Well Informed #1

Well Informed

Law Enforcement and Racism

                   Racism and law enforcement have a very complicated relationship. It's even complicated to discuss with one another without some level of argument or disagreement. While researching, I've come across numerous stories of cop brutality to young black men particularly. Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and many more were victims of violent acts from police officers. None of these officers faced indictment, leading to utter outrage from the public. 

           An article in Journalist's Resource states that surveys from Latino/African Americans suggest that confidence in law enforcement is relatively low, meaning they're more likely to use sudden excessive force. Law enforcement defensively states their numerous efforts to control and stop the issue by "community policing." They also stated that they are in an extremely dangerous line of work and have seen terrible outcomes from restraining to use their firearm under extensive amounts of stress. 

                  While I agree and understand that police officers are in a hazardous line of work, and yes, they have an oppressive amount of homicides. I can't help but think that they chose this line of work. They swore to serve and protect no matter what the cost. I am completely dumbfounded that proper sensitivity training is not being enforced on all police officers. This would lead to far more positive outcomes. After the horrific Dallas shooting, the Dallas Police Force took to de-escalation policing. Just after three years they went from 74,000 arrests to 61,000 and from 147 excessive force complaints to only 53. This training is vital for safer communities for our law enforcement, and their citizens.