Advocating a Solution for the Problem of Police Brutality - Case Study Example

HERE HERE YOUR HERE HERE Advocating a Solution for the Problem of Police Brutality Police brutality is characterized by police officers utilizing reckless, irresponsible and extreme force against citizens, in the form of physical assault or abuse or even verbal bullying. In contemporary society, policing officials have the utmost obligation and responsibility to ensure that adequate care is taken to ensure the safety and general well-being of society members who succumb to police custody. These are obligations mandated by legislation as fundamental principles of a democratic nation. Despite these obligations, police brutality continues to be a prevailing problem in the United States, leading to recent uprisings in Ferguson and Baltimore in which citizens allege that excessive force and irresponsible policeperson behavior pose a significant threat to general American society. In one empirical study recruiting a sample of police officers, it was found that 50.6 percent of participants in a sample of over 900 officers said it was common in policing organizations for other officers to ignore scenarios where their peer offices exhibited brutality misconduct (Cockcroft 68). This lack of willingness to report instances of peer officer brutality is attributed to poor police institution leadership and fear that peer officers will ostracize those officers who blow the whistle on such behaviors. This may be one explanation for why there are rising instances and reports of police brutality throughout the nation. If there are no effective police institution systems in place to curb or control future instances of police brutality, regardless of what underpins a motivation to engage in this reckless behavior, there needs to be a viable solution to ensure that police brutality is restrained and controlled. In this essay, I advocate two specific solutions that can serve as a control system to end the pervasive problem of police brutality in the United States, an intervention that considers various levels of intercession that will be required, including legislative, practical and community interventions. Thus, the course of action I am advocating includes development of a new PTO training policy retraining programs which would be designed to alter the culture of secrecy that drives officers to escape consequences for engaging in brutality behaviors and reducing racism-induced police brutality. Finally, another solution would be the Police Camera Act, bill 1680, advocating cameras that record police officer activities and interventions with community civilians. Racism is the primary driver of increasing instances of police brutality. Racism is a specific ideology or system of beliefs that rationalizes continuing inequality between races and ethnicities and consists of discriminatory behavior that attempts to forbid ethnic group members equivalent societal respect (Marger 48). According to a study conducted by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, racism costs the United States $1.9 trillion every year (Alexander 1). With such a high volume of costs to the American economy, continued police racism exacerbates this problem significantly, as police institutions are the leading institutions with obligations to ensure social equality. This problem with racism, coupled with police organizational culture which has established an ethos of secrecy about police misconduct and a sort of communal culture where peer officer chastisement and fear of being socially ostracized by fellow officers, continues to intensify instances of police brutality. Statistics from the New York Police Department provide justification for the increasing growth of racism-induced police brutality in the United States. As illustrated, African-Americans and Hispanics represented the majority of society members that were shot and either killed or wounded by NYPD police officers. The following chart provided by the United States Census Bureau further justifies that racism is the main cause of police brutality, illustrating that the majority of extra-judicial police killings, in five different cities were perpetrated against black society members. These continuing instances of racism as justification for police brutality significantly validate the need for PTO training for police officers throughout the United States. PTO programs are designed to change the mindset of police officers by using strategies to encourage maintaining an open mind and develop collaborations with diverse community members to facilitate how to break down the barriers of bias that pervade policing institutions. The benefit of PTO training is that experienced and educated trainers address stereotypes that police officers hold about ethnic groups and facilitate group discussions about their experiences with racism. This training empowers alliances between diverse ethnicities and breaks down habituated patterns of thinking and behaviors about race and racial prejudice. The advantage of this approach is that many police officer behaviors are founded on social learning theory, a respected theory in psychology which states that when a reference group figure maintains desirable or aspirational traits, others tend to mold their behaviors against this particular social figure in an effort to gain social belonging (Weiten and Lloyd 218). PTO training to emphasize diversity, breaking down ethnic barriers and group discourse would theoretically change attitudes of important reference group figures, serving as a model by which officers begin to change their attitudes and behaviors to achieve fitting in with the cultural in-group. However, there are costs associated with implementing nation-wide PTO training in this capacity. There are budget constraints plaguing many policing institutions today and police organizations are well-known to be very slow-to-change cultures (Stephens 1). In fact, literature on organizational behavior indicates that when organizational members perceive that any change program is a threat to their power and authority, they will have strong resistance behaviors (Skarlicki and Folger 437). These resistances can be so potent that individuals might utilize what is referred to as cognitive constraint biases, which is the tendency to shut out information that is believed to be inappropriate or irrelevant, a type of cognitive partiality (Desforges and Lings 389). This could significantly reduce the ability of PTO training to make positive headway in altering police attitudes and behaviors related to ethnic bias and limit the effectiveness of such a program. Change must be negotiated which is not a simplistic task (Grieves 19). Resistance to change seriously complicates achieving group goals (Zeffane 37). Further, in groups there are many diverse attitudes and beliefs (Hackman 31), complicating cohesion of culture. However, PTO training is feasible and there are many experts in sociology and psychology equipped with training education that could facilitate such a program. This training would be especially feasible if these PTO trainers recognized change resistance and patterned behaviors of ethnic prejudice and maintained high-order, academic credentials that could facilitate a dramatic psychological change in officers. However, based on the statistics about ethnicity being a cause of increased police brutality, such training using competent trainers with advanced knowledge of socio-psychological theory is absolutely necessary to change organizational culture in policing institutions and facilitate a nationwide change in ethnic bias. Other PTO training programs have failed because officers engaged in these programs see them as insults and it has been perceived as being a less-disciplined approach to training police officers (Rushing 1). Hence, many police institutions dismantle these programs before achieving their intended goals and objectives. It would, therefore, be a quality ideology to reinforce that such training is not meant to be insulting to officers, rather a training program that builds stronger community connections. Setting a vision of collaboration and open-mindedness would potentially gain more officer engagement and willingness to participate and, coupled with a more disciplined curriculum, have much more long-term effectiveness of changing officer behaviors and attitudes. The following statistics show what types of crimes that officers are most regularly arrested for between the years 2005 and 2011. As shown, nearly all arrests were involved with some dimension of brutality against citizens, with assault, manslaughter and harassment/intimidation topping the list. In Chicago, as one example, there were over 10,000 complaints of police abuse filed with Chicago police precincts between 2002 and 2004, but only a meager 19 of these allegations resulted in any disciplinary action (Eyre 1). However, today, more than 60 percent of American citizens have smartphone devices equipped with video technologies which is assisting in many more convictions and disciplinary action against officers that engage in brutality behaviors. Therefore, forcing police officers to wear body cameras is an excellent method of controlling deviant police officer behavior (Sociology Lens 1) and capturing misconduct to serve as a deterrent for its engagement. The following chart illustrates that police misconduct incidents occur all throughout the United States, making this issue far from a localized problem, hence there needs to be a system in place that can capture police activities in every state and community because of its widespread, nationwide pervasiveness. This pervasiveness likely underpins why HR1680 was introduced as a bill in the House of Representatives by Rep. Corrine Brown involving mandated use of police cameras, a viable solution in a national environment where capturing misconduct will serve as the best long-term deterrent. Racism was identified as the primary cause for this brutality and misconduct as well as a slow-to-change culture which cloaks observed brutality behaviors in secrecy. The benefit of this bill, upon passing, would discourage ongoing brutality behaviors and incentivize more responsible policing to avoid criminal prosecution against officers. However, the government is already overwhelmed with its financial obligations for funding a plethora of national programs. In fact, just recently, the government nearly shut down due to lack of capital needed to continue funding of relevant grants and national security programs. Providing grants to countless thousands of organizations would represent a significant capital expenditure for the government. It is estimated that it would cost $263 million of government capital to provide only 50,000 cameras, which is far less than the volume of officers in the country. Grant funding for even more cameras, therefore, would be highly burdensome for an already-strapped federal budget. There is no guarantee that HR 1680 will be passed due to the economic burden that it places on the federal government to supply body cameras to various national police forces. It will require supplementing funding from state and local sources, as well, to ensure that all police officers are distributed these important devices. In many states, the state itself is also facing budgetary problems and in some instances, funding has already been reduced in an effort to balance state and local budgets. Therefore, there might be too much reliance on the federal government to be the majority funder for this program with representatives of Congress opposing the bill due to the pre-existing economic problems with the federal government. In this situation, the bill might have to be reintroduced with less grant promises which would, in the long-term, be ineffective in providing the appropriate volume of cameras needed to monitor all police officers throughout the country. HR 1680, however, would provide grants to police institutions to facilitate more police body cameras, ensuring better protectionism of protected classes and ensure more convictions for officers who engage in these activities. High expenditure in the form of grants would, in the long-term, remove deviant officers from the streets and ensures more equitable, fair and responsible policing activities. In the current environment where body camera usage is only a minor consideration in police institutions throughout the country, police continue to get away with brutality behaviors as there is no body of proof that they have engaged in such behaviors. An additional main benefit of these cameras is that evidence of brutality and other misconduct cannot be refuted when these inappropriate behaviors have actually been caught on video and can be scrutinized by expert investigators charged with protecting public rights and safety obligations. To curb brutality and other misconduct, many institutions have added dashcams to police cruisers to capture activities of the officer and those who are being approached by the policeperson. However, these cameras do not always have the range to view all police activities, which has failed to reduce instances of brutality. Police body cameras run constantly and would capture every piece of discourse, action and behavior that is being undertaken by officers during their shift. The constancy of body cameras justify the future passing of HR 1680 which far surpasses the capability of dashcams to ensure responsible and accountable officer behaviors. As shown by the following chart, even though many police killings occurred between 2005 and 2012, very few instances led to a conviction because dashcams failed to capture these killings. Police officers, themselves, pose the greatest opposition to using body cameras. In South Carolina, there are concerns that sensitive issues could be exposed to social media websites which would conflict police investigations (Kartunen 1). In many instances of police brutality or other camera-captured civilian activities, releasing information to the public can be a significant hindrance to achieving positive investigative results. With such high public interest in police misconduct throughout the nation, it is unlikely that these videos could be completely withheld from the public. However, the following chart illustrates statistics showing that use-of-force incidents were greatly reduced in Los Angeles from 2011 to 2013 after police officers began wearing body cameras. Fewer instances of potential police brutality and fewer complaints against police officers underpin rationalization and justification for use of body cameras. The above statistics show that body camera usage may generally deter future behaviors of police brutality by providing a mechanism by which police officers consider their actions and choose to engage in more responsible and accountable police behaviors. Simply for the ability of body cameras to capture every nuance of police activity it is the most viable solution, despite the potential cost issues of procuring and distributing these devices and police opposition about their viability in police enforcement and incident investigations. Other opposition includes officers perceiving that body cameras would be cumbersome to their police activities, requiring effort to control such devices according to established mandates. Additionally, some officers feel that this is a privacy invasion and even police unions are stepping forward to attempt to stop legislation which mandates this as a best practice strategy in today’s policing forces. Furthermore, there are others in society who feel that best practices in policing should be kept within state jurisdiction and is not a relevant federal obligation under the U.S. Constitution. In some states, criminal problems and citizen deviant behavior occurs much more frequently than other states, with some arguing that policing requires a more aggressive posture in order to protect citizens effectively. Therefore, it is sometimes argued that police who are more forceful in some states, while forced to wear body cameras, would be under scrutiny for alleged misconduct when more hard-hitting and uncompromising police behaviors are necessary in very troubled locations throughout the country. Coupled with public interest in police accountability, some officers might be held to unfair and unreasonable standards of scrutiny when, in actuality, there should be more leniency in using assertive and forceful behaviors when the public interest is significantly-threatened by uncontrollable citizen violence and deviant activity. From a practical perspective, some of this opposition might well be justified, however from the viewpoint of maximizing the utility of the majority of society, such opposition will likely hold no proverbial water in preventing legislation from being passed that mandates body camera usage. As illustrated by the research, PTO training to change racism behaviors and attitudes of officers, as well as building a culture that promotes less peer officer secrecy is the most feasible solution despite its potential disadvantages and challenges. It will be necessary to ensure that officers are more willing to expose those who engage in brutality and curb the prevalence of racism that seems to pervade policing institutions throughout the country. Combined with a valid piece of legislation that mandates body camera usage, it will provide a legal framework by which to ensure police action accountability and better protect the public from police misconduct and other deviant behaviors. Both advocated solutions maintain more benefits for broader society than disadvantages as deterrents and incentives for police to engage in responsible policing behaviors. Police brutality continues to escalate in the country and previous efforts to curb this problem have met with failure, which is justified by the statistical data illustrating its growth and prevalence in American society. With legislation that promotes accountability and proper PTO training, with competent and well-trained professionals skilled in changing socio-psychological attitude, society can finally be free of dangerous police brutality and ensure that all citizens are treated equitably and justly. These are the main, intended ideologies of policing institutions and it is time that contemporary officers begin complying with these principles in a nationwide environment plagued by aggressive, hostile and deviant officers. Body cameras and HR 1680 would radically change the landscape of modern policing and ensure that those officers who do not comply with mandates for trustworthy and sensible police work no longer pose a danger to broader United States society. Works Cited Alexander, Donnell. “Racism Literally costs America $2 Trillion…Ready to stop Payment?”. December 13, 2013. Web. May 18, 2015. < http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/12/13/racism-literally-costs-america-too-much- continue> Cockcroft, Tom. Police Culture: Themes and Concepts. New York: Routledge, 2013. Print. Desforges, Charles and Pam Lings. “Teaching Knowledge Application: Advances in Theoretical Conceptions and their Professional Implications”. British Journal of Educational Studies 46 (1998): 386-398. Print. Eyre, Pete. “Infographic: A Neutral Look at Police Brutality”. Cop Block. July 3, 2012. Web. May 17, 2015 < http://www.copblock.org/17484/infographic-a-neutral-look-police- brutality/> Grieves, Jim. Organizational Change: Themes and Issues. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print. Hackman, J. Richard. Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2002. Print. Kartunen, Dave. “Beaufort Sheriff outlines Opposition to Body Cameras”. WSAV News. 2015. Web. May 17, 2015 < http://www.wsav.com/story/27650499/beaufort-sheriff-outlines- opposition-to-body-cameras> Marger, Martin N. Race and Ethnic Relations: American and Global Perspectives, 9th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2012. Print. Rushing, Patricia S. “A New Strategy for Training Police Officers – The PTO Program”. CALEA Update Magazine 102 (2010): 1-3. Skarlicki, Daniel P. and Robert Folger. “Retaliation in the Workplace: The roles of Distributive, Procedural and Interactional Justice”. Journal of Applied Psychology 82 (1997): 434-443. Print. Sociology Lens. “The Rise of Police Body Cameras”. May 9, 2014. Web. May 16 2015 < http://thesocietypages.org/sociologylens/2014/05/09/the-rise-of-police-body-cameras/> Stephens, Gene.”Policing the Future: Law Enforcement’s New Challenges”. The Futurist 39.2 (2005): 1-2. Print. Weiten, Wayne and Margaret Lloyd. Psychology Applied to Modern Life: Adjustment in the 21st Century. Boston: Thompson Wadsworth, 2010. Print. Zeffane, Rachid. “Dynamics of Strategic Change: Critical Issues in Fostering Positive Organizational Change”. Leadership & Organization Development Journal 17.7 (1996): 36-43. Print. Read More