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Karleigh Tate

Campbell

UWRT 1104

9 November 2017

Police vs. Race: What the Statistics Show

There are officially six races identified within the United States, but there are hundreds

beyond those six due to immigration and reproduction. In recent years, race has been a hot topic

in the United States involving law enforcement. The duties of a police officer include enforcing

the law, controlling crowds, regulating traffic, preventing crime, and arresting those who have

committed crime. Because of controversial cases involving race, many people believe those

officers arent upholding their duties. I want to evaluate each perspective of this argument and

gather information on what has caused the issue and if there are potential ways of resolving it.

On the night of February of 2012, Trayvon Martin was returning to his fathers current

home from a gas station causing to raise suspicion of the neighborhood watch, George

Zimmerman. Zimmerman dispatched to police claiming the guy in the hoodie, Martin, was

walking slow and suspiciously through the neighborhood and had caught a glimpse of him,

Zimmerman, watching him. A friend of Martins reported that she was on the phone with Martin

during the situation as he was explaining that a white man was watching him. The friend, Rachel

Jeantel, encouraged Martin to begin running because the man could be out to harm Martin.

While still on the phone with police, Zimmerman was asked not to chase Martin and to return to

his vehicle. Upon doing so, Martin confronted Zimmerman, resulting in the shooting and killing

of Trayvon Martin. Police arrived to the scene minutes afterwards, taking Zimmerman into

custody for questioning. A reliable eye-witness claims seeing Martin on top of Zimmerman, like
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Zimmerman described in his retelling of the story. After being arrested and charged with second

degree murder and/or manslaughter, a lengthy trial was held. Evidence was presented, witnesses

spoke out, and the jury came to a conclusion on July 12, 2013, after 16 hours of debate, that

George Zimmerman was not guilty of either charge.

Following the Zimmerman case, many U.S. citizens were appalled at the verdict. That

was the start to the Black Lives Matter movement that is still an active movement today in

2017. After the acquittal of the George Zimmerman trial, Patrisse Cullors shared a post on

Facebook regarding the trial, hash-tagging it with #blacklivesmatter. At least 778

demonstrations of Black Lives Matter has taken place since the movement began. In 2014, in

Staten Island, Eric Garner was forced to the ground by New York City police, in which he had

encounters with for years over illegal issues, and this time the encounter became fatal. A witness

of the scene was able to capture a video of the entire quarrel, capturing the officers putting

Garner in a chokehold causing him to lose breath. Paramedics arrived to the scene and did not

immediately give him oxygen, leading up to his death. After this tragic encounter, at least 62

demonstrations of Black Lives Matter events took place. One of those demonstrations being 300

people, including Garners family and friends, marching throughout Staten Island two days after

his death.

Police officers go through rigorous training, dedicate large amounts of time to their job,

and put their lives at risk each day to ensure the safety of others and make sure citizens are

abiding by the law. Since the Black Lives Matter movement has come into effect, many

Americans began questioning our law enforcement. When going through training to become an

officer, most students are taught to always shoot with the intent to kill when in a life threatening

situation. In recent years, many police related shootings have involved a suspect of a minority
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race. Members of the Black Lives Matter movement have accused law enforcement of targeting

the minority race. Sadly, racism is still a prominent trait in individuals today, some of those

being in law enforcement. Yet, those few who do display racism, shouldnt reflect all officers

and their intentions. Most individuals who begin a career in law enforcement do it for the right

reasons, to serve their community, yet in every career there will always be people who lead with

the wrong intentions.

Nick Selby, a Dallas-area police detective, turned his thoughts into words and wrote an

article regarding the controversy of police targeting the minority race. Selby calls out popular

news articles that have given misleading statistics involving the amount of minority race that is

involved in police related shootings. The Post claimed that Police have continued to shoot and

kill a disproportionately large number of black males, who account for nearly a quarter of the

deaths, yet are only 6 percent of the nations population. Selby did his research and according to

the Census Bureaus reports on the American population, black people are approximately 13% of

Americans. The Post had to narrow that down to men who made that 6%. Out of that 6%, the

majority of those males are doctors, barbers, cooks, and NBA players. Though many offenders

are African-American males, it is due to the failed communities they live in, and have lived in

for decades. Selby discusses the causes of the failed communities to be broken families, bad

neighborhoods, young mothers, and lack of education. Media has Americans believe that race is

the factor in these fatal shootings with police, while truthfully, most shootings between police

and suspects occur because the suspect has already fired shots, is armed with a weapon, or put a

civilian in danger. One of Selbys most important facts is that officers dont normally initiate

their contact with the suspect, rather someone has called the police to report the suspect. Selby
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claims that police have taken these accusations and incidents and began trying to solve the issue.

Police departments have re-trained their officers or fired those who have acted inappropriately.

The Washington Post conducts yearly statistics of police related shootings. In 2017 thus

far, a total of 813 people have been shot and killed by a police officer. Out of the 813 people,

there were 392 White, 191 Black, 159 Hispanic, 29 Other, and 42 are unknown. 741 of them

were armed with a gun or another harmful weapon. A quarter of those killed had a mental illness

of some sort. In 2016, 963 people were shot and killed by an officer. Among those killed, 466

were White, 233 Black, 160 Hispanic, 42 Other, and 62 were unknown. Out of the 963 that were

killed, 851 were in possession of a gun or other harmful weapon. According to this data, it shows

that the white race is most involved in police related shootings as opposed to the other minority

races.

A study conducted by John R. Lott Jr. of the Crime Prevention Research Center and Carlisle E.

Moody at the College of William and Mary, discovered that white law enforcement officers are

less likely to use deadly force against a black suspect as opposed to their black counterparts.

Referring back to the Black Lives Matters movement, the claim that white officers target

African-Americans is a bit exaggerated. 1,333 cases found in the FBI data set were reviewed by

Lott and Moody that found white officers use a force that is race neutral. Activists have also

argued that the use of body cameras for the officers would help lower the current racial bias.

Body cameras act as a potential deterrent according to Lott and Moody. An officer is aware of

the body camera recording and knows it can become a focus for debate. Yet the data didnt show

body cameras having an effect when relating to the racial issue.

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America is aware of the racial discrimination and issues that have taken place for

decades, even centuries. In the last few decades, America has gradually grown and began

accepting individuals of all race and culture. Though that is so, it is still a highly debated topic

that remains unsolved. In my opinion, race and police should have no affiliation with one

another. Our officers are here to protect us and ensure that the law is followed by all civilians.

Officers are expected to treat everyone equally, regardless of race, gender, or sexuality. Not all

officers will abide by what is expected, and there will be officers at fault for taking excessive

action, whether it be against a white person or a black person or a Hispanic person. But instead

of accusing all law enforcement of being unjust, and causing a disassociation between civilians

and law enforcement, people should come together to solve the issues. If media continues

releasing misleading data, the tensions between officers and the community may never heal.

Police departments have taken the step of firing their officers who have wronged the system and

the community they serve for. They have begun re-training their officers in all scenarios that

could arise and how to maintain and handle them properly. The black community has a right to

be angry because of the injustice that has taken place, but instead of rioting, they should use their

power of coming together and begin finding ways to improve the tensions between them and law

enforcement. One day, I hope to see that law enforcement and civilians can come together as

one, as it should be.

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Works Cited

Al Baker, J. David Goodman and Benjamin Mueller. Beyond the Chokehold: The Path

to Eric Garners Death. The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 June 2015,

www.nytimes.com/2015/06/14/nyregion/eric-garner-police-chokehold-staten-island.html.

Web. Accessed 4 November 2017.

Crookston, Paul. Another Study Finds White Cops Don't Target Black

Suspects. National Review, 21 Nov. 2016,

www.nationalreview.com/corner/442369/racial-bias-study-shows-white-cops-dont-target-

black-suspects?target=topic&tid=. Web. Accessed 9 November 2017.

Linder, Douglas. George Zimmerman Trial. Famous Trials, http://famous-

trials.com/zimmerman1/2319-home Web. Accessed 4 November 2017.

Selby, Nick. Police Aren't Targeting and Killing Black Men. National Review, 17 July

2017, www.nationalreview.com/article/449505/police-shootings-black-men-race-not-

reason-causal-effect. Web. Accessed 4 November 2017

Police shootings 2017 database. The Washington Post, WP Company,

www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings-2017/. Web. Accessed 4

November 2017.