POLICE BRUTALITY AND RACISM
Introduction
Police brutality refers to excessive or unnecessary use of force by a workforce associated with the law enforcement duties when directing civilians. Police brutality is mostly applied in the context of causing physical danger to an individual. It might also cause psychological damage through the use of intimidation tactics that are beyond the breadth of the allowed police procedure. In the current era, people who involve themselves in police brutality do that because they have been assigned by their seniors or they might not be committed to their work (Fridkin et al. 2017:21). The efforts to deal with police brutality focuses on different aspects of the police substructure and unity between the government and the citizens.
Racism is identified as a belief that someone has different behavior corresponding to the physical appearance and can depend on the racial superiority of another person. Racism takes different kinds and can occur in any area. This encompasses; hatred, prejudice directed at a particular person because of the country they come from, color, or ethnicity. Individuals relate racism with acts of harassment. However, racism sometimes does not engage violence or intimidating actions but they may take name-calling in terms of races and making fun of a person (Alang et al. 2017). Also, individuals might be excluded from groups or actions because of their origin. It can also be shown through an individual’s behavior and their perspectives. For instance, the issue of black men dying in the U.S is an example of racism. They are often seen as thieves and offenders hence there is a high magnitude of them dying.
Impacts of police brutality and racism
Police brutality and racism has been on the rise for many years. This problem requires more attention and action for a transition. These two are considered as the biggest problems in the world today. For example, the African-American community experiences this brutality on a daily basis. Men are more likely to be killed by police and woman around more times likely. Though they have always had equal opportunities have had experiences with a police officer, they are always killed.
The issue has not been fixed yet but over the last few years, there has been more attention from people and various organizations (Hutto and Green 2016:89-121). This causes mental sickness and physical harm to a person. Being in a place where you are not wanted creates unnecessary pressure that can result in anxiety, paranoia, fear, and many others. The damages caused by police brutality and racism can further cause Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) and Post-Traumatic Disorder (PTSD). It also affects an individual’s work performance, the capability of sustaining employment, and daily interactions with other people.
Moreover, the victim’s families also suffer from the same psychological issues. It makes it difficult for them to share with other people in case they experience issues in a foreign country. These issues have been linked to negative effects on the health and wellbeing of a person. The traumatic experiences limit their ability to interact with other social beings and work efficiently.
The media station covering this kind of incidences in a manner that favors them. For instance, the choice of photographs chosen to accompany the coverage of police brutality and racism. The black men are always considered as uneducated or homeless (Gilbert and Ray 2017:122-140). This kind of biasness adds more racial divides and creating a communication and interaction barrier among individuals. Therefore this issue must be known and acted upon before it causes adverse effects to people, families, and society.
It has also been identified as a public health problem. The violence mot only has impacts on the people directly but it also creates a wave of chaos that travels across states. Police brutality and racism directly increases enmity and divide between societies of color and officials in the police department. It has also caused many individuals to feel that they cannot trust them in any way yet their work is to protect all individuals in the country (Bryant-Davis et al. 2017:852 -871 ). The United States of America’s justice department has been not been able to reduce police brutality and racism. Furthermore, there has been no progressive approach in reducing Black/African or other races since none of these issues addresses the larger community of white people. Many individuals have suffered in the hands of police and racist attacks from them and other people.
Recommendations
Efforts to deal with police brutality is focused on different factors of substructure and the psychology that can manifest itself when people are placed in authority. There are many policies put in place to prevent police brutality. One example of the policy that was proposed is to wear body cameras (Boyd 2018). The explanation behind it is that the police will be unable to misbehave if they understand that their actions will be answerable once they return to the station. During Obama’s time, there was a supply of $20 million body cameras to be executed in police departments. The seniors in the police department will ensure that all the police officers dispatched wear the body cameras. This will help in reducing police brutality.
Furthermore, the police need to stop criminalizing everything. All individuals are allowed to do what they want to do so long as they follow the rules and regulations. Through this, measures will be put in place to minimize the collateral effect s of the offenses. This will help in enhancing the justice system to be fair to all citizens and non-citizens. Also, police officers should not treat addicts and mentally ill individuals as offenders. They should engage with them to find out why they are existing in that manner. They should be treated like individuals who require help and not as individuals who should be in jail. The police should be trained to identify and confront these issues using the tactics of escalation and keep the results through analysis and frequent data collection.
In addition, both citizens and police officers must understand and see their privilege. The privilege cuts across social, economic, cultural, and political surroundings. They must use the privilege to empower others to love all people irrespective of their race or ethnicity. This is important because it will enhance peace among individuals from different parts of the world. The relationship between the police officers and the citizens will improve since everyone will know his or her mandate.
Furthermore, the government needs to act as an example to its citizens. It should promote peace and harmony so that the citizens can extend it too. Several organizations must be put in place to cater for the victims. Sometimes it is difficult for them to speak out because of fear, therefore, the organization acts as their voice to create a haven for them. The victims of police brutality and racism need support and care from other people. Therefore, individuals must learn to discuss and have tough conversations about how police brutality and racism affect the community at large.
It is also important to understand the way they behave when they are approached. Some of them can be aggressive but if they see a calm person, they will be able to share their troubles with them. Also, all the staff members in different institutions must be able to respect and interact freely with other people to enhance peace. All the activities will b easy to deal with since there will be an understanding among people. The police must be committed to do their work and create an environment where people can socialize. All individuals are urged to communicate well with each other to create an understanding between them. They are also urged to learn more about different communities and participate in various programs to improve their understanding
It is also important to organize a leader’s coalition from different communities and from the local media categories to have a discussion on how they can associate each other to address the way individuals from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds presented in the media. This will provide the government with an opening and an opportunity for them to be aware of the concern and challenges that are caused by police brutality and racism.
References
Alang, S., McAlpine, D., McCreedy, E., & Hardeman, R. (2017). Police brutality and black health: setting the agenda for public health scholars. American journal of public health, 107(5), 662-665.
Boyd, Rhea W. “Police violence and the built harm of structural racism.” (2018).
Bryant‐Davis, Thema, Tyonna Adams, Adriana Alejandre, and Anthea A. Gray. “The trauma lens of police violence against racial and ethnic minorities.” Journal of Social Issues 73, no. 4 (2017): 852-871.
Fridkin, Kim, Amanda Wintersieck, Jillian Courey, and Joshua Thompson. “Race and police brutality: The importance of media framing.” International Journal of Communication 11 (2017): 21.
Gilbert, Keon L., and Rashawn Ray. “Why police kill black males with impunity: applying Public Health Critical Race Praxis (PHCRP) to address the determinants of policing behaviors and “justifiable” homicides in the USA.” Journal of urban health 93, no. 1 (2016): 122-140.
Hutto, Jonathan W., and Rodney D. Green. “Social movements against racist police brutality and Department of Justice intervention in Prince George’s County, Maryland.” Journal of Urban Health 93, no. 1 (2016): 89-121.