Keep Up the Progress on Police Accountability
North Charleston Police Officers Daniel Stewart and Matt Kirk visit with students in South Carolina.
By EDMOND ZOU
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Most of us have heard of the death of George Floyd and how former officer Derek Chauvin, the person responsible for killing him, got sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison. This is a case where a victim had justice prevail and a police officer faced accountability. But it only really happened because of all the news media and attention that was brought to it.
Some other high-profile cases such as those of Daunte Wright, Walter Scott, and Laquan McDonald have also resulted in serious sentences for the officers involved in the shooting. But there are other lesser-known shootings, for instance the killing of 17-year-old Hunter Brittain in Arkansas, in which the officer was given only a one-year sentence.
In just 2021 alone, 1,054 people were shot and killed by police, according to the Washington Post’s Fatal Force Database. Thirty-three of them were unarmed. That number is a staggering amount when compared to other wealthy countries. The U.S. is the only developed country on the list of the top 10 nations with the most police shootings. Mass movements such as “defund the police” have risen up in response. One thing is clear though: the police still need to take more accountability.
Police convictions aren’t really common. Of the hundreds of manslaughter incidents, only a fraction of those police officers get convicted. While the conviction rate has been low, the positive thing is that the number of convictions has gone up. In 2021, 21 police officers were charged with manslaughter or murder in the United States, the highest it has even been, according to a database by Bowling Green State University criminal professor Philip Stinson.
This is a step in the right direction but it won’t do much in the long run if convictions don’t lead to changes in the system and if officers get off with light sentences. After all, we are talking about people’s lives here. You can’t bring back the dead no matter how much accountability there is.
Am I saying we should lock up every police officer who shoots and kills someone, even if they didn’t mean to? No, but more police reform would help avoid these tragic situations.
For one thing, why is it that every police officer has to carry a gun? In the United Kingdom, 90% of police officers carry out their duties without a gun. Meanwhile, our police officers look more and more like soldiers.
Police nowadays have access to military grade weapons such as tanks and body armor, and it leaves you wondering what the purpose of the police really is. At the end of the day, an officer’s duty is to serve the community and promote safety and peace, yet we are providing them with the equipment or war, making shootings more likely to happen. The main approach we take is using force against force.
Instead of having police only carry guns, we could have different groups that receive different training with different equipment for specific situations. The police should receive more well-rounded training so they can respond to and de-escalate a variety of situations and not just turn first to their guns.
Another possible reform would be for police to have body cameras on at all times. Out of the 7,394 total police shootings over the last seven years, only 1,044 were captured by body cameras, according to the Washington Post. This number is incredibly low. There should be databases that process and save recordings of all shootings to help keep the evidence safe from tampering and to help with convictions in case there is wrongdoing. Besides, knowing you are being recorded tends to make a person more cautious.
At the end of the day, we’ve made progress over the last few years, but having more police accountability should remain a priority. Officers of the law should be treated like any other person charged with a crime. Meanwhile, training reforms can help shape the police into a force that better serves the community.