Police brutality is an issue that should concern everyone. Regardless of whether you have personally been affected by it or not, there is a time in most people’s lives that they will be forced to work with a police officer. When that time comes, most of us would like to be able to trust that officer to appropriately handle the situation. This topic is one we have seen in the news frequently the past few years. The way the media has presented the issue, showing white cops viciously beating or killing minorities, has led to the to the stereotype that cops are racist. This creates a misrepresentation of the main problems that are actually causing the police to act more violently and irrationally in many situations. Yet, the answer to what’s causing this increase isn’t as simple as one thing. Instead, there are hundreds of reasons, all of which are leading to a strain on the relationships between police officers and the citizens they are supposed to protect. These reasons include, but are not limited to, outdated training methods, militarization of the police force, the media's portrayal of the police, and socioeconomic issues associated with crime.

When considering the factors of police brutality, it’s understandable that many people's first thought is racism. Whether you think of this because of the media, your family, or personal experience, there’s no denying that racism is a main contributing factor in some of these incidents. This is evident when we see the news of another man being shot by police for doing little more than walking at night and being black. Unfortunately, there are still places in the U.S. where a white male can walk down the street in a hoodie and not be so much as glanced at by the police, then a black male does the same thing and is questioned, handcuffed, and harassed. The YouTube channel SoFlo tested this with an experiment in Oregon, using their open carry laws. In the video, there are two separate takes, one where a white man walks through town carrying an AR assault rifle, and another where a black man does the same thing. In the video the white man is stopped by an officer and calmly questioned about what he was doing, to which he responded, “I am breaking no laws and I’m simply acting under Oregon’s open carry law.” The officer followed up with a few more questions, then allowed the man to continue walking. Later in the video a black man does the exact same thing and when stopped by the police, he is immediately held at gunpoint until backup arrives and is then arrested. This video demonstrates how in parts of the country your race can be a key factor in how a police officer will treat you. Although this is a serious issue in some police departments, the majority of police do not commit acts of excessive force based on racism.

Among other factors, the training many police officers receive contributes to the rising number of police brutality cases. The issues with the training of the police force are touched on in an article by Amanda Jane Davies. She describes how the various types of training police receive are not preparing them to safely and appropriately do their jobs. In the article, she states that many of the videos used to teach the officers appropriate responses to specific situations are “predisposed to requiring the use of a firearm in most circumstances.” When new recruits are mainly being taught how to handle a deadly situation, they will be ill prepared to hand the vast majority of their daily duties. This is an issue within many academies around the United States. Trainees are not being shown up-to-date film on how to perform their everyday duties in a lawful manner. An article by G.P. Alpert and R.G.. Dunham furthers this idea, stating that thirty percent of officers who graduated from a specific class at the police academy were “unable to pass the use of force module three months after their graduation.” Once this initial education has worn off, it is natural for a person to do what they feel will keep them safe. This, in many instances, is using excessive force in situations that might not warrant it. Further problems develop over time because many officers teach themselves once their education wears off, or learn from fellow officers who are no better trained than them. In addition, many officers aren’t even taught to what extent they can legally use force in a given situation. An article written by Aamer Madhani touches on this, stating only one in six graduates from a Chicago police academy "came close to properly articulating the legal standard for use of force.” Over time a police officer, if not taught otherwise, will respond to almost everything with extreme force to better protect his/her life. When multiple officers are shown old and inappropriate methods for handling situations and in turn pass those methods on to new cops, problems are bound to arise.

Furthermore, the way the government is arming the police is causing an increase in police brutality. The government arms the police like they would an army. The police are given everything from assault rifles to military grade vehicles. While these are sometimes needed in extreme situations, the number of weapons available and the somewhat easy access to them is alarming. An article by Lev Raphael in "The Huffington Post" says it best: “Many cops see themselves as soldiers fighting enemies rather than protecting and defending U.S. citizens.” After a while this mentality can lead to an everyday traffic violation being treated as if the officer were in the middle of a war zone. This idea in continued in an article by Dexter Filkins, where he describes what he saw after the Boston bombing. He explains how, as horrific as this incident was, he noticed something else. As police began to respond to the scene he recalls seeing them “dressed like Storm Troopers, carrying assault rifles and fanning out across neighborhoods as though they were an infantry division in Afghanistan.” The fact that simple police officers had been trained for this situation is a problem. These are people meant to be upholding laws for the safety of U.S. citizens, who duties most often include noise complaints and traffic stops, not Marines taking down a terrorist. When officers are instead being armed and prepared for situations such as these, incidents of excessive force are bound to occur. After a while, police who are armed like soldiers and trained to think like soldiers will respond like soldiers.

In addition, police brutality is getting worse as the police have been given the overwhelming challenge of fixing the socioeconomic issues contributing to crime. People throughout the country assume that when crime rates begin to increase, the solution is to pump more resources into law enforcement. This does little more than stall the increase in crime. These resources would be better spent on the socioeconomic issues that lead to an increase in crime. As stated by Diane Goldstein, programs such education, after school activities, and the creation of jobs “have been shown to prevent crime and make a community safer far more effectively than…law enforcement alone.” Over time this misdirection of funds leads to a continued increase in crime. This increase in crime forces cops to be constantly on their toes. Eventually, with the officer’s intent to defend him/herself, events of excessive force occur. Corresponding with this, police officer Melvin Russell had a similar idea of serving the community rather then policing it. During his TED Talk he spoke on how over time the police force has become so “caught up in protecting citizens, they’ve forgotten to serve them.” Rather then pressuring the police force to make more arrests, we would be better off taking a specific interest in those that would typically be arrested and instead try to help them. Further in his speech he made the statement that “after four years of implementing reforms based on serving the community rather than punishing them, Baltimore hit a thirty-year crime low.” This indicates that if we would put our resources into finding/fixing the root of crime and meeting the needs of these people, crime would begin to decrease by itself.  In turn, as crime began to decrease, police would work in a safer environment, decreasing police brutality all over the country. 

As earlier mentioned, the media's constant portrayal of the police force being racist is adding to the increase in incidents involving excessive force. When people are frequently shown videos that seem to depict the police beating and harassing people of color for no apparent reason, society will slowly turn against the police force as a whole. Many times, these news agencies will go a step farther from showing these videos and actively stereotype the police. In an article by Sirry Alang, she states that despite the numerous documented deaths of American citizens, “police brutality against brown and black people continues.” Statements like these increase the problem because now, rather than seeing the issue as cops being ill prepared to do their job, the public sees it as an issue with police beliefs. Since the majority of people would not want to work with an organization that is deemed racist, a further strain between citizens and the police will develop. Casandra Maria, in an article on police brutality in the media, continues this stating that the way the media has portrayed these incidences has led many people to believe “this problem is more than just misconduct.”  When the sources people rely on for information push stereotypes against an entire profession, they are in turn adding to the stress between the police and their communities. As people begin to distrust the police, more people will be wary of them, more people will be hesitant to work with them, and more people will not obey them. All of these things will lead to more conflict between police and citizens, resulting in an increased amount of force and brutality. 

As a nation we must stop trying to label police brutality as simply acts of racism. While racism has played a part in some instances, the rise in the events of excessive force from police stem from things such as poor training, their militarization, the media, and socioeconomic issues associated with crime. If we continue to mislabel these altercations as an attempt by police to hold down minorities we will not see any decrease in these events. Regardless of whether you have personally been affected by police brutality, there is no denying that it is getting worse. As a nation, we must force our cities and governments to take action on this issue. There needs to be an immediate change to how our police force is trained. They should be trained to effectively complete their day to day duties. These officers should be trained to do the jobs they will spend the majority of their time doing, as well as the other jobs they will occasionally perform. It is not responsible to put an officer though in-depth SWAT training for potentially catastrophic situations, then expect him to appropriately handle a routine speeding stop. The same applies for militarization. Police officers who are performing routine stops and checks do not need assault rifles and armored vehicles. If a situation should occur where that is needed, it would be safer to call back-up at that time. This at least allows the weapons to be in the hands of professionals who know how use them and understand the appropriate time to use them. Continuing with this, the media needs to realize that constantly reporting on poorly trained and sometimes corrupt cops is not helping the relations between the police and the public. The media needs to instead focus on reporting about the cops who are helping to improve the situation, like Melvin Russell. If the media would portray the ways people are trying to improve the system rather than the ones who harm it, it could inspire other departments around the country to make changes. Finally, if the local and federal government would work to improve and eliminate the socioeconomic problems leading to crime, the rest of these issues would fall in line.. Rather than pouring money into police departments and their equipment, that money should instead be spent on community projects and outreaches to fix the root problems that lead to crime. If this is done, people in these poorer areas will be offered a way out, which would prevent future conflicts with the police. If our nation will focus on these solutions, the issue of police brutality would start to decrease and eventually cease to exist.
