DTWNews

Bias can appear in many forms and more often than not, bias is practiced unconsciously, without full knowledge of the performer’s indulgence. This is precisely how implicit bias expresses itself, as unconscious attitudes or stereotypical associations with people. Implicit bias is equally very much practiced in policing. Here, it is typically expressed as police officers treating individuals unfairly because of their race or what has been societally associated with a set of people.

Implicit bias in policing is quite frankly very easy to identify and spot out. If a police officer or any other police personnel takes actions, such as, stopping and searching vehicles driven by people of certain races more than they do for other vehicle drivers of another race, this is an expression of bias.

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While this may be a deliberate act in some cases, for a profession like policing that thrives on keeping the peace and maintaining order in society, this bias is mostly unconscious and as such, an implicit bias.

Another typical expression of implicit bias in policing is instantly concluding one race of suspects is likely to be more dangerous and of more harm than other suspects.

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