Leadership Responses to the Ferguson Riots - Research Paper Example

The Ferguson riots Introduction The Ferguson unrest refers to a series of riots that took place in various parts of the United States following the lethal shooting of Michael Brown by the police. The shooting coupled with the events that followed thereafter portrayed a lack of effective leadership in the country and a failure in the implementation of the directives of the National Response Framework. The National Response Framework is a formal guide developed on flexible, scalable and adaptable concepts to help influence the nation’s response towards every type of emergency and disaster. The framework stipulates ways that should always minimize damage and loss of life arising from such emergencies and disasters. The Ferguson riots, on the other hand, shows a systematic failure in the implementation of the guides thereby letting a local incident pose immense risk to the nation as the discussion below portrays. The National Response Framework As explained earlier, the guide serves five basic functions all of which should help curb the effects of any emergency or disasters in the country. “The framework’s mission includes the prevention, of the disasters and emergencies, protection of the country from the emergencies and mitigation, which refers to the ability to minimize loss of life and the damages arising from the disasters” (United States, 2008). The other two missions are response and recovery both of which occur after a disaster. The two should help the nation recover from the disasters and do so efficiently. Saving lives is always a priority and salvaging of property whenever possible. The response framework is a perfect guide that as explained earlier envisions all the possible disasters and emergencies in the country thereby stipulating the actions of both the leaders and citizens thereby ensuring a collective portrayal of patriotism. This way, the country cushions itself from the adverse effects of either the disasters or emergencies. The model stipulates the roles of every individual in all the five mission areas. As such, every individual in the country has a responsibility for the protection of the country. The success of the framework depends on the quality of the leadership in the country. Leadership guides the actions of the citizens. With an effective leadership, the citizens will acquire a sense of belonging and patriotism to motherland. The leadership thus enhances the implementation of the guide thereby curbing the prevalence of disasters. It also helps limit the effects of such disasters. From the above discussion, the America is a perfect country that should not have any form of emergency or disaster. However, in case any disaster occurs the country has a perfect implementation plan that should help save lives and property whenever possible. The National Response Frame extends from prevention to recovery. This implies that the nation is safe from any catastrophic shocks. Such an in-depth analysis of the NRF shows that the Ferguson riots arose from a series of leadership failures and the inability of the tasked individuals to take their responsibilities seriously, “the riots thrived on politics of exclusion and discrimination of a minority group” (Glint, 2014). The riots were a case of Americans turning against motherland thereby spearheading the loss of lives and destructions of property. The key areas from the perspective of criminal justice leadership that led to the riots include: I. Lack of operational coordination The Ferguson riots arose from a series of actions that enhanced the formation of a particular public opinion. The African Americans felt the brunt of police brutality and racial discrimination in law enforcement. A white officer killed an African American. The successive incidences had similar plots with white police officers harassing African Americans, “the acquittal of Officer Wilson for this reason worsened an already bad public opinion” (Glint, 2014). The events leading to the riots show lack of effective leadership and willingness by state officers to take responsibility for their actions. The police service ought to have taken responsibility for the fatal shooting since it showed an incident of excessive use of force. Instead of taking responsibility and suspending Officer Wilson, the police service reacted by deploying more police offers in the black neighborhoods to maintain law and order. Additionally, they established curfews thereby limiting the rights of the citizens. Such actions portrayed lack of responsibility and lack of coordination between the service. After releasing the details of the investigations, the police anticipated reactions from the citizens. They therefore reacted by enhancing the use of force in an attempt to contain an already volatile situation. Americans pride themselves in living in a liberal society. The arbitrary imposition of curfews especially in black neighborhoods sought to limit the liberties thus leading to the systematic outbreak of the riots in various states throughout the country. II. Ineffective communication and information breakdown Communication is one of the key responsibilities of leadership. Leaders influence the actions of their subjects through effective communication. Such was not the case in a series of events that instigated the riots. The political leadership of the country including the president did not comment on the issue despite being an African American. His society required his guidance at such a time. The law enforcement agencies lacked effective communication as well. The police faced immense violence and hatred at the time. The African Americans who served in the service felt demoralized since they had to fight despite the prevailing wave of violence and riots instigated by violence and injustice done to their community. Additionally, communication is an effective feature in the implementation of the National Preparedness Framework. As explained earlier, the framework targets and considers every member of the society. As such, effective communication is paramount in the various stages of including prevention, protection, mitigation, response and recovery. The fatal shooting and the subsequent acquittal of Officer Wilson were serious occurrences that required effective communication from both the state and the federal government (Bonilla-Silva, 2013). The government failed to reach out to a substantial section of the population that felt discriminated. The lack of communication created a vacuum since the people needed guidance from their leadership. Instead, the leadership refused to communicate to the people who then resorted to violence and riots believing that it was the surest way of obtaining the attention of the leadership. III. Lack of unified effort owing to the lack of a unified command The systematic spread of the violence from Ferguson, Missouri to different parts of the country portrayed the lack of commitment and effort in stopping them. American Constitution safeguards the right of the citizens to demonstrate. As such, the people were exercising their democratic right. However, such demonstrations are always likely to turn violent and disruptive (Anderson, Wilson, Taulbert & Panzer, 2002). They readily turned so, and the government ought to have responded appropriately in stopping the riots. The government would do this through a unified command to both the police and the citizens. Instead of taking any measure to stop the riots by addressing the plight of the citizens, the government tasked the same police service with restoring peace and order while protecting the rioters. Such a lackluster approach to the riots intensified violence against the police as the citizens attacked them during their riots. In addition, the whites who felt safe and unconcerned remained disinterested in the riots. In fact, most of them criticized the African Americans for destroying their property. The murder of Michael Brown was a disregard of the basic human rights and therefore required the participation of every citizen regardless of their races. The separation of the races during the riots intensified the violence and demolitions. The leadership of the country failed to provide a unified command to the citizens. As a result, the citizens remained divided a feature that intensified the racial animosity in the country even after the violence. Recommendations that would prevent such riots in the future The act of citizens turning against the motherland and spearheading wanton injury of lives and destruction of property was regrettable. The riots thrived on lack of both effective leadership and willingness to implement the National Response Framework. Below are recommendations that would help curb such riots in future: I. The president must always take responsibility and apologize to the people whenever possible. The president is the ultimate leader in a country. The fatal shooting of Michael Brown was a trivial matter that required the leadership of the president. President Obama is an African American, his advice at the time would have helped calm the circumstances and change the course of events. His reluctance and refusal to take responsibility caused and perpetuated the riots. II. II. Fairness and equality should always prevail, “the government and political leaders among other leaders must strive to unite the citizens” (Kim, Losen & Hewitt, 2010). America is a polarized country a feature that intensified the riots since the blacks felt targeted. The leadership must strive to unite the citizenry in order to enhance their patriotism. This way, they will feel appreciated and respected and will shun from taking any measure that may harm others and damage either private or public property. III. Communication is always key to conflict management and resolution. The government must always communicate with the citizens regarding any trivial issue. The citizens have a constitutional right to access information. As such, the government must avail any information and provide professional analysis of the events whenever possible (Kelley, 2010). This helps influence public opinion thereby deter such unwarranted violence against the government. References Anderson, H. C., Wilson, S. R., Taulbert, C. L., & Panzer, M. (2002). Separate, but equal: Life under segregation in Greenville, Mississippi : the photographs of H.C. Anderson, 1947 1967 : with essays. New York: Public Affairs. Bonilla-Silva, E. (2013). Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Glint, M. (2014). Ferguson Riots: 50 Facts You Should Know About the Shooting of Michael Brown and the Ferguson Police. New York: Conceptual Kings. Kelley, B. M. (2010). Right to ride: Streetcar boycotts and African American citizenship in the era of Plessy v. Ferguson. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Kim, C. Y., Losen, D. J., & Hewitt, D. (2010). The school to prison pipeline: Structuring legal reform. New York: New York University Press. United States. (2008). National response framework. Washington, D.C: U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security. Read More