A National Emergency
By Dave Devereaux
The verdict is now in and as we determine the next steps in our continued fight for Black American equality, it is time to sort out where we want to go from here. To unpack the centuries of oppression and abuse we have to figure out what we feel is our priority. Leaving this to the individual or politicians or even Black Lives Matter, everyone will come back with their own personal priorities that may not align with our Black American agenda. We have to standardize our list and focus on immediate areas that cause the most distress to the community. This is a national issue, but it needs a grassroots effort to zero in on what is most important to our communities. My suggestion would be the immediate address of police abuse and what steps need to be taken to prevent the continued killing of young Black brothers and sisters.
Police departments keep promising comprehensive reviews of their tactics when dealing with minority communities, especially after a deadly shooting, but to me that’s like the fox in the chicken coop counting the chickens. They get to manipulate some already weakly addressed proposals, all the while creating nothing of substance that will lead to change. Police say defunding is going too far, yet continuing to shoot and kill unarmed or fleeing people is not going too far as well? All the while, killings continue and have become commonplace, with police walking away with no accountability for their mishaps while being protected by their police union organizations. Policing is a dangerous business, and I don’t think anyone is arguing that, but to keep saying that “blue lives matter” makes one think that we have another race of people here, and they too are being killed and beaten. This is redundant. Not all police departments don blue uniforms. We know the largest cities opt for blue due to the ease of cleaning and perceived invisibility of being able to not be seen at night when attempting to sneak up on perpetrators.
The first step is to look at the requirements to become a police officer in America. Most cities have basic requirements that are slight at best. One should be at least 18 years old; be a US citizen; have obtained a high school diploma or GED; have a valid driver’s license and have no felony convictions. I’m not sure I want an 18-year-old walking around with that much power because science tells you that the human brain is not fully developed until 25 years of age. Here you have someone who has attended the police academy, yet is not completely mature enough to really hold that type of responsibility. And we expect him or her to make a split-second decision of life or death? I’m not convinced that this is the safest way to police our streets and communities. I am aware there are some very mature 18-year-olds, but putting a weapon in their hands is not reassuring to me. Perhaps the age of majority (18), as it is called, should be reviewed and we follow the science surrounding neurological development. Make a minimum 25 years the required age to begin a career in law enforcement.
The second step should be to look at the educational requirements to become a police officer. Research demonstrates a police officer with at least two years of college is less likely to be the subject of misconduct complaints and less likely to use force as an option to gain compliance, yet police departments still want to hire recruits with only a high school diploma. In a study of Florida police officers, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) noted that, “Officers with only high school education were the subjects of 75% of all disciplinary actions. Officers with four-year degrees accounted for 11% of such action.” Thus higher education correlates to better behavior. According to John L. Hudgkins of the Baltimore Sun, “There are serious questions as to whether a modern democracy can survive without better prepared law enforcement officials able to handle the stresses of the job without overreacting.”
Shockingly, police training in most states is less intensive than training required for hair stylists or interior decorators. Studies have also uncovered that many trade jobs require more hours of training to get a license than it takes to get a police badge. Wouldn’t it make sense that if a person is going to carry a deadly weapon, they be trained to the fullest extent possible? Is this the reason that we have so many unarmed killings of Black people? Perhaps so, but what would be really interesting is if the states actually tracked the number of deadly encounters to see if the officer had any type of education beyond high school. Even the IACP has called for increased educational standards for hiring new officers. Advocates for law enforcement and criminal justice reform should add their reform agenda requirements to include an earned associated degree. Existing officers without such credentials should be given a fixed time and support to complete these requirements.
Above all, nothing will fix past racism, which many times is the underlying cause for overreacting in the attempt to subdue a person suspected of a crime, which prompts uncomfortable conversations of what its toll has taken on people of color. As a Black man, I can only speak to our experience. I know that whatever else we can throw into that conversation may bring about empathy for the horrid behavior others have had toward Black people because of the color of our skin. As bizarre as it may seem, this poison has continued to exist for more than 400 years and does not seem to be getting better. BLM has done a valiant job of bringing this crisis to global attention, yet right here at home the most violent incidents still occur.
Gun violence along with continued police abuse is a mix that will eventually come head-to-head and could trigger a civil war based on racial inequities and mistrust; a war more dangerous than the peaceful protest waged after the death of George Floyd. With such liberal gun laws in this country, this could be catastrophic for American culture. Many Black people now have guns that didn’t before. We don’t possess them against our own, but in protection from the police, the very entity that was established to keep law and order. But when you see the law become the enemy, you prepare for that day when you have to protect you and your community.
I am hopeful that this administration will tackle police reform and come up with some definitive suggestions for change. If the commission on police reform can draft a template for national change, that would be great. At least all states would have the same requirements for policing. The urgent need to stop killing my people is now. What calls for police to always draw on a person of color? Is it because a person asks to know why they are being stopped while minding their business? I have seen videos of white people stopped by the police and a totally different attitude is taken by police toward them when they question the stop. The Black community will not continue to sit back and allow these atrocities to permeate our lives. There has been a march or peaceful protest every day since the killing of George Floyd. There is a renewed and urgent need to bridge the divide between minority communities and the police. To start, police must find other ways to foster better relationships with the communities they patrol and build trust among those who are most at risk for violence. They must stop using excuses such as “I thought I pulled my taser, instead I pulled my gun.” Reality check; once that trigger is pulled, it is almost certain, there is no comeback or positive outcome.
