textfiles/law/jan03.law

January 1990                                                      


              THE CHANGING FACE OF AMERICA
                                      
                          By
 
              Robert C. Trojanowicz, Ph.D. 
                         and 
                 David L. Carter, Ph.D.

                      
     In the next century America's population will change 
considerably. According to demographers, in less than 100 years, 
we can expect white dominance of the United States to end, as the 
growing number of blacks, Hispanics, and Asians together become 
the new majority. (1) As we approach the 21st century, we already 
see white America growing grayer.  In the past decade, there has 
been an estimated 23-percent increase in the number of Americans  
65 and older. (2)  In fact, more people of retirement age live in 
the United States now than there were people alive in this 
country during the Civil War.  But while the average age of all 
Americans is now 32, the average age of blacks is 27; Hispanics 
23. (3)  By 2010 more than one-third of all American children will 
be black, Hispanic, or Asian. (4)
                                    
     These dramatic changes in the overall make-up of American 
society have profound implications for law enforcement, 
particularly because many of the legal and illegal immigrants 
flooding into this country are of different races, ethnic groups, 
religions, and cultures.  Many do not have even a rudimentary 
knowledge of the English language.                                

     To understand fully what such immigration will mean for 
policing in the 21st century requires exploring some crucial 
questions.  Who are these new immigrants?  How many are there? 
Why do they come here?  What new demands will they place on law 
enforcement in the future?  How can the police prepare today to 
meet these changing needs?                                        

THE NEW IMMIGRANTS                                                

     For many of us, the word ``immigrant'' evokes two vivid 
images:  1) The wave after wave of Europeans flooding through 
Ellis Island, and 2) the metaphor of the ``melting pot.''  These 
two memories often converge in a romanticized view of the past as 
a time when those ``poor, hungry, huddled masses'' from other 
countries required only a generation or two for their offspring 
to become full-fledged Americans. However, a closer look shows 
that many immigrant groups found the path to full assimilation 
difficult. For many this meant struggling to find ways to blend 
in without losing their unique cultural identities.               

     Our past experience should also forewarn us that race 
constitutes the biggest barrier to full participation in the 
American dream.  In particular, the black experience has been 
unique from the beginning because most African Americans did not 
come here seeking freedom or greater opportunity, but were 
brought to this country as slaves.  And the lingering problem of 
racism still plays an undeniable role in preventing blacks from 
achieving full participation in the economic and social life of 
this country.                                                     

     De facto segregation persists in keeping many minorities 
trapped in decaying crime- and drug-riddled, inner-city 
neighborhoods.  Though blacks constitute only 12 percent of the 
total U.S. population, as a result of ``white flight,'' many of 
this country's major cities have minority majorities, while the 
suburbs that surround them remain virtually white.                

     The role of race as an obstacle to full assimilation and 
participation is of obvious concern since almost one-half of all 
legal immigrants over the past decade have been Asians Chinese, 
Filipino, Indian, Korean, Vietnamese, and Kampucheans 
(Cambodians) and slightly more than one-third have been from 
Latin America. (5)  Though 9 of 10 Hispanics are counted as 
``white,'' (6) there is no doubt that they face discrimination 
because of their Hispanic ethnicity.  At the same time, only 12 
percent of the immigrants since 1980 have been Europeans, whose 
experience would be likely to mirror more closely those of their 
counterparts in the past. (7)
                                        
     Because minorities are expected to continue to exhibit 
higher birth rates than whites, demographers expect minorities to 
constitute an even larger percentage of young people in this 
country in the near future.  By 2020 a majority of children in 
New Mexico, California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Louisiana 
will be minorities blacks, Asians, and Hispanics. (8)
                
     White males have traditionally dominated our society, in 
power and wealth as well as sheer numbers.  Over the past few 
decades, both minorities and women have made significant gains, 
particularly in the business world.  Yet, both groups still earn 
significantly less than their white male counterparts, and they 
have yet to attain leadership roles in the public and private 
sectors equal to their respective numbers in society.             

     Certain questions naturally arise. In the future, will the 
power and wealth of white males erode as their numbers decline? 
Will minorities band together as a new coalition or splinter 
apart into competing special interests? How will mainstream 
attitudes change along the way? Are we embarking on a new era of 
tolerance and cooperation or a new era of hostility, in which 
various groups will battle each other for status, dollars, and 
power?                                                            

THE NUMBERS                                                       

     When we look at the number of legal immigrants arriving each 
year, their overall numbers appear deceptively small compared to 
the more than 255 million people who already live here. In fiscal 
year 1988, a total of 643,000 newcomers arrived, (9) but their 
potential impact becomes clearer if we remember that would mean 
roughly 6.5 million new residents in just the next decade, even 
if immigration rates did not rise.  And the picture becomes 
clearer still when we consider that many immigrants often cluster 
in specific areas, which makes their combined impact on certain 
communities far greater than if they were dispersed evenly 
nationwide.                                        
               
     Shortly after the turn of the 21st century, Asians are 
expected to reach 10 million. (10)  Today's 18 million Hispanics may 
well double by then. (11)  Included in such totals, of course, are 
the illegal immigrants who find their way into America each year. 
While the actual numbers are unknown, the 1987 law that granted 
amnesty to those undocumented aliens and agricultural workers who 
qualified allowed roughly 3 million to stay. (12)
             
     Another indicator is that the Border Patrol now apprehends 
roughly 900,000 people who try to enter illegally each year, down 
800,000 from 1986, the year before the employer sanctions of the 
new Federal immigration legislation went into effect. (13)  Again, 
we most often think first of undocumented aliens as being Mexican 
nationals and other Latin Americans who penetrate our southern 
borders; but these figures also include substantial numbers of 
people from the Pacific Rim and the Caribbean, as well as the 
Irish, Canadians, and Western Europeans who often come in as 
tourists and then decide to stay.                                 

WHY THEY COME                                                     

     Current U.S. immigration policy gives highest priority to 
reuniting families. Among the 265,000 legal immigrants in 1988 
subject to limitations (quotas based on country of birth), almost 
200,000 were admitted on the basis of ``relative preference,'' 
that is, they were related to a permanent resident or citizen of 
the United States. (14)  Immediate relatives (spouses, parents, and 
children) of U.S. citizens are exempt from restrictions, and in 
1988, they constituted approximately 219,000 of the 379,000 in 
the exempt category. (15)
                                            
     The next largest category of legal immigrants admitted is 
refugees and those seeking asylum, roughly 111,000 in 1988. (16)  To 
qualify under these provisions, applicants must persuade the 
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) that they are 
fleeing persecution at home, not that they are simply escaping 
poverty.  An article in the Wall Street Journal alleged that the 
INS routinely rejects applicants from Haiti and El Salvador and 
that it is also difficult for Nicaraguans, Ethiopians, Afghanis, 
and Czechs to qualify. (17)
                                          
     The fourth largest category of legal immigrants includes 
those given preference on the basis of their education and 
occupation, less than 54,000 in 1988 only 4 percent of that 
year's total. (18)  Morton Kondracke in an article in The New 
Republic notes, ``...this tiny number provided 52 percent of the 
mathematicians and computer scientists who came in and 38 
percent of the college teachers.'' (19)
                              
     Chances are, however, that the immigration policy will not 
change dramatically in the near future, though efforts will be 
made to allow more people with preferred job skills to immigrate. 
The question is whether they should be admitted in addition to or 
instead of those scheduled to be reunited with their families. 
This also has racial implications, because shifting from family 
to occupational considerations would mean a shift from Asians and 
Latin Americans toward more Europeans.                            

THE LAW ENFORCEMENT CHALLENGE                                      

     All of these issues have obvious implications for law 
enforcement, but perhaps the first challenge is to remember that 
generalities tend to be false.  Each immigrant, whether legal or 
illegal, arrives not only as part of a larger group but also as 
an individual with unique gifts and faults.                       

     Particularly where newcomers cluster together in poor 
neighborhoods with high crime rates, the police, perhaps even 
more so than the population at large, must guard against 
stereotyping.  Some newcomers may be too timid to interact widely 
in their new communities; yet, they may contact the police.  The 
police, therefore, have a tremendous responsibility because those 
first impressions matter, not just in terms of how new arrivals 
will see the police but how they view the entire society.         

     Imagine how much Asians and Latin Americans have to learn, 
especially if they are not proficient in English.  Who will 
assure them that the public police do not use torture or keep 
files on their activities?  Will they understand the difference 
between the public police and private police? Will they really 
believe we have no secret police?  Many of today's new arrivals 
come from places where the police are feared, not respected, and 
the last thing they would be likely to do is ask an officer for 
help or share any information.  We have had our whole lives to 
understand the written and unwritten rules of this society, with 
all their nuances.  It is unreasonable to expect immigrants to 
absorb these cultural characteristics in even a few years.        

     Police officers so often see people at their worst, not 
their best.  And because police officers focus so much attention 
on crime, there is always the danger that they will have a 
distorted view of who the ``bad guys'' are and how many there are 
of them. This temptation to generalize from a few to the many is 
a particularly critical problem for the police in the case of 
immigrants.                                                       

     A small fraction of the immigrants coming in will be career 
criminals, eager to ply their trades here.  The police have had 
to battle Asian drug gangs and Jamaican posses, as well as the 
alleged hardened criminals that entered this country as part of 
the Mariel Boat Lift.                                             

     Moreover, there will always be the larger group that turns 
to crime when faced with economic hardship.  Police departments 
must take steps to ensure that officers remain sensitive to the 
reality that the majority of the newcomers are law-abiding 
people, eager to build a new life.                                

     Because police departments are a microcosm of a larger 
society, it would be naive to assume that everyone who wears the 
uniform is free of bias.  In addition, the statistics verify that 
there is a link between race and crime, but the mistake lies in 
seeing this as cause and effect.                                  

     Studies show that blacks are arrested for violent crimes at 
rates four times higher than their overall numbers would justify; 
Hispanics at rates two and a half times what they should be, even 
though they are often poorer than blacks. (20)  But we have only to 
look at the rates of violent crimes in the black-run nations of 
Africa, which are nowhere near as high as they are here, to see 
that our problems are not caused by their genes but by our 
culture.  Perhaps the increasing minority numbers will help make 
this society more color blind.               
                     
     Unfortunately, many of these new immigrants will become 
victims, particularly of violent crimes that disproportionately 
afflict minorities. Ignorance of our laws and customs can make 
them easy targets for all kinds of predators.  Fear of the police 
will also work against them.  And if they cannot speak the 
language, at least not well, it may be difficult for them to 
share information.                                                

TOWARD A SOLUTION: COMMUNITY POLICING                             

     As even this cursory analysis shows, immigrants face all the 
problems, and more, that everyone in this culture faces.  The 
primary challenge for law enforcement will be to find ways to 
meet their needs with special concern for their racial, ethnic, 
cultural, and religious diversity--and their specific 
vulnerabilities.                                                  

     A community policing approach offers law enforcement 
officers unique flexibility in tailoring their response to meet 
local needs in ways that promote sensitivity and respect for 
minority concerns.  This new philosophy and organizational 
strategy proposes that only by decentralizing and personalizing 
police service will law enforcement be able to meet the needs of 
an increasing diverse society.                                    

     Community policing rests on the belief that no technology 
can surpass what creative human beings can achieve together.  It 
says that police departments must deploy their most innovative, 
self-disciplined, and self-motivated officers directly into the 
community as outreach specialists and community problem-solvers. 
Only by freeing these new community policing officers (CPOs) from 
the isolation of their patrol cars, so they can interact with 
people face-to-face in the same areas every day, can departments 
develop the rapport and trust necessary to encourage people to 
become active in the process of policing themselves.              

     In addition to serving as full-fledged law enforcement 
officers, CPOs would work to reduce fear of crime and the 
physical and social disorder and neighborhood decay that act as  
magnets for a host of social ills, including crime and drugs. 
They also can serve as the community's ombudsmen to city hall, to 
ensure prompt delivery of vital government services, and as the 
community's link to the public and private agencies that can 
help.                                                             

     Particularly in the case of immigrants, community policing 
allows the department an opportunity for mutual input and 
enrichment.  CPOs can help educate immigrants about our laws and 
customs and how to cope with our culture.  Equally important, 
this grass-roots, two-way information flow allows immigrants the 
opportunity to teach the department how to take their particular 
concerns into account, with dignity and respect for their 
cultural identities.                                              

THE RIGHT PEOPLE FOR THE JOB                                      

     One of the more difficult problems that police departments 
will continue to face is how to develop the capacity to speak to 
new immigrants in their native tongues.  It is often easier in 
theory than in practice to recruit qualified bilingual candidates 
from immigrant populations, especially since many come from 
countries where police work may not be a respectable career.      

     This issue raises more questions than answers.  How many 
officers should be bilingual?  How proficient must they be?  
Should foreign language be a requirement for college degrees in 
criminal justice?  What will it cost police departments to meet 
this need?  Is this an opportunity to use civilian volunteers?  
Can a department develop the capacity to speak to all in their 
native tongues?                                                   

     Such a changing society also will demand that the police 
remain sensitized to the issue of how to serve people who 
exhibit racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity.  This 
is a two-fold concern.  First, it implies that departments must 
establish and enforce guidelines to ensure existing officers 
discharge their duties with care and concern.  Second, it means 
that departments must recruit candidates who are the best capable 
to handle the increasing challenge posed by the future.           

     To recruit officers from minority populations is a logical 
response to this challenge.  However, a study by the Center for 
Applied Urban Research on the Employment of Black and Hispanic 
Officers shows recent efforts aimed at minority recruiting have 
produced uneven results.  Almost one-half of the big city police 
departments made significant progress in hiring black officers; 
yet, 17 percent reported a decline.  Forty-two percent of the 
departments made gains in hiring Hispanics, but almost 11 percent 
reported a decline. (21)  Part of the reason related to whether the 
departments pursued affirmative action plans, but there are also 
concerns that some minorities leave because of better career 
opportunities elsewhere, often because policing is perceived as 
falling short in providing meaningful career development.  
Overall, however, a 1989 study by the Police Executive Research 
Forum (PERF) found that in cities with a population of 50,000 or 
more, the number of black and Hispanic police officers was 
generally proportionate to the population. (22)
                      
     The PERF study also indicated that college-educated officers 
exhibit the greatest sensitivity to the diversity that will 
increasingly become the hallmark of this society.  The study also 
verified that the officers with at least some college education 
are not only increasing in numbers in the rank and file but also 
in police management as well. (23)  But again, retaining these 
officers can be difficult.  Therefore, research supporting the 
widespread perception that community policing not only makes 
officers feel safer but also that it provides job enlargement and 
job enrichment, indicating that community policing may be a 
potent new way to keep the best people for the challenges that 
lie ahead. (24)
                                                      
POLICE POLICY TOWARD ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS                           

     The obvious obstacle in building trust between the police 
department and immigrants who are here illegally stems from their 
fears that the police will inform INS officials about their 
status.  One chief of police in a border city wrestled with this 
issue and decided that the police must serve the needs of all 
members of the community.  The depart-ment's policy is that it 
will not inform INS about undocumented residents except, of 
course, in cases where the police arrest someone for a crime.     

     The chief based his decision on the argument that it is the 
job of the INS, not the police, to track down and deport 
illegals.  He also believes that this policy has helped his 
department gain the trust of the entire community, so that people 
in the community are now far more willing to share the 
information that the police need to do their best job.  This is a 
decision that more chiefs will face in the future, and they must 
weigh the best interests of the department and the community 
within the dictates of their individual consciences.              

SERVING THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY                                      

     The successful assimilation of new immigrant groups, 
particularly those of different races, will depend on changing 
attitudes in mainstream society.  This is of particular concern, 
because current trends portend a society in which the youngest 
members will increasingly consist of minority youths, while the 
ranks of the elderly will remain far whiter.                      

     These trends also show that younger workers, many of whom 
will be minorities in lower-paying service jobs, increasingly 
will be asked to pay for the needs of primarily white retirees, 
whose health care costs alone may prove staggering.               

     Adding to these generational tensions is the incendiary 
issue of crime, with its overlay of age and race considerations. 
The bulk of the crimes committed in this society are perpetrated 
by the young, at rates far beyond what other industrialized 
Western nations endure.  Though the elderly exhibit 
lower-than-average rates of actual victimization, they rank among 
the groups with the greatest fear of crime. In some 
neighborhoods, we see the elderly becoming virtual prisoners of 
fear.  Indeed, this self-imposed imprisonment which reduces their 
exposure to the threat explains in part why they are not 
victimized more often.                                            

     Because crime and youth are so strongly linked, perhaps our 
aging society foretells a steep decline in our overall rates of 
crime.  Crime rates have already begun to fall as the bulge of 
the ``baby boomers'' continue to grow out of their most 
crime-prone years, but not as much as had been anticipated.       

     Various factors raise concern that we may not soon see a 
dramatic drop in crime the growing gap between rich and poor, 
drugs, teenage pregnancy, illiteracy, high unemployment among 
minority youths, the continued proliferation of guns, and 
alarming rates of child abuse and neglect.  Even if we are 
fortunate enough to see a substantially safer future during our 
lifetime, we can also expect that people will begin to demand 
more.  For example, the police will be asked to pay more 
attention to other wants and needs that are now often ignored or 
given short shrift because of the current crisis posed by serious 
crime.                                                            

CONCLUSION                                                        

     Community policing offers an important new tool to help heal 
the wounds caused by crime, fear of crime, and disorder.  In one 
community that might mean a community police officer recruiting 
elderly volunteers from a senior center to help immigrant youths 
become more fluent in English.  This offers the hope that those 
retirees will overcome their fears, while at the same time 
enhancing a young person's opportunity to perform well in school 
and on the job.                                                   

     In a different neighborhood, the challenge could be for the 
CPO to encourage blacks, Hispanics, and Asians to cooperate 
together in persuading area businesses to help provide 
recreational activities for juveniles.  The possibilities are 
bounded only by the imagination and enthusiasm of the officers 
and the people they are sworn to serve, if the police are given 
the resources, time, and opportunity to work with people where 
they live and work.                                               

     It would be naive to suggest that community policing is a 
panacea that can heal all the wounds in any community.  But it 
has demonstrated its ability to make people feel safer and 
improve the overall quality of community life.  Today's challenge 
is to find new ways for law enforcement to contribute to make the 
United States a place where all people have an equal chance to 
secure a piece of the American dream for themselves and their 
children.  Therefore, the urgent message is that we must begin 
preparing now, so that we can do even more toward that worthy 
goal in the ever-changing future.                                 

FOOTNOTES                                                         

(1)  U.S. Census Bureau projections on future trends.            

(2)  Thomas Exter, ``Demographic Forecasts On to Retirement,'' 
American Demographics, April 1989.                                

(3)  Reported on the NBC special, "The R.A.C.E.," hosted by 
Bryant Gumbel, September 6, 1989.                                 

(4)  Joe Schwartz and Thomas Exter, "All Our Children," American 
Demographics, May 1989.                                           

(5)  John Dillin, "Asian-American:  Soaring Minority," The 
Christian Science Monitor, October 10, 1985.                      

(6)  Supra note 4.                                               

(7)  Supra note 5.                                               

(8)  Supra note 4.                                               

(9)  "Immigration Statistics:  Fiscal Years 1988 - Advance 
Report," U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and 
Naturalization Service, Series IMM 88, April 1989.                

(10)  Supra note 5.                                              

(11)  Thomas Exter, "How Many Hispanics?" American Demographics, 
May 1987.                                                         

(12)  Morton Kondracke, "Borderline Cases," The New Republic, 
April 10, 1989.                                                   

(13)  Ibid.                                                      

(14)  Supra note 9.                                              

(15)  Ibid.                                                      

(16)  Ibid.                                                      

(17)  Supra note 12.                                             

(18)  Supra note 9.                                              

(19)  Supra note 12.                                             

(20)  Charles E. Silberman, Criminal Violence, Criminal Justice 
(New York:  Random House, 1978), also Report to the Nation on 
Crime and Justice - Second Edition, U.S. Department of Justice, 
Bureau of Justice Statistics, March 1988.                         

(21)  Samuel Walker, Employment of Black and Hispanic Police 
Officers, 1983-1988:  A Follow-up Study, Occasional Paper, 
Center for Applied Urban Research, University of Nebraska at 
Omaha, February 1989.                                             

(22)  David L. Carter, Allen Sapp, and Darrel Stephens, The 
State of Police Education:  Policy Direction for the 21st 
Century, Police Executive Research Forum, Washington, DC, 1989.   

(23)  Ibid.                                                      

(24)  Robert C. Trojanowicz and Dennis W. Banas, Job 
Satisfaction:  A Comparison of Foot Patrol Versus Motor Patrol 
Officers, Community Policing Series No. 2, National Neighborhood 
Foot Patrol Center (now the Center for Community Policing), 
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 1985.                



About the authors:

     Dr. Robert Trojanowicz and Dr. David Carter are professors in
     the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University,
     East Lansing, MI.