88 3 Police and Law Enforcement—Civil Forensics
Suggestions for Future Research
Most of the research on racism in policing focuses on African Americans, yet
Latino Americans are also overrepresented in jail and prison populations, and there
are reports of discrimination against Asian Americans. There is a clear need for
research on selective law enforcement for all minority groups. There is also a need
for research that deals with how selective enforcement impacts minority populations.
Although the impact of selective enforcement was addressed in this section, much
of'the information was based on speculation due to lack of extensive research.
The case oi Ben exemplified a situation that is a reality to many Americans. The
occurrence of police-selective enforcement is unfortunate. Perhaps what is more
unfortunate is the law's inability or unwillingness to protect minorities against such
selective policing. Despite some research claiming that selective policing does not
occur, most research indicates it does occur and on a regular basis. Several policy im-
plications were indicated in this section; however, until action is taken to implement
these policies, selective enforcement and racism in policing will continue.