Turn on any news channel and you’re sure to hear about a person in law enforcement using excessive force or violence against a citizen of a different race. Within the past few years we’ve heard about many people being seriously injured or even killed due to a police officer taking needless violent action. Take Michael Brown for example, a young African American man who was shot and killed by a police officer. Whether or not this shooting was needed is still unsure. A more transparent case of true problems in law enforcement is that of Tamir Rice; a young African American boy, age eleven, who was shot and killed in a Cleveland park for holding a toy gun that officers believed to be real. How many more American citizens, how many more children are going to be shot and killed before action and punishment are taken against police officers?
What is this Issue About?
As of late, many American citizens have been questioning whether or not police officers are correctly doing their job. There is also question as to whether or not those who do their job incorrectly are being punished. Many are curious about whether or not the law enforcement officials are being held to the same standards as the citizens they claim to protect. In many highly populated cities (New York City, Chicago, and Sacramento) there is evidence suggesting that those law enforcement officials who break the law are not held up to the same standards, and are actually getting away with and covering up their crimes with the help of other officials. Many of these problems seem to be heavily connected with race, and if this is true then who is going to really protect those of color?
Law Enforcement is supposedly held to an extremely high standard of work, and the fact that they are potentially breaking the law and then avoiding the consequences is not right. As they are citizens as well, they must abide by the rules the same as anyone else. However, several reports indicate that they might not and will use excessive force on those of a different race than themselves. In Sacramento, for instance, a white police officer was cited for over 200 complaints; after receiving no punishments other than a simple reprimand, he went on to shoot a sixteen year old African American boy 17 times, killing him. Although he was put on leave, he was set to begin work again soon. There are still questions as to whether or not this punishment was fitting for the incident that occurred. So many people have their lives put at risk when we allow these officers to roam the streets.
Speaking of punishment, what can an officer actually be sentenced to? For a small issue, reprimand is usually given. Then, a dock of pay, followed by suspension, firing, finally followed by potential jail time itself. In Chicago there were approximately 17,700 complaints against police. Approximately half of those were race-based. Only 800 of those were actually deemed worthy enough to be looked at, and out of those 800, only 45% of the officers involved were given a “reprimand,” 37% suspended (however 75% of those suspensions were five days or less), and the rest all resigned on their own, not wanting to face the consequences. The fact that this is allowed and known is absolutely terrible, and we need to both put a stop to it, as well as train and punish our officers effectively.
What are the Facts?
- The number of police officers convicted of a crime for killing a black person while on duty in 2014: Zero, according to Mapping Police Violence.
- The likelihood that a black person killed by police, like 22-year-old Rekia Boyd (killed in Chicago), will be unarmed: Twice as likely as a white person killed by police, according to the Guardian
- The number of officers involved in police misconduct cases in 2010: 6,613, according to the Cato Institute, a public research think tank behind the National Police Misconduct Reporting Project.
- The group as likely as black Americans to be killed by police, according to 1999-2013 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Native Americans — like 30-year-old Allen Locke, who was killed by police in Rapid City, South Dakota, the day after he attended a #NativeLivesMatter Anti-Police Brutality Rally in December 2014.
Why is this Important?
The United States is constantly being cited for its blatant racism, as well as for police brutality. Following the killings of both Michael Brown and Freddie Gray (an African American man who supposedly died in an ambulance after police viciously beat him) there were uproarious riots and the calling out of the police force. The fact that these riots are what made people rethink the justice system of ridiculous. By allowing police officers to avoid punishment, we are telling our citizens that the only way to make them (meaning the police force and government) both accountable and aware of the situation is by starting massive riots where stores are damaged and people are injured or worse. We need to prove to our citizens that our police officers are there to protect them, and that they should not be afraid of them simply for the color of their skin. It is extremely important that our citizens feel protected no matter what their background, because if law enforcement won’t protect them, then who will?
What can You do to Help?
Advocate
Organizations such as Black Lives Matter (or any of the “Lives Matter” groups) try to bring to attention all the issues of police brutality to the public eye who may otherwise not see it. If given the voice and the power, these groups may actually be listened to and heard. One of the simplest ways to assist them is by simply attending their events and making others aware of their cause. Educating people and speaking out against police brutality to the public might just make more people aware of the issues we are facing as a society due to the lack of control over law enforcement. If attending an event isn’t possible, you can always do something as simple as writing a blogpost advocating for them; this is just one small example.
Start a Conversation
This issue is consistently talked about, yet not much has been done to stop it. Reach out to your congressperson or governor in order to truly let your voice be heard. Writing petitions and letters are one such idea that could sway an official in power, or at least have them understand better the situations we are put in everyday in having to deal with unruly law enforcement officials. Even something like a video recording of police brutality might make them more aware of the situations at hand. Many of those higher up in the government do not deal with or see the police brutality that people face, and they might just see the lack of punishment as not needed to begin with. We need to make them see and understand the experiences we go through as citizens against a potentially corrupted police force.
With enough people on your side vying for the attention of the government put in place to protect you, they will be able to do nothing but listen and hear you out. Who knows what you might get across to them? The police might actually answer for the crimes they commit.
Record if You See Something Amiss
One of the best ways to prove whether or not someone was a victim of police brutality is by use of hard evidence. Unfortunately, a lot of these situations deal with either the officers word against the citizens, or with poor eye-witness accounts (eyewitness accounts are proven to be extremely inaccurate). If you can record the situation and use it as evidence, you may be either saving someone’s life, or giving them the justice they deserved.
There are many safe and effective ways to record these police interactions; one of the easiest ways is to use a video-recording application on your phone. There are some applications that will record and store the video permanently, making them unable to be deleted by the police (Check the ALCU website for a link to this app). Always be sure to take a non-aggressive stance and alert the police officers that you are recording the situation. You are completely 100% allowed to record these interactions as long as you are not interfering with the situation at hand.
Know your rights
Listed here are links about the rights you are allowed in Illinois, should you ever find yourself in trouble:
http://www.breslinlaw.com/Know-Your-Rights.shtml
- Always remember this: It is absolutely 100% legal to record police encounters in any and every state, as long as you do not interfere with or interrupt the police officer doing their job
- The infographic below (although it says it is for NH law) is thought to be very consistently accurate with the law throughout all fifty states:
