A young Black boy converses with a local police officer. Police officers should participate in community involvement training to meet the people they are protecting and reduce police brutality. Illustration by Lilli Sams
On May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, George Floyd died while in police custody. Since this incident and other similar situations, protests regarding excessive use of force by the police have erupted across the nation.
While the issue is currently dominating the media, this topic has been prevalent in America for at least 50 years, but not enough has been done to correct it. The current law enforcement system needs reform.
According to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, “Police violence is a leading cause of death for young men in the United States. Over the life course, about 1 in every 1,000 black men can expect to be killed by police”
Police officers should be active members of their community before anything else. The motto “Protect and Serve” cannot be true to any police department until each and every officer is aware of who they are serving.
“Police officers should be active members of their community before anything else.”
Having a mandatory course in de-escalation training for every officer can be the beginning of that reform. Deescalation training is a form of training created to teach police officers how to handle a situation with little to no violence while also reducing the risk of the apparent scenario.
According to American Public Media, only 21 states require this training for their officers. Locally, Georgia only requires one hour of this training. The states who require this training have reported some of the lowest amounts of police-related violence in recent years. Las Vegas, Nev. saw their use of force complaints cut by more than half.
Further, American citizens should broaden the scope of what de-escalation training means. When everyone involved is familiar with one another it is easier to avoid unnecessary violence. Thus, a further step that should be taken is mandatory community involvement from every officer.
“In order for law enforcement to be truly effective, police agencies cannot operate alone; they must have the active support and assistance of citizens and communities.” Elgin, Ill. Police Department Sergeant Eric Echevarria wrote on the IACP website
A Black man is out celebrating New Year’s Eve at around 2 a.m. when he is stopped by the police and questioned. Even though he is completely compliant, the situation escalates and the man is eventually shot in the back by police. Instead of helping the man with immediate first aid, he is handcuffed and neglected treatment as he dies. Sadly, this is not an imaginary situation. This is real life, this is how Oscar Grant died.
In order to prevent more situations like this, police need to be familiar with their community and its members.
“In order to prevent more situations like this, police need to be familiar with their community and its members.”
Now, consider a situation in which both parties are familiar with each other and the officer knows the individual from their community involvement, they may now be aware of the underlying facts that might put this individual in this place at this time. The situation is more likely to end without conflict and without the officer making a decision based on prejudice.
One may argue that this training is expensive and time-consuming, due to calling in specialists to provide the training and that community involvement takes up valuable time that could be used to have more officers working in the streets. That without these officers readily available, emergencies may take longer to reach, causing possible chaos.
However, according to USA Today, the majority of police training time is spent working with firearms. Some stations reported spending up to 58 hours in a month on using these weapons, but the same stations reported as low as 10 hours in communication and de-escalation technique training.
Understandably, firearms are a powerful tool and require detailed training to be handled properly. However, if we provide training to these officers on how to not let a situation spiral out of control, they will be aware of the community they are protecting with the weapon and will be less likely to abuse the power that comes with using a firearm.
“However, if we provide training to these officers on how to not let a situation spiral out of control, they will be aware of the community they are protecting with the weapon and will be less likely to abuse the power that comes with using a firearm.”
New York culture magazine The Cut affirms this idea, stating, “In 2009, the (Dallas) department received 147 excessive force complaints and made 74,000 arrests. Within three years, arrests were down to 61,000, and within five years excessive force complaints were down to 53.”
Implementing this training and guidelines will not only save countless American lives but will also allow our communities to become filled with officers who are truly invested in their cities, towns and counties. Although de-escalation training is not an absolute solution and will take time to implement, taking the steps to educate officers could be a starting point that leads to a better and safer community where every American feels safe and protected.
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