Police brutality is one of the most persistent social problems. It involves unlawful and unwarranted use of force by police officers against civilians. The abuse can be in various forms, including physical and verbal assault, harassment and killings. The impacts of such conduct on the society include overwhelming costs to the victims and their families, disruption of economic activities, mistrust between the community and law enforcers, and legal costs. New York City is one of the cities that continue to report rising cases of police misconduct, abuse of power, sexual assault, excessive use of force among law enforcement officers, stun or Taser gun shootings, and fatal police shootings (Law Office of Rochelle S. Berliner, 2020). These cases have led to civil unrests, protests, and ruined the reputation of the police service. This policy proposal indicates that solving the police brutality problem should be a concerted effort involving different stakeholders.
The Current Status of NYPD and Causes of Police Brutality
New York City Police Department (NYPD) has witnessed numerous instances and allegations of misconduct and corruption. Over the last decade, nearly one billion dollars have been paid to settle claims against NYPD with a significant proportion going towards paying for excessive use of force and police brutality claims. Even with these startling figures, many studies suggest that most incidences of police brutality go unreported in NYC, which is an aspect attributable to fear of retaliation, which hinders victims from filing a formal complaint or seeking legal assistance.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Although the magnitude of civil damages is high, there are claims that NYC has done very little to address the cause of the problems. There have been rare instances of punishment or disciplinary hearing targeting the culprits of police abuse (Law Office of Rochelle S. Berliner, 2020). Moreover, police training programs inculcate a culture of authoritarian control over civilians subjected to criminal investigations and arrests. NYPD continues to employ the same officers facing numerous allegations of serious incidents of police brutality. Accordingly, these rising incidences of police brutality are linked to inadequate training and supervision, lack of accountability, and the NYPD's failure to take appropriate action against police misconduct.
Relevant Agency Supporting the Move
As part of its commitment to ensuring non-violence and social justice, the Green Party is one of the agencies whose contributions to ending police brutality remain critical. The Green Party believes that the government must be part of the solution to the problems facing society. The Green Party’s position on the police service is that the institution has failed to establish a meaningful trust with many communities (Green Party of New York, 2020). According to this agency, the police service should be a mechanism for upholding laws with the community's consent. This aspect requires adequate supervision of the police force and accountability to elected local government. The Greens need the police to be under the direct, democratic control of the communities they serve.
Secondly, the Green Party Movement believes ending police brutality requires a fully independent and comprehensive approach to police criminality and corruption investigations. As indicated earlier, corruption and lack of oversight are among the leading causes of police brutality in the NYPD. Thus, incorporating transparency ensures that culpable officers are investigated and charged just like other citizens.
Additionally, this organization advocates thorough anti-racism and equality training for all staff in the police service. The Green Movement requires police forces to have equality and diversity liaison officers that support and educate other officers to ensure that incidences of hate targeting marginalized groups and ethnic minorities are investigated, prosecuted, and possible preventive action implemented.
Instead of peaceful protests, the Green Party supports annual budget reduction for the NYC police service to curtail racially instigated police brutality. Green Party of New York believes that the NYPD is an institution thriving on structural racism, classism, and violence. In this regard, the Greens advocates reducing the NYC budget for police by over $1 billion every year and diverting those funds towards underfunded critical services, such as housing and anti-poverty initiatives (Green Party of New York, 2020). The calls to reduce budgetary allocations for the NYPD are underpinned on the need to cut funding lawlessness and impunity.
Engaging the Working Class and Middle-Class
Police brutality is a national concern, but it requires local efforts to fight. Some federal statutes specify criminal penalties for willful civil rights violations and conspiracies. Notably, solving this problem should be a multi-sectorial approach, involving the participation of different groups. The Community Relations Service (CRS), a peculiar component of the U.S. Department of Justice, focuses on preventing or resolving community conflicts and tensions associated with policies, actions, and practices perceived to be racially discriminative. Public sensitization on the amount of taxpayers’ money used in resolving lawsuits involving police abuse can mobilize the working, lower and middle-class taxpayers and activists; they will then join a community coalition against police brutality.
Secondly, investigative journalism and awareness campaigns can be effective ways of getting the support of the working class and the lower- and middle-class in New York City. Obtaining and publishing data on the number of African Americans, Asians, Latinos, and other minorities and women employed by the NYPD and their distribution in the department’s ranks can also appeal to the working class and the lower- and middle-class (American Civil Liberties Union, 2020). This information can be handy in assessing the local police department's culture, especially in understanding its diversity, fairness, and equitability. Moreover, this information can help the public know the value that NYPD places on human relations and its responsiveness to community concerns.
Racism and other regressive ideological tendencies can be significant obstacles to the success of this effort. According to Mock (2018), implicit racial biases among law enforcement officers escalates police brutality. Police officers, particularly whites, use racial stereotypes to justify brutality against blacks (Hall, Hall, & Perry, 2016). Notably, police training programs embrace a social heritage that defends the whites’ interest. Furthermore, capitalism promotes poverty, which influences the dynamics of maladaptive conduct. These aspects deny certain racial groups economic opportunities, thereby frustrating efforts to end police brutality.
Feasibility of Building the Movement
Although addressing police brutality remains a challenging task, collaborative efforts involving the federal, state, and city governments, civilians, activist organizations, and civil rights movement organizations can yield significant results. Effective civilian review boards will help victims of police abuse to raise complaints and seek legal redress (American Civil Liberties Union, 2020; McGregor, 2016). This measure provides an external check mechanism to the internal affairs of the NYPD. Through a civilian review board, the Green Movement and interest organizations can make recommendations to the police directors regarding appropriate disciplinary action against culpable officers.
Secondly, adopting an open-policy approach to policing will increase community involvement in improving the police department's operations. American Civil Liberties Union (2020) indicates that this approach will allow police officials to benefit from the community’s input and enable them to engage the public and explain why certain tactics and procedures are necessary. Notably, police policy oversight can help in anticipating and averting crises.
Improving police training is also critical in ensuring the program’s success. Various citizens’ groups have advocated the improvement of police education and training as a solution to police brutality. Although most officers' educational levels have improved significantly, police training remains an area requiring considerable attention. Important subjects such as race relations, handling the mentally ill, community sensitivity training, and violence reduction techniques require special emphasis in the police training curricula. Doing so would improve community-police relations, which consequently reduces police abuse.
Conclusion
Solving the police brutality problem is a concerted effort. It requires the input of various stakeholders, including the federal, state, and city governments, alongside civil rights organizations and civilians. As noted in this policy proposal, the NYPD is among the leading culprits of unceasing police brutality against unarmed civilians. Therefore, the Green Party Movement should collaborate with other concerned parties to sensitize the public, advocate better training, and improved oversight on police conduct.
References
American Civil Liberties Union. (2020). Fighting police abuse: A community action manual . Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/other/fighting-police-abuse-community-action-manual
Green Party of New York. (2020, June 05). Green party calls for defunding the police across New York State . Retrieved from http://www.gpny.org/green_party_calls_for_defunding_the_police_across_new_york_state
Hall, A. V., Hall, E. V., & Perry, J. L. (2016). Black and blue: Exploring racial bias and law enforcement in the killings of unarmed black male civilians` . Retrieved from Cornell University, SHA School: https://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/articles/887
Law Office of Rochelle S. Berliner. (2020). Police brutality claims in NYC . Retrieved from https://www.rochelleberliner.com/CivilRights/PoliceBrutality.aspx
McGregor, A. (2016). Politics, police accountability, and public health: civilian review in Newark, New Jersey. Journal of Urban Health, 93 (Suppl. 1), 141-153. https://dx.doi.org/ 10.1007/s11524-015-9998-4
Mock, B. (2018, Feb 15). How structural racism is linked to higher rates of police violence. Bloomberg . Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-15/how-structural-racism-is-linked-to-police-violence
The U.S. Department of Justice. (2020). Community Relations Service . Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/crs/about
