Eziolise 1

Oluomachukwu Eziolise

Dr. Cassel

English 1201.0YV

17 March 2021

How Can the U.S. Best Combat Police Brutality?

In recent years, police brutality, which is the unnecessary use of force by police that may

result in injury or death, has become a hot topic. There have been many attempts to eradicate

police brutality throughout America's history, from the Black Panther Party of 1966 to the Black

Lives Matter organization founded in 2016. There have also been countless efforts to improve

the situation for minority groups that are likely to be affected, through rioting for change and

attempts to defund the police. Even though there may be fewer cases of overt discrimination or

racism now than in the past years, many individuals are unsatisfied with the current situation,

especially with the recent death of George Floyd. Unfortunately, with a subject as nuanced as

police brutality, there is no clear-cut answer. There is no single best way to combat police

brutality, it requires a combination of efforts in policymaking, police training, and peaceful

protests.

A recurring idea across multiple articles is that taking extreme actions against police

brutality, like defunding the police and abolishing police unions, is not an effective way to

reduce violence. Instead, specific issues should be targeted to find a suitable solution. Aaron

Bekemeyer, the author of "limits on when police can use force is a better solution than banning

police unions," discusses the ineffectiveness of terminating police unions in reducing police
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violence. The author argues that instead of banishing police unions, which would call other

public sector unions into question, limiting police use of force by enacting strict and quick

punishment of police officers who use unnecessary force will more effectively reduce police

brutality (Bekemeyer). Zenobia Warfield also advocates for stricter punishment for officers and

holding them accountable for their actions in her article, "Improved Oversight Is Needed to

Reduce Police Violence." (Warfields). Targeting the issue and coming up with a plausible

solution will work better in the long run at reducing police violence than banning police unions

or taking other extreme actions.

The police’s perception of people also plays a role in how they react in certain situations.

In Warfield’s article, she mentions that multiple black people were wrongfully killed because the

police perceived them as a threat. The authors of “what social science research says about police

violence against racial and ethnic minorities: understanding the antecedents and consequences-an

introduction” briefly discuss something similar, “shooter bias”-- a bias against a certain group of

people or demographic when police officers are making shooting decisions (Dukes & Khan). The

authors discovered that when officers are placed in a stereotypically black and dangerous

neighborhood, they are more likely to display shooter bias against black people. They

recommend more police training to reduce shooter bias. If officers receive more training in race

encounters, they will be better equipped to handle situations that would otherwise be unfairly

judged.

Another possible way to help combat police violence is to improve the public’s

relationship with the police and improve transparency. In “is hiring more black officers the key

to reducing police violence?,” Jennifer Cobbina claims that in addition to hiring more officers of

color, efforts to rebuild the public’s trust in the police system are important in reducing police
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violence (Cobbina). Cobinna uses the Baltimore police department as an example, pointing out

that even though 63% of their officers are non-white, the department was still found to have

participated in racially biased policing. This proves that simply hiring more officers of color will

not suffice in reducing police violence. Having the police engage in honest conversations with

the community to address any misconceptions and unfairness can create new ways both the

community and the police can work to reduce police violence.

Concerning the Black-Lives-Matter (BLM) protests, some believe that their peaceful

protests have been effective, but the riots following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis may do

be doing more harm than good to their cause. In Jon Miltimore’s article, "Riots Threaten to Undo

Progress on Police Accountability," he discusses the aftermath of past cases of fatal police

brutality and compares it to the aftermath of Floyd’s death. Miltimore points out that in Floyd’s

case, there was swift action against the officers behind his death, unlike past cases, suggesting

that things have changed from how they used to be because of the peaceful protests. He also

argues that movements that take extreme actions are prone to losing supporters or neutral

observers looking to support their cause (Miltimore). If this is the case, the BLM movement has

had some success, but rioting could cause them to lose supporters.

By continuing the peaceful protests, avoiding extremist behavior, and building trust

between the community and police officers, there should be significantly fewer incidences of

police brutality. Many other things can be done to improve the situation even further, but there

are also ineffective ways to combat the issue. Learning more about what is not working and why

will help avoid similar attempts in the future. This review did not cover the ineffective ways of

reducing police violence in detail, but more research is needed in that area.
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Work Cited

Bekemeyer, Aaron. "Limits on when police can use force is a better solution than banning police

unions." Washington Post, 9 June 2020, p. NA. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A626125524/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=3e5d71c7.

Accessed 4 March 2021.

Cobbina, Jennifer. "Is hiring more black officers the key to reducing police violence?" Gale

Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2021. Gale In Context: Opposing

Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/KBBUCN868715679/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=b21f93f7. Accessed 27 Feb. 2021. Originally published

as "Is hiring more black officers the key to reducing police violence?" The Conversation,

4 Feb. 2020. Accessed 27 February 2021.

Dukes, Kristin Nicole, and Kimberly Barsamian Kahn. “What Social Science Research Says

about Police Violence against Racial and Ethnic Minorities: Understanding the

Antecedents and Consequences-An Introduction.” Journal of Social Issues, vol. 73, no. 4,

Dec. 2017, pp. 690–700. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/josi.12242. Accessed 27 February

2021.

Jackson, Jessi Lee. "The Non-Performativity of Implicit Bias Training." Radical Teacher, no.

112, Fall 2018, p. 46+. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A637226572/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=05f54475.

Accessed 28 Mar. 2021.

Miltimore, Jon. "Riots Threaten to Undo Progress on Police Accountability." Gale Opposing

Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2021. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

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link.gale.com/apps/doc/RGASPY525186842/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=3d45995d. Accessed 19 Mar. 2021. Originally published

as "The 2020 Riots Threaten to Undo Hard-Won Progress on Police Accountability,"

Foundation for Economic Education, 2 June 2020.

Warfield, Zenobia Jeffries. "Improved Oversight Is Needed to Reduce Police Violence." Gale

Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2021. Gale In Context: Opposing

Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/KCQLDW014721366/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=728e4657. Accessed 27 Feb. 2021. Originally published

as "It's Time for Effective Oversight of Police Violence," Yes! Magazine, 15 Oct. 2019.

Accessed 27 February 2021.