Thursday, July 14, 2016

You are the police chief of a jurisdiction in a state that recently passed a law in response to concerns about possible racial profiling that requires police agencies to document the race and/or ethnicity of both pedestrians and vehicle occupants stopped for any reason. You know from the experience of other police agencies that the data will almost certainly indicate disproportionate stops of minorities. Prepare a press release that explains why you expect disproportionality in the data, and what you intend to do to distinguish inappropriate discrimination from disproportionality expected from legitimate deployment practices.

Such a press release falls under the rhetorical genre of damage control. A first step in this would be opening the press release by stating the positive. Point out how the department has taken steps to reduce racial profiling and emphasize the department's commitment to diversity. Include mentions of various steps, such as increased diversity of the police force, community involvement, and any other ways the department has taken steps to treat minorities fairly and with respect.
Next, acknowledge the problem that stops do target minorities at a rate higher than their total percentage of the population. Acknowledge that this is a problem and apologize for it. Explore the causes of this statistical issue and explain how one can distinguish legitimate causes, such as higher crime rates in minority neighborhoods, from actual intentional profiling. Conclude on a positive note by articulating what additional steps the department plans to take to make sure minorities are treated with fairness and respect and how relations between minorities and law enforcement are being improved in the community.
The main aim of such a press release is to sandwich the negative news in the middle between a positive opening and positive conclusion.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2782848/

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