August 9, 2014 marked one of the most controversial days in U.S history. On this day, lives were lost, stories (both true and false) were told, and sides were taken, creating a deeper divide between two groups. On this day, Michael Brown of Ferguson, MO, was shot and killed by Police officer Darren Wilson. According to a Washington Post article, “a U.S Department of Justice investigation found there to be racial bias in Ferguson’s police and court system,”  which they believe could have played a role in the death of Brown. This case was not only controversial because of the uncertainty of events leading up to the shooting, but because of the consistent arguments insisting racial bias and brutality by police towards people of color in Ferguson and everywhere in the nation. On this day, the divide between police and the general public (specifically people of color) deepened.

The concept of police brutality is anything but new, as accusations of police brutality have been surrounding several police forces throughout the United States for decades. Both recent and past cases can be evidence of the presence of police brutality in current forces today, however, what many don’t realize is that America’s police force is aware of its rather dark past, and its flaws it still has today, and is working to improve relations with the general public. Despite the effort that often goes unheard of, the police are still blamed for social issues and justified reactions to cases. Many current efforts by police forces to improve relations and avoid racial bias are often overlooked by the negative connotation the media displays of the police.

Although the impact of a few brutal officers may never be lessened, the concept of police brutality is becoming a modern myth with the current reform America’s police force is undergoing. This article will analyze different arguments surrounding the police and why some are not true, discuss misunderstandings about use of force, and finally, talk about the reform several police departments are undergoing.

First, What is Police Brutality?

Police brutality is simply defined as “the use of excessive or unnecessary force by officers when dealing with civilians.”  You don’t have to look too far back in history to find cases of excessive force. Excessive force happens sometimes even today, despite the training and dedication that police agencies put into their officers. Controversy arises when an officer steps outside the boundaries of the Graham vs. Connor claus (see paragraph 7), and abuses his/her position of power and authority. What many people fail to realize, however, is that shooting a perpetrator is not always excessive force. There is a fine line between justified and unjustified use of force.

What is racial profiling and how does it relate to the police?

Racial profiling is defined as “the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of committing an offense.” The American police force as a whole has been accused of this several times. Many races and ethnicities fall victim to this concept, specifically African Americans. Common belief is that the amount of african americans killed by the police is disproportionately more than that of white or other races/ethnicities. We see this argument in slogans used by organizations like Black Lives Matter, and used in popular hashtags such as “#walkingwhileblack,” “#drivingwhileblack,: and others.

https://twitter.com/NVHJD/status/933913390375940096

Ever since I sued that cop a few months ago for discrimination and won I’ve been followed and pulled over quite frequently on my way to work. 🤷🏽‍♂️ #DrivingWhileBlack

— ℐ﹅𓂅⊹ǂ𓂅⋆ (@j_ladrae) December 7, 2017

https://twitter.com/wantpeace/status/940015314133241856

Commonly, people believe police discriminate and profile unarmed black men, and have cases of Walter Scott, Laquan Macdonald, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Philando Castile and many others to prove it. The men in all of those cases were killed by an officer(s), and were African American. The failure of the cop to do his/her duty and responding with incorrect/harsh actions were the reasons of these mens’ deaths. However, the issue is when people equate every officer’s actions, incorrect or justified, with racial bias. America’s history of brutal police has carried into modern day perception that racism is embedded and ingrained into the police system, however, to claim the presence of direct racism in the majority of police and black shootings, would just be factually incorrect.

In 2015, 987 people were killed by police. 

According to Heather Macdonald’s book, The War on Cops, 50% of the above mentioned victims were white, and 26% were black. Data shows that despite the fact that the amount of black people killed by police is disproportionately more than the population of blacks in America, police still kill more white people annually than they do black people. What Macdonald did find however, is that the demographics of those arrested and/or killed by the police depends on your location. It seems however, racial bias from police could be the reasoning of the Washington Post’s report that  “black men are 2.5 times more likely to be shot and killed by police than white men.” This is a shocking, scary statement.

[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”Black men are 2.5 times more likely to shot and killed by police than white men.”[/perfectpullquote]

However, the Washington Post didn’t mention that due to the rate of violent crimes from African Americans, it would be predicted that at least a quarter of all victims shot by the police would be black (Macdonald.) She also says that of the 987 killed by police in 2015, 26% were black, but in the overall number of black homicides, only 4% were killed by the police, as opposed to 12% of whites and hispanics. This is not to say that race causes you to commit crimes; it is saying that due to the rate of violent crimes committed by African Americans, it is probably that more victims shot by police would be of that race.

The Game

With connections of racial bias and the police ensuing, several studies have been led to try resolve suspicions. Professors at the University of Chicago, University of Denver, and University of Colorado at Boulder conducted a study in 2007 that would try to explain the continuing mutual existence of racial bias and officers, through…a video game. This video game entailed real life scenarios in which people of different races would be photographed holding everyday items, as well as guns. The object of the game was to only shoot someone who is unarmed. To compare results, the researchers not only observed officers, but everyday citizens as well. What they found was that, although there was found to be a lower reaction time when faced with a photo of an African American man, indicating racial bias on both sides, the officers tested performed better than the citizens tested with obviously better aim and accuracy, as well as lower rates of racial bias.

Pulling the trigger in unnecessary situations

This argument is one of the most controversial. Along with some news stories I’ve mentioned earlier, controversy has occurred in many recent cases in which an officer pulled the trigger unnecessarily. Before we even touch on the topic of force, we have to understand the court case of Graham vs. Connor. Graham vs. Connor is perhaps the most important court case to officers because provides a concept and standard for all officers to use in their daily work. When an officer is faced with a threat, they have to take in to account severity of the crime at issue, whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others, and whether he/she is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight.” The concept focuses on “objective reasonableness” based on facts and circumstances faced by the officer. What was the seriousness of the crime? What threat was present to him/her or to other people? When a case of force or a shooting is reviewed, Graham vs. Connor is the one of the main components that decides the acquittal or sentence of the officer. 

What are non-lethals and why don’t the police use them as often?

Police officers and S.W.A.T teams carry different types of non-lethal weapons. According to The Marshall project, officers use bean bag bullets, blunt impact projectiles, pepper ball bullets, and different types of tasers. Problem is, some of these innovations are very expensive and not many departments have all of them. If officers carry both non-lethal and lethal weapons, why don’t they just use the non lethal so they don’t have to kill anybody? William Terril in an NBC News article states that “police departments don’t train officers to reach for tasers when an imminent threat is near,” and that “if you were to respond with less force than what is needed, it would put you and others nearby in greater danger.” The same post also states that the functionality of tasers is inconsistent. An officer must be within a relative midrange, about 15-25 ft from their target in order for the taser to function properly. Being too close to a target will prove the taser ineffective. Put simply, tasers and other non lethals are not for high-risk situations where lives are at hand.

Can’t you shoot someone without killing them?

So many cases we hear about of the police shooting a suspect end in the death of the suspect. If an officer has to use their gun, it would make more sense to try and shoot and arm or leg instead of aiming for the chest area and actually killing the person. However, anyone who has ever shot a gun knows that feat is much easier said than done. An NBC News article reports that aiming for a person’s limbs is extremely difficult, especially if the suspect is moving, which is often the case. Lethal weapon use only happens in high stress situations, when adrenaline rush is high, and aim is gauranteed to be off. Officers are trained to aim for the chest area-the broadest part of a person, to ensure the person will be hit. If the person has a gun, shooting them in the leg or arm isn’t going to ensure they can’t still fire back. Many times when a fight breaks out, an officer is fighting someone larger and stronger than them and must use their proper judgement and objective reasonableness (there it is again) to decide how to react. Although we may never know what goes through an officer’s mind before he/she reacts, we can keep in mind that they feel the exact same senses of fear, sense of threat, and suspicions that we might. Take a look at this video for example;

(kudos to the Reverend for being super respectful in the scenarios btw)

The Reform

Popular conceptions of Police officers may often be negative, but what our society, culture, and media outlets never seem to report on are the officers who have intentions to connect with the public and mend relationships that have been broken. On top of building relationships and trust, several reform programs have been created and are being adopted into many police agencies in attempts to ensure the complete removal of police brutality from our society.  For example, PERF (Police executive research forum) is a program founded on improving use of force tactics and equipping officers with better knowledge and training of use force scenarios. It takes Graham vs. Connor a step farther, and is aimed at integrating better training techniques in the police system to improve relations with civilians. Here are just a few local police founded programs that are aimed at building trust and having good connections with the general public.

• R.I.S.K (rescuing inner city students and kids). A program in which cops mentor inner city teens. The program is meant to deter teens from violence and crimes as well as building a trust in the police.
• Coffee with a cop – exactly how it sounds. This program serves as a way for cops to get to know people in their community and develop positive relationships with them, and what better way than to drink coffee? 
• National Night Out – a community event that can be in the form of a carnival, block party, parade, etc. Once again, this event is to build positive relationships with the community. 
• Cops ‘N’ Kids – reaches out to kids who may be in troubled situations and engages them in fun, interactive activities, all while building their trust in police.
• EMPOWER
  The program connects young women with positive role models who will become strong advocates for the girls by developing trusting relationships. Youth Empowerment provides the tools, resources, partnerships and support girls need to gain the voice, ability, and problem-solving capacity to realize their full potential.
• LightsOn!
  The LightsOn! initiative helps ease the financial burden of fixing a broken car light.  Hopkins Police Department can now offer low-income drivers a voucher to fix broken taillights, turn signals and headlights for free.
• Operation Recess
  Operation Recess is a partnership between Alice Smith and Eisenhower Elementary Schools and the Hopkins, Fridley, and Mounds View Police Departments Patrol officers spend one day per week at each school for three hours over recess playing games with students on the playground.
• D.A.R.E. – connects students and law enforcement while addressing the issue of drug abuse among kids and teens.
• and many, many more!

The fact is, the police have and always will make many mistakes. However inexcusable or justifiable an officer’s act may be, the majority of officers are just trying to do their job, which is keeping everyday people like us safe and out of harm’s way. Their jobs are dangerous, but with trust, understanding, and compliance, we can all make the job of ensuring public safety more…safe.

featured image: https://www.pexels.com/photo/auto-automobile-blur-buildings-532001/