In recent years, there has been much controversy within the United States about police brutality and whether this is actually an issue throughout the states. Many cases have been filed with how police treat civilians when they interact with them. These cases seem to show how the police abuse the power that they have, which have caused mass uproars in the cities that the officers work for; however, the police back up their reasoning for their brutality by claiming that it is a part of their job duty and responsibility. These issues between police officers and civilians have gotten to a point where civilians are rioting whenever an injustice has been seen in the police enforcement. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “I think that we’ve got to see that a riot is the language of the unheard,” which is so important to understand because each of the major riots that have occurred recently was sparked by the deaths of unarmed, civilians of color in the community.There have always been some issues here and there with the police brutality, but the death of Eric Garner in 2014 from a police chokehold in New York, New York,followed by the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, caused uproar throughout the nation. The issue somewhat settled, until in 2015, a man, Freddie Gray, from Baltimore, Maryland was suspiciously killed while in custody of the police.
Each of these deaths caused the citizens of the cities to riot because of the injustice the police brought to people of color. The demographics of these cities show that each city may not be in the greatest conditions and that there is a preconceived idea about the high poverty in the urban areas. The riots in each city have gotten the attention of local and the federal governments, so new police regulations have been put in place. Even though many argue that this is absurd, every police officer would have to abide by the laws, which would allow for more peace and less rioting; the police may have a higher jurisdiction over civilians, but they are held more accountable for following the law since they are enforcing the law. While searching for articles on each of the riots, and the conflicting interests between the police and the citizens of the city, I have concluded that there needs to be a change of the police interactions with the people, and although rioting may seem like an effective and efficient way to make that change, it is not the best option to choose.But these riots were able to change some of what the police force is to do when on duty: wear cameras when on the job in order to be more accountable. All in all, this shows that events by the people can change a norm within a branch of the government if they are being treated unfairly.
To begin, let us look at the demographics of the two major cities that the violent riots occurred in: Ferguson and Baltimore. According to the United States Census Bureau, Ferguson has 24.9% people living below the poverty line and 67.4% of them are black or African American; Baltimore has 23.8% living below the poverty line and 63.1% are Black or African American (U.S. Census Bureau). These statisticsshow overall that each of the cities has a majority people of color living in them and that there is more poverty in the city than throughout the state.One potential explanation for over-the-top police enforcement is that the police could take their jobs in the cities more seriously based on the preconceived notions that people living in high poverty and urban areas need to be policed.According to a study done in Columbus, Ohio, people living in impoverished areas have more crime rates than places outside of the city.
Our research shows that neighborhoods with the most crime tend to be those with the highest rates of poverty and other types of disadvantage -- regardless of whether they are predominantly Black or white.In this study, overall rates of violence were nearly three times as high in Black neighborhoods as in white neighborhoods. But that’s because Black neighborhoods are much more likely than white ones to be highly disadvantaged. (Grabmeier)
However, the duties of a police officer are to not be aggressive towards any citizen, they are to serve and protect. The Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board, describes that one of the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities of the police officer is to have the “ability to cope with situations firmly, courteously, tactfully, and with respect for the rights of others” (Municipal Fire & Police Civil Service Board). This duty and responsibility of the police officer indicted that they are to not act aggressively towards any citizen.
In each of the cases when there was a death of a citizen at the hands of a police officer, the officers did not act with tact when dealing with the situation; but, some of the reactions within each of the cities differed. First, after the death of Eric Garner in New York, instead of rioting in the streets, protesters gathered and “marched, staged die-ins, and blocked traffic along major thoroughfares, many said their anger, frustration and sadness is not reserved for this one case, but against a system they say refuses to hold police accountable for a pattern of abusive behavior that too often turns deadly for young people of color” (Plus Media Solutions); because the conflicts continually arose in this specific area, the citizens wanted to do something about it, while not having as much damage done to the city. This protest was kept more peaceful than others that have happened recently because “‘[Garner'sfamily] wants peace, they'll get peaceful protest,’ one protester, 32-year-old Jayson Williams of Staten Island” (Plus Media Solutions). Although New York has had much tension between the citizens and the police officers, they knew how to protest without being violent and damaging, whereas other cities took their protest to another level and caused damage to the city after the protest ended.
For instance, since Fergusonhad mixed evidence and reasoning why Michael Brown was shot by the officer,the city erupted in riots and the beginnings of the “Black Lives Matter” trend started throughout the states. The tension in Ferguson rose to the point where people have been shooting at officers because they believe that they are not being treated fairly by the officers. But these violent actions were not accepted by everyone in the community; such as the parents of Brown, “whose death last year sparked a wide-ranging national debate about the extent of racial bias in how police dispatch deadly force, warned that violence against law enforcement ‘cannot and will not be tolerated’"(Jonsson). Although the people in Ferguson were outraged and acted out how they believed the police were acting towards them, a riot may have been too violent since there was not an understanding of how the citizens actually felt towards the police.
Another major riot happened in Baltimore, when Freddie Gray died suspiciously under the hands of the police. Like Ferguson, since this happened in an impoverished city, the people believed that the law enforcement acted out of line and “Black Lives Matter” trended even more throughout the United States. The Baltimore riots mirrored the Ferguson riots in that the damages were costly to the city and the rioters acted out of line to the police, including those who were trying to protect the city. Baltimore felt the consequences of the riots, even though the people felt like they had to prove a point with the tensions between the city and the police force; and the city is still suffering because “at least 285 ofBaltimore'sbusinesses were affected during theriots, with 30 suffering major damage according to the Small Business Administration (SBA), with damages reaching at least $8.9m” (Kasperkevic). Once again, like Ferguson, this city was able to prove a point, but is still suffering from the damages caused in the riots. However, the tension did not die out once the Baltimore riots ended, instead,
…metal barricades line the sidewalk outside theBaltimorePolice Department's Central district building….on 30 May, another rally took place - this time on behalf of the police, with about 150 people gathered to chant "blue lives matter". Tensions remain high despite all six police officers in Gray's case being indicted by grand jury. Additionally, crime has surged with the city reporting 43 murders in May, the most since 1971. (Kasperkevic)
The riots in each of the cities may have been done to prove a point about the conflicting interests of the police officers in the cities and the citizens of the cities. Since these tensions remain throughout cities in the United States, the government had to step in and make a change with how officers and people were to interact with one another.
The people of Ferguson and Baltimore acted violently in the riots to the rulings of each of the cases; so, the government realized that they needed to help solve the tensions between the law enforcement and the citizens living in cities with high poverty throughout the United States. In order to try and diffuse the tension, police are now supposed to wear cameras when on the clock, in order to show if they are abiding by the law and are being lawful when they interact with citizens. There has been some backlash to this new idea, but if the local governments’ think that wearing them will diffuse the tension, then it should have a great benefit to wearing the cameras. In an USA Today article, the implementation of the police cameras in Rialto, California showed howthe “use of force bypolicedropped 59%, and complaints againstpolicefell by 88%” (USA Today). Even though this is only one city that has implemented the use of cameras, these statistics show that if cameras were used throughout the states, including the major cities that the riots occurred in, then there would be more peace and civility among the officers and the citizens. The article also discusses how conflicts would be easily resolved since they would be recorded on the cameras; there would be no question of what happened when there is a conflict between an officer and citizen. For example, since there was no hard evidence of what happened with Brown in Ferguson, “if thepoliceofficer who shot and killed Michael Brown had been wearing acamera, the nation might already know who's telling the truth about what happened that tragic day in Ferguson, Mo. (USA Today) which could have potentially prevented the riot from happening in the first place. All in all, the riots were damaging to each city, but the outcome of the police wearing the cameras is beneficial to the community because the tensions between the citizens and the officers would be able to die down, since everyone can now be more accountable for their actions.
The riots in New York, Ferguson, and Baltimore show how the civilians can bring about change if they belief they are being treated unfairly. Since the riots were so damaging to the cities, the civilians are now living in more poverty and have more to clean up, all just to prove a point about the police force of the city. The riots in each of the cities were violent, and the people of the city were able to change how the police interacted with them because of the addition of the cameras to the police uniform. Police officers have one of the most important jobs in the United States, yet sometimes they forget, or ignore, the laws that they have to follow when interacting with civilians. Even though, the cities in which the issues all occurred may not have had the best preconceived notion about what the city is actually about, police officers should not take that into account when interacting with the people of that specific city. The controversy between the police officers and the people throughout the U.S. has come to a stand-still because of the cameras, but who knows what the next official step will be for the people to trust the police force again.
Grabmeier, Jeff. "Poverty, Not Race, Tied to High Crime Rates in Urban Communities."Nf/poverty & Crime/FEBRUARY. Ohio State University, Web.
Jonsson, Patrik. "As Ferguson Manhunt Continues, Michael Brown's Family Defends Police; Many of Those Who Criticized Police over Michael Brown's Shooting Claimed Solidarity with Ferguson, Mo., Officers after Two Were Shot Early Thursday Morning. Mr. Brown's Family Said Violence against Police 'cannot and Will Not Be Tolerated.'"LexisNexis Academic. Christian Science Publishing Society, 13 Mar. 2015. Web.
Kasperkevic, Jana. "Baltimore Is Open for Business, but Can the City Convince People It's Safe?; The Fallout from the Baltimore Riots Has Hit Local Businesses Hard. Now, the City Is on a Mission to Prove Things Are Back on Track."LexisNexis Academic. The Guardian, a Division of Transcontinental Media Group Inc, 19 June 2015. Web.
Municipal Fire & Police Civil Service Board.Duties & Responsibilities of Police Officers. Web.
Plus Media Solutions. "Washington: "I Can't Breathe": Eric Garner's Plea Becomes Rallying Cry for Justice."LexisNexis Academic. Plus Media Solutions Private Limited, 6 Dec. 2014. Web.
Rothman, Lily. "What Martin Luther King Jr Really Thought About Riots."Time. Time, 28 Apr. 2015. Web.
USA Today. "When Cops Wear Cameras, Everybody Behaves Better."LexisNexis Academic. Gannett Company, Inc, 26 Aug. 2014. Web.
U.S. Census Bureau. "Ferguson (city) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau."Ferguson (city) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau. U.S. Department of Commerce, 24 Sept. 2015. Web.
U.S. Census Bureau. "Baltimore City QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau."Baltimore City QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau. U.S. Department of Commerce, 23 Sept. 2015. Web.