I think improving the relationship between cops and young Black men would be essential to changing how the police practice and also improve the relationship between the community and the police officers. If it were up to me to make suggestions on how to improve these relationships I would make very simple, practical suggestions. First, I would suggest taking a look at the community at large. If the population of the community is made up predominantly of African Americans than I would say you need your police force to reflect this population. The police force should also be made up of individuals who are from the community and understand the difficulties of that area. I think police forces should evaluate the personalities and attitudes of the officers more carefully. If the officers are individuals who hold to negative stereotypes about people in their communities, than they are not the right person for that job. You can’t be policing justly and fairly with preconceived notions of your suspects.
After adjusting the police force I would attempt to repair the relationship between the community and the local police. Having the police get involved in the community as more of equals versus their normal authority status would be a good start. The police could hold a meet and greet at a community center. They could host town meetings to get dialogue flowing between them and community members. This would allow them to hear the expectations and needs of people in the community. I feel change is possible. It would probably be more complicated than I made it sound but still possible!
Your insight was very interesting and I liked the statement you put: "police forces should evaluate the personalities and attitudes of the officers more carefully." I have a few family members who are officers back home, and I strongly believe that police officers should be considered more with the fact that they are also humans with emotions and background. As we all do, officers may have stereotypes that happen unconsciously. Thus, I totally agree with your thoughts on how we should carefully examine officers and their personalities as well as their skills.
ReplyDeleteWhile you talked about police involvement in a community, I just realized that the U.S. does not have, as I have never seen so far, a place where community members can easily walk in and ask for help. In my home, you see many locations where you can just greet and ask any officer for a help. When I was lost in a city, I asked one of the officers and he showed me a map and guided me ! That is what the U.S. police forces would want to try.