Police Brutality Debate

The United States has a serious problem with excessive force and police brutality. In the first 24 days of 2015, 59 fatal police shootings took place (Lartey). In fact, recently, on February 29 2016, there was a ruling on a police brutality case that occurred in August, which resulted in the officer in question being fired from the police department. He was charged with, “Aggravated assault, false arrest, false imprisonment, excessive use of force and failure to follow policy and procedures resulting in physical injury” (Billings). This is not the only incident that has occurred recently, and it will not be the last unless there is something being done to stop brutality. This is a controversial issue in today's time due to the relationship

between racial biases, the location where it occurs, and the constant disagreements about how to prevent it.

Consequently, when thinking of police misconduct most people do not think of racial biases, but in reality, racial biases occur as much as gun violence or excessive force. For example, in New York City during the stop and frisk policy campaign in 2013, the city collected data on the people they stopped. After compiling all the data there were certain patterns that stood out. The biggest one was that of the 600,000 people stopped, 84% of them were Hispanic or African American, and African Americans alone were 127% more likely to be stopped and searched than Caucasians (Gaille). This is no coincidence. New York City is the melting pot of the world, and out of all the different races in New York City it is not okay that two races make 84% of the people stopped. Additionally, according to the American Community Survey for the U.S. Census, 25.1% of NYC consists of African Americans while, Caucasians make up 44.6%. So, if everything was how it was supposed to be the data would show that Caucasians get stopped more than African Americans, because their population is greater. Instead, it is the opposite, proving there are racial biases still alive, even in places like New York.

Furthermore, not only is there an imbalance on the order side of the equation, but on the law side as well. Once a person gets arrested, they go through a series of trials to find guilt. The verdict is determined by a jury, but the sentencing is determined by a judge, and that is where the issue lies. Statistics show that, “Blacks will receive almost 10% longer sentences than whites arrested for the same crime” (Gaille). For example, whites serve an average of 79 months for violent felony offenses, while blacks serve an average of 107 months. This is completely unacceptable. People should not be given longer sentences simply because of their color. Another startling fact is, “Blacks who kill whites were sentenced to death 22 times more frequently than blacks who killed blacks and seven times more frequently than whites who killed blacks” (Gaille). The injustice simply does not end there. In addition to sentencing, parole is also being affected by this problem. As shown by the statistical data collected by Brandon Gaille, “The average bail amount for blacks is $7,000 more than whites for violent crimes and $13,000 more than whites for drugs”. This is happening everywhere, but it is worse in some places than in others. And as most realtors say, “It is all about location, location, location.”

As previously stated, in certain places the police brutality rate is extremely high, but in others there is close to nothing reported. For instance, “The states with the highest reported misconduct per 100,000 officers are Louisiana, Montana, Mississippi, West Virginia, and Oklahoma” (Everett). That means that these 5 states are above the United States average, and this is extremely worrisome. The estimated misconduct rate for the United States is already approximately 977.98 out of 100,000 officers, and over the years, it has been getting worse (Packman). On the contrary, the states with the lowest misconduct rates are, “Kansas, Maine, Virginia, Arkansas, and Iowa” (Everett). There is no noticeable connection between the location of the states and the amount of police misconduct. In 2014, the state that led in police killings of civilians was California and the only state with no police killings of civilians was Vermont (Moore). In addition to that, Chicago paid out a total of 129.7 million between 2011 and 2014 to settle civil right lawsuits against the police (Moore). The New Orleans police department has the highest misconduct rate out of all other departments (Packman). These cities need new rules and regulations in order to lower the amount of police misconduct, and there are a few ways to accomplish this.

So far, the United States has one of the highest police misconduct rates compared to all other similar countries like the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.

For example, “more unarmed black men (19) have been fatally shot by US police in 2015 than citizens of any race, armed or unarmed, fatally shot in Germany during all of 2010 and 2011” (Lartey). In order to stop things like this from happening, we need to put certain ideas and preventative agencies in place. Currently, “There is no definition of excessive force that automatically renders it a form of brutality” (Geller, Hans 7), and that is a problem. So, the first step that needs to be taken is developing a clear and transparent standard for reporting, investigating, and disciplining officers who commit excessive force or any other type of police brutality. Then after that the police departments need training on how to develop better relationships with their communities. Right, now new recruits spend about 60 hours learning how to handle a gun, but they only spend 8 hours learning how to de-escalate situations and properly handle the mentally ill (Cheney-Rice). That is most definitely not enough training on how to handle civilians. They should also incorporate culture, diversity, youth development, bias, and racism into their training (Cheney-Rice). In the United States, there are zero federally operated police misconduct tracking systems, but that is what is needed to help with this problem. Every state should

have an external oversight committee that is independent and regularly analyzes data. They should also have, “Full investigatory powers over the police, and access to relevant documents in the case” (Cheney-Rice). If all of this happens, with the addition of body cameras and the community's support, police brutality can be completely eliminated.

Ultimately, police brutality is an extremely serious issue that needs to be corrected using a series of steps and support from the community.

Especially in places like Chicago and New Orleans. Doing what’s listed above will terminate the racial inequalities between black and white arrest rates, bail amounts, and jail time. One step anyone can take is to go online and sign a petition against police brutality. For example, this petition, https://www.change.org/p/national-action-against-police-brutality, is against the stop and frisk procedure that most police departments employ when they notice a suspicious character. It takes less than three minutes to create a real difference in a community by signing an online petition. This generation can be the one to eliminate police brutality. Because together as one, the citizens of the United States can do anything, as long as they stand together hand in hand and give it everything they

have.