The American police system has been critiqued for systemic racist issues that need resolution. Experts suggest that reframing the police system is the only way for true change to happen in the United States.
The debate over police brutality continues as people question if the issue is the result of “a few bad apples” or if the police system is embedded with systemic cultural and institutional shortcomings. According to criminal justice experts at The Brennan Center, statistics support that violent crime is continuing to rise in the U.S.
According to experts Rashawn Ray and Clark Neily of The Brookings Institution, there are a few fundamental steps that can be taken to both ensure the safety of Americans and hold officers appropriately accountable for their shortcomings.
One of the most important police reforms that need to take place, is the reform of qualified immunity. The policy was created by the court system to make it almost impossible to sue police officers, even if they have committed violent actions.
Qualified immunity was created by the Supreme Court in the ‘60s and has had devastating effects on victims of police injustice. Qualified immunity was created to protect government officials; however, it has now resulted in them not being held accountable in a court of law.
Furthermore, the statistics support reforming the principle of qualified immunity. According to studies done by Pew Research and Cato, over 60% of Americans want to abolish the qualified immunity doctrine. The Law Enforcement Bill of Rights will have to be ratified on a state-by-state level for this doctrine to be abolished or reformed.
Another transition that needs to take place in American policing is advocacy for training and de-escalation tactics. Many instances of police brutality take place due to officers lacking critical training in this field. Firearms are often the only tool used in police de-escalation which should not be the case. Officers only receive 10 hours of de-escalation training as compared to 50 hours of firearm training. The training needs to be balanced in duration for police interactions to run more efficiently.
According to the APMreport Organization, about 500 unarmed citizens are killed by American police each year. Police are trained to fire when they feel threatened but are not trained in communication skills or other safety measures which could diffuse the situation.
Unfortunately, Georgia is one of the states with the least amount of de-escalation training. APMreport stated that 385 out of the 582 police departments in Georgia had fewer than one hour of training for their officers. This narrative is starting to change; however, the training is still not mandated by the state.
In coming years, states will have to mandate special training and eliminate legal biases to reform the police system. The best way to help the American people, and the American police is to educate both parties.
