Police Brutality Has Been Going On Far Too Long—It Needs To End

One year ago, on May 25, George Floyd was killed by the police. The incident sparked a chain of protests against police brutality. 

Unfortunately, many more lives have been taken by law enforcement officers since George Floyd’s murder. 

It is disheartening to know that many people—especially minorities who have been victims of this abuse for far too long—no longer have faith and trust in the individuals who are here to “protect and serve” us. Instead many fear the police and wonder who will be their next victim.

Throughout the years, law enforcement officers have killed thousands of people. 

Why does this type of violence continue to occur?

In an attempt to reduce police killings, some reform groups believed that diversifying police forces would decrease the number of such incidents but that hasn’t turned out to be entirely true. 

The Department of Justice said that police officers in Baltimore, Maryland—who are mostly diversified—have participated in misconduct and violation of civilian’s rights.

Another method that was recently implemented was the integration of body cameras. One would think that the likelihood of misconduct would decrease with such measures in place, however, studies have shown that cameras essentially don’t contribute to much of a change in behavior. 

I don’t blame people for being scared of the system, they have every right to be. But this is the perfect time to make a change.

San Francisco’s police department instituted tighter measures on how force should be exerted in situations. The San Francisco Chronicle mentions that through crisis intervention training, the city noticed the use of force by officers has dropped by 30%.

Other reform groups suggest that the United States take tips from countries like Canada because their police officers receive training to de-escalate situations. That training has helped police gain trust with the community and decreased the number of killings and use of force abuse cases.

Our government needs to make changes to prevent more of these senseless murders from happening.

Let’s work on forming a better future that enables trust and stability for our future generations.