Underrepresented populations have long believed that poverty is criminalized in America, where the justice system treats you differently if you’re rich. America has the highest incarceration rate globally, where marginalized communities have been victims of aggressive prosecution and over-policing.
Individuals coping with mental health conditions and substance abuse disorders are treated as criminals instead of being provided help by healthcare professionals. Our justice system incarcerates hundreds of thousands who are not a threat to society and should be released to save up on the billions of dollars spent on prisons. Currently, the entire policing system, prosecution, and incarceration hinder the creation of a safe and just society.
Our country is burdened with the history of racial injustices, and it is high time we address those. America needs police reforms. American people cannot keep living in fear forever.
Police Reforms
Reforms of police departments, along with their relationship to the community, require change in training, culture, accountability, practices, and policies. It also requires transparency and strong leadership. Without organizing our communities, nothing will change.
Here are some issues that shouldn’t be ignored and become a part of ongoing efforts regarding police reforms in local communities.
Transparency and Accountability
Most communities lack trust in law enforcement due to the lack of accountability and transparency. Communities have felt that justice is not being served due to numerous instances of failure to indict officers and acquittals. When people witness criminals walking free and innocent behind bars, it leaves them feeling vulnerable. To build trust, there must be consequences for law enforcement officials, and the public should be made aware of it.
Accountability
Police officials shouldn’t investigate themselves, nor should justice depend on prosecutors relying on local law enforcement for evidence. Instead, communities should be given the right to hold officers accountable for their errors.
Transparency
Improved reporting practices, accountability tools, and data collection are mandatory to expose law enforcement interactions. There is no federal record of people killed by law enforcement officials. Many local departments don’t even keep this data. Departments need to collect and release this data to the public annually.
Use of Force
Data suggests that Black men are 21 times more likely to be killed by law enforcement than white men. Transgender people, black women, native Americans, and Latin communities are disproportionately assaulted and killed by law enforcement officials.
Racial disparities and disparities in crime rate are not related. There is a need to create a strong accountability system, improve policies regarding the use of force, release data on law enforcement activities, and improve officers’ training.
Use of Force Policies
Although there are no national standards on the use of force, some departments are adopting policies that intend to reduce the use of excessive force. Policies like these prohibit neck holds, head strikes, and the use of force against a person in handcuffs.
Improvement in Training
Law enforcement officers should be made to attend racial bias training along with building skills in conflict mediation, problem-solving, and de-escalation tactics.
Discriminatory Stop-and-Frisk Practices
According to data collected in New York, 81% of people who were stopped and frisked were innocent, and 84% were Latin and Black. To put things more in perspective, black people make up 32% of Chicago’s population and 72% of the stop-and-frisk victims. Sadly, these problematic practices and policies are not limited to Chicago and New York; it’s a worldwide norm. It’s time police officers are held accountable for their discriminatory policies and end profiling and targeting people of color.
Inadequate Training
Most of the law enforcement training focuses on the technical skills of policing. The training focused on anti-racism, mental illness, implicit bias, age-appropriate responses, mediation, problem-solving, and cultural competency are disproportionately practiced. Hence, it isn’t surprising that most law enforcement officers are briefed to suspect black people as criminals and respond stereotypically.
These are just a handful of issues that demand our attention. Other such issues include illegal surveillance, targeting of Black, Latin, and Muslim communities, undercover agents targeting queer communities, immigration enforcement by the local police, and the role of police in controlling school shootings. Therefore, many police reforms are required to end the over-policing of specific communities.
A retired Chief, James Buie, has pondered over the policing issues in the U.S. and addressed these issues from both perspectives, the public and the justice system. He believes it’s a two-way road, and the community has to put their trust in law enforcement for officers to try and bring police reforms. He has devised various solutions to the problems faced by America currently. Grab your copy of From the Ground Up for more insights today.
