6.10. Current Issues: Stereotypes in Policing 
TIFFANY MOREY 
Human beings are infamous for stereotyping. A first impression when meeting a new person takes only 
seven seconds. According to Pitts (2013), smiling, shaking hands, introductions, speaking clearly, 
maintaining eye contact, looking smart, and not sitting down, are sure-fire ways to ensure a more positive 
stereotype; however regardless, the seven seconds is irrefutable. 
Stereotyping in policing is almost a foregone conclusion. Citizens expect their police to protect them 
by being not only reactive but proactive. One of the most popular policing methods is to view a situation 
and proactively make a quick decision on whether or not a crime is about to occur, and if it is, stop it 
from happening. One of the ways police proactively operate is through stereotyping. “Police officers spend 
a great deal of time working their beats…one thing is common to all police officer working personalities: 
in an effort to know who or what is ‘wrong’ on their beat, police officers must know who is ‘right’ or who 
belongs.” 
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When officers cross over the line is when they leave out the step of asking the who, what, where, when, 
why, and how after the stereotyping occurs, to confirm their thoughts. It is at this point that the officer is 
engaging in a type of implicit bias policing and this opens many doors to corruption. It is another slippery 
slope that officers must always be aware of while performing their many duties. 
“Stereotyping or Terry Stop” Example 
No matter how controversial policing is today, one common thread is that citizens want police 
to be proactive, not reactive to violent crime. Whether it is stopping an active shooter in a school, a burglary, or 
even a robbery, proactivity in policing is necessary to halt horrendous crimes from occurring. In 1968 the United 
States Supreme Court decided Terry v. Ohio, which further explained reasonable searches under the 4th amendment 
and played a vital role in the below story. 
I was one of six officers with my department, chosen to work in our first ever problem-solving unit (PSU). Our 
substation was placed in a neighborhood where 21 murders had occurred in just a few months. We were tasked 
1. Perez, D.W. (2011). The paradoxes of police work. Florence, KY: Cengage Publ. 
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