America is currently living in a period where racial divide is the highest it has been in a long time. There is a divide between police officers and citizens, but most notably a divide between police officers and people of color. Alton Sterling, Freddie Gray, Sandra Black, Philando Castile, etc. have all been cases where a life has been lost at the hand of a police officer.
Does there need to be better training for our police officers? Do police officers go through race and sensitivity training while they are enlisted in the police academy? Is the Black Lives Matter movement only furthering the divide between police and Black people?
Michael Hawley is a former Police Officer for Haverford Township. He was in the United States Air Force before
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As expected, his opinion on police training and racial tension differs from the opinions above.
“Personally, everyone has racially profiled another person. But when cops do it it 's worthy of a public shaming. It 's a part of the job,” said Hall-Walker. “I don 't think its law enforcement vs. African Americans. Are cops killing blacks? Hell yea! Are they killing whites too? Hell yea! If a black cop shot an unarmed white person, the nation would be overturned with rage. The reason being: that isn 't the social norm. We 're used to the white police killing black Americans. The media does a great job at showing us what they want us to see!”
Hall-Walker also believes that police officers need better
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“If you can bring in a mass shooter alive, it makes no sense that an innocent black man is dead because he is misidentified.”
22 year-old Derek Owens is a server and currently resides in Northeast Philadelphia. He notices the divide between the police and the community on a more geographical scale.
“Take a walk through Drexel Hill and feast your eyes on the Blue Lives Matter flags,” says Owens. “Head down to North Philly and you have a completely different perspective on law enforcement. I think this whole movement has done a great job on not just dividing police and blacks, but whites and blacks in general.”
Owens also believes that police officers need better training.
“I think police should definitely be trained longer than 6 months,” said Owens. “I think possibly a year or more.”
26 year-old Michael Grimm doesn’t recall his race and sensitivity training during his time at the police academy. He didn’t want to disclose what academy he went to.
“I can 't say that I specifically remember "race sensitivity training" specifically,” said Grimm. “I do know that honor, respect, ethics, morals were all preached throughout the academy. I 'm sure that anything in regards to race can fall into one of those if not all
The All Lives Matter supporters believe that black people who were killed recently showed violence against the policemen and they were not innocents. The president of Amherst College Republicans Robert Lucido responses, “First, the Black Lives Matter group was originally titled ‘F--- the Police.’ The organizers of the Awareness week claimed that every 28 hours a black man is killed by a law enforcement officer, but they never mentioned that a law enforcement officer is killed every 48 hours in the line of duty. The organizers may have thought it clever, but such a title is utterly shameful” (Lucido). The author uses ethos by showing facts in his response that illustrates the opposite of what Black Lives Matter group claimed; however, these
In this response to the derogatory term, Naylor’s essay offers a tool to fight racism and a message of hope for the innocent minority children which Cullen’s "Incident" lacks: In the process of socialization in a racist society, a child may lose innocence, but a child may also gain strength and character by rising above any racist stereotypes society applies to him/her.
Several years ago, four New York City police officers were acquitted after their trial for the murder of an African immigrant. Bill Bradley is quoted in Newsweek (March 6, 2000): "I think that it shows that when racial profiling seeps so deeply into somebody's mind, a wallet in the hand of a white man looks like a wallet, but a wallet in the hand of a black man looks like a gun."
Some could argue that his claims seem to be over the top of maybe even misinterpretations, thus he addresses this counter argument by explaining that he isn't the only black male who has been misjudged. “Such episodes are not uncommon. Black men trade tales like this all the time”(Staples 143). The fact that he adds the stories of other black men, such as the story of the young reporter being dragged violently out of his car at gunpoint; mistaken as a criminal(Staples 143), demonstrates that his arguments are not solely based on himself. The fear and uneasiness that an African American can experience who has not done anything around a police officer, a person who is suppose to help them in emergencies and who should provide a sense of tranquility, is alarming. There have been too many unarmed black men and women who have been misinterpreted, striped from thier rights and even their lives. The fact that people cannot trust law enforcement shows the negative effects that racial profiling has on society and it shows how nothing has changed since 1986, for a country like America, who is suppose to be the dream land this is disappointing. Staples is identifying the problem with societal views, he has not written a sob story with exaggerated experiences, he is shedding light onto a problem that is usually swept under the
According to Dr. Carl S. Taylor, the relationship between minority groups and police in the United States has historically been strained. Some cities have a deep and bitter history of bias and prejudice interwoven in their past relationships. The feeling in many communities today is that the system pits law enforcement as an occupying army versus the neighborhood. Dr. Taylor wrote about easing tensions between police and minorities, but stated “If there is any good news in the current situation, it is that the history of this strain has found the 1990’s ripe for change.
Throughout history there has been many problems involving racial profiling and police misconduct. Very rarely do police get the proper punishment for their wrong doings. One of the most recent cases was the Oscar Grant case. Oscar Grant was 22 years old when he was killed because of police misconduct. He was killed on New Year’s Day 2009 by Ex-BART cop Johannes Mehserle. This misconduct made the people of Oakland extremely angry because they lost one of their own. After the shooting many people around Oakland started protesting. This lasted for months on end because people were very angry. Bystanders videotaped the incident. This has been one of the most racially polarizing cases in California (Ravindhran).
Today there are many controversial subjects discussed throughout the media. One of the most discussed is race and the Black Lives Matter movement. Recently, I came across an article titled “The Truth of ‘Black Lives Matter’”, written by The Editorial Board. The article was published on September 3, 2015, to the New York Times. In the article, The Editorial Board writes about what they believe African Americans are facing as challenges in society today, including the all-too-common police killings of unarmed African-Americans across the country. The Editorial Board is right that some African Americans have been treated unfairly, but all ethnicities have been. Life is a precious thing that comprises all ethnicities. This brings us to ask; why
On Tuesday, September 23rd, I had the opportunity to do a ride along with the Takoma Park police department. My ride along was quite interesting. I rode with Officer Carl, a twenty-six-year-old officer who has been with the police department for six months. During the ride along we engaged in so many conversations concerning his work routine, and some the important things to be aware of as a police officer. Officer Carl and I were about the same age group so I felt much comfortable talking to him. Before I went for the ride along I had a different perspective about police work, I thought police work was much amusing and entertaining, but after the ride along with Officer Carl, I have realized that there is much more to police work and it often
Policing is a very difficult job to do because it can be very misunderstood. The power given to them may make people of minority feel like they are up against the wall and are at a disadvantage because of how they look. But it is still 100% unclear whether racial profiling is a racial bias or the police forces institution policy. Yet multiple of Officers, even those of color unfortunately rely upon this to help them in the duties.
Police reform should start by giving proper training to the new recruits and veterans in the force. During their training, “Law enforcement agencies should adopt and enforce policies prohibiting discrimination based on race, ethnicity immigration status, etc.” (Cops, p.90). It is apparent
In today’s society, the United States is a melting pot of diversity. It is filled with many different cultures, languages, and beliefs. As these diverse aspects of people’s lives fill the city, suburbs and the country, police officers must adapt to these changes in their community. If police departments do not adapt or are slow at adapting to their community’s diversity they can come upon many barriers that can make their duties more challenging. The two most prominent barriers that exist between the police and their community are language barriers and cultural barriers (Miller, Hess, Orthmann, 2014).
The movement BlackLivesMatter have outed hundreds unlawful officers and victims that never got the justice needed. The same characteristics (color and style) that emulates strong, noble people can backfire. Black people in this country who actively resist dehumanization makes a call to action and a response to anti-Black racism in our current society. (Cullors, 2015) The growth of the movement has moved country-wide, first starting in the south; the south had always had history of racism and anti-black impulses. This movement is continuing to carry up north and west, and is projected that any officer can be the next one to unlawfully kill another black individual. These immoral police officers are no different from the rest of the police force, their uniforms are no different color or style they do not have different titles, there is no distinction between the these two types of officers. African Americans are persuaded to be more cautious and angry towards police officers; anyone with a cop uniform can be considered a threat to their life. Innocent cops were murdered in retaliation to the unfair judicial systems that are not punishing these cops. Once a police-like uniform is worn it not only once symbolizes honor and power, but t too many communities
Not only is race a central role in police brutality, as well as the abuse of authority. Fatal shootings are now becoming common and remarkably, police officers who are responsible for the killings are not being held accountable. Instead, they are given an administrative leave and released from their normal duties.
Police brutality and racism are an ongoing problem in our country. It goes back hundreds of years with no sign of it stopping. Police officers have been abusing their power since they have been around. Abuse against African American males by white police officers is getting out of hand. Most officers face no punishment at, and all there is a special code that they follow. Officers follow The “Blue Code of Silence”, which is a code that means they look out for one another. Even with video recording devices, the news, and social media, these events still go on. African Americans take most of the abuse and it looks like there is no end to this. This is a reflection on our society, and it makes us look ignorant to what is going on around us.
“People, including police officers, hold strong implicit associations between blacks, and probably Hispanics, and weapons, crime and aggression," said Jack Glaser. Police brutality statistics show that African Americans are three times more likely to be murdered by cops than any other race. Racial disparity in the United States is a coherent reason for the increase of criminal injustice in the United States. Whenever you hear about an African American being killed by the United States police, you never see All Lives Matter supporters protesting.