person or group
of people by gender, age, race, and/or by personality, social, and/or other characteristics
that is most likely to be involved. This can result in fewer suspects to consider and a quicker
resolution to the case.
How does criminal profiling differ from bias policing? While criminal profiling does add
elements (such as gender, race, or ethnicity) to a list of factors scrutinized to identify a suspect,
these elements are only parts of several pieces of the puzzle that police must put together to solve crime.
If you think you have been a victim of bias policing, please contact:
Plant City Police Professional Standards Division Unit at 813-757-9200.
