The Disconnect Between Community and Police

Today, we have a blog guest post from a Florida blogger-attorney, Percy Martinez, who shares his thoughts on racial profiling by the police:

It has become mandatory that we address racial profiling and unchecked use of force by the police, as soon as possible. Black lives have been wasted owing to these two upshots. Despite being in total contradiction to the US Constitution, these two practices are common and often lead to awful results. Eric Garner, a victim of the police brutality in 2014, was caught selling loose cigarettes. Targeted for this minor crime, the police officers held Garner with a chokehold, during his arrest, which ultimately led to his demise. From this and multiple other cases, one thing is clear: we need to develop comprehensive policies which maintain a check on the ever-increasing racial profiling and put a curb on the unwarranted use of force by the civil law enforcement agencies.

There are multiple lawsuits, and associated investigations, which determine that a significant number of police departments have been violating the civil rights of the black people. Police have been defying the law in Seattle, New Orleans, Portland, and many other cities, with Cleveland being the latest addition to the list. The mere recommendations of improving training and developing internal accountability aren’t enough, as forwarded by the Department of Justice. We need to come up with a conventional narrative which is accepted and implemented nationwide, over the use of force by the police.

I decided to create some ideas which would benefit the community and the Police:

  1. We can minimize racial profiling by bringing law enforcement and communities together to create guidelines on the issues of the police force and ethnic profiling; the people must decide.
  1. We must have a plan decided by the police and the community on when they should use deadly force and when it is the best time to de-escalate confrontations.
  1. We need to invest in supporting a more comprehensive law enforcement training program.

Just to name a few improvements:

  • De-escalation
  • Problem solving
  • Alternatives to incarceration
  • Officer safety and wellness
  1. We must have the ability to adopt new training procedures and use them effectively.
  1. We must have data which will enable law enforcement to quickly draw conclusions about what technique is working and isn’t and provide the ability to change at a moment’s notice.

In my opinion, the police and the community must get involved. We must break those barriers and create a community where the police and the people are equal. Whether you are African-American, Hispanic, Asian American, Native American, or White we must integrate ourselves and find solutions together as a human race and not as individuals. The police are no different; they are put into power to protect us and serve us. Everyone needs to be involved and be unbiased towards each other. I can always be wrong, but I have fought for the rights of the people for as far back as I can remember.

Insight

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