David Walter

November 21, 2017

Period 6
AP Argument Essay

The names Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and those

similarly killed by police brutality have all been ingrained into our society. The social

controversy of police violence against blacks has been circulating and growing larger by the day.

Solving these social issues we face can be extremely difficult. Our thoughts and opinions as a

country can change and we may still lack solutions to these problems. It has become common for

individuals to prejudge and to make mistakes that affect others lives. While many blame

individuals for the problems of society we often forget that the systems in which we built is what

should be held accountable. Repeating the same process and expecting different results IS

insanity, we must strive for change to find what works and what doesn't work. An end to police

violence cannot change unless we force change with legislation.

First we must address what the problem is. According to the data, 1,026 people have been

killed by police this year. With those numbers, there has only been 10 days in which no one has

died by police. Blacks are three times more likely to be killed by police than their white

counterparts, despite being unarmed more often than whites—30% black unarmed compared to

21% whites unarmed. While these numbers are horrifying, the worst part isn't just that most

killings aren’t justified, it’s that the officers aren’t being held responsible. In 2015, 99% of

incidents involving police shootings resulted in no criminal charges against the officers. All

statistics above were collected from an online research, Mapping Police Violence (Mapping

Police Violence www.mappingpoliceviolence.org).

A Washington Post study in 2016 (Aren’t more white people than black people killed by

police? Yes, but no. www.washingtonpost.com) recently found that, “The only thing that was
significant in predicting whether someone shot and killed by police was unarmed was whether or

not they were black. . . . Crime variables did not matter in terms of predicting whether the person

killed was unarmed”.

Now let's put some of this into context. We aren’t talking about any general murder rates

here, these are real citizens being killed by the people sworn under oath to protect us. Police are

here to uphold the law and keep The United States and its Citizens protected. This is an

epidemic, a chronic issue that has plagued our country for too long. While protests and the

growing social awareness of these issues are signs of change, they haven’t produced any

significant changes right now. Right now, there isn’t much to hold officers of the law

accountable for their mistakes. Innocent men and women of color are being killed, un-rightfully,

and without justice thereafter. Social morality can only go so far to stop the killings. We need

strong legislation to put a heavy foot down and say, this is not acceptable.

Passing legislation, as some may be aware, is hard as it is. Getting legislation to pass on a

controversial topic can seem impossible. With that being said, it is crucial to have legislation that

will actually contribute to a solution. The Police Use of Force Project (Use of Force Project

www.useofforceproject.org) found eight policies police departments enforced that contributed to

fewer police killings. Those policies and their respective police killing reduction percentages are

as follows:

“Requires Comprehensive Reporting” (on use of force)—25% reduction, “Requires

Officer [to] Exhaust All Other Means Before Shooting”—25% reduction, “Bans

Chokeholds and Strangleholds—22% reduction, “Has Use of Force Continuum”—19%

reduction, “Requires De-escalation”—15% reduction, “Duty to Intervene” (in the event

 another officer uses excessive force)—9% reduction, “Restricts Shooting at Moving

Vehicles”—8% reduction, “Requires Warning Before Shooting”—5% reduction.

If those suggestions did not inspire you, this might. In addition to the study, The Police Use of

Force Project concluded that “the average police department would have 54% fewer killings and

a police department with none of these policies currently in place would have 72% fewer killings

by implementing all eight of these policies”. Even if we just used the lower number (54%), we’re

talking about cutting the deaths of American citizens by the hands of police in half! If we’re

using the numbers from the study earlier, that's 513 or more people who would still be living.

Campaign Zero (Campaign Zero www.joincampaignzero.org) is another organization that is

working towards reducing police violence such as a limited use of force, body cams, and a call

for an end to for-profit policing. There’s no more time for excuses, we have solutions, we just

need to implement them. We can save lives!

Although we know legislation and laws don't fix every problem, it can still mitigate it.

Especially when you’re talking about lives at stake, any reduction to that death number is a step

in the right direction. Imagine if police departments were required to enforce half of those proven

policies mentioned before. Not only is that reducing the number of people killed by police, it is

re-establishing a positive light upon the police workforce. With that comes better relationships

with the communities in which police operate under, and hopefully a better understanding of

each other as a society. I realize that not every person shot by police are innocent. But having

said that it is not the law enforcement’s decision on what that person’s punishment is for

breaking the law. We as a country have a separate justice system whose role it is to decide that

person's punishment, if any. This can be our opportunity to make policing the community better

for everyone.
 Not everyone is up for these changes regarding police violence. According to a

Washington Post article, Mike Huckabee told Fox News in an interview, "If we have a shooting,

we end up assuming that it had to be racial". The article stated that in the interview Huckabee

“argued that national concerns about police killings of black men are overblown” (Aren’t more

white people than black people killed by police? Yes, but no. www.washingtonpost.com).

Opponents such as Huckabee are often frustrated by the recurring incidents in which police

seemingly take race as a factor in whether or not someone should live. However just because

these events are reoccuring does not mean they do not hold any weight. Innocent people of color

are being killed. Another common argument is that not all police are bad. While this is definitely

true, this does not mean good police officers don't still have subconscious bias’ or that there

aren’t any bad police officers. A “Good Cop” could still be put in a bad situation and make an

error in judgement, however this doesn't mean they should not be responsible for their actions.

Ultimately these policies and legislations could prevent such controversial issues that

have recently ensued. By reducing the degree of error made by police officers we can further

discern when an officer's actions are unjust. If communities set a higher standard on how we are

policed, we could build a stronger relationship with each other. Only then can we learn to solve

the deeper social issues of race, without the obstacles in our way that would've otherwise held us

back.

Lowery, Wesley. “Aren’t more white people than black people killed by police? Yes, but no.”
 The Washington Post. The Washington Post. 11 July 2016.

www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/post-nation/wp/2016/07/11/arent-more-white-

people-than-black-people-killed-by-police-yes-but-no/. Accessed 19 November 2017.

Mapping Police Violence. Mapping Police Violence. www.mappingpoliceviolence.org. Accessed

19 November 2017.

Use of Force Project. Police Use of Force Project. www.useofforceproject.org/#project.

Accessed 19 November 2017.

Campaign Zero. Join Campaign Zero. www.joincampaignzero.org/#vision. Accessed

19 November 2017.