Police Altercations With African-Americans

Over the last few years, altercations between police and African-American individuals have been at the forefront of news, politics and culture. But generally speaking, there seems to be a trend in which the media and cultural influencers seem to look at the issue from only one side. We simply cannot paint all incidents between police officers and any individual with the same brush.

Just a few days ago, the trial of officer Derek Chauvin came to a conclusion with a verdict of guilty on all counts.

During the time of that trial, a young black man was shot by a white female officer right outside of that same town of Minneapolis, in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. And even more recently, a young officer discharged his weapon killing a 16-year-old black female in Columbus, Ohio.

While all three of these incidents have a similar basic quality and that they involved African-Americans and police and had a deadly outcome, they are very different situations and circumstances.

Let's start out with the George Floyd case against Derek Chauvin. Based on the information one can gather from video evidence and testimonials not including the opinion of commentators and politicians with an agenda, we know we have limited information compared to those who actually attended the trial or witnessed the event in person. That being said, a reasonable person can assume that Mr. Chauvin was indeed guilty of something. Now the complication comes in when we did try to determine what exactly that level of guilt should have been. Was the guilty on all counts outcome justified? Or perhaps Chauvin should have been found guilty simply on some of the lesser charges? Should he spend 40 years in prison or is something closer to 5 to 10 a more adequate penalty? And, was the outcome determined by anything other than the facts such as fear of potential rioting or political pressure? All of these things can come into play.

Now, in the case of Duante Wright who was shot in the city of Brooklyn Center, the circumstances are much different. The police bodycam video footage seems to be pretty straightforward. Officer Kim Potter continuously called for a taser and was clearly shocked and distraught when she found out that she actually fired a pistol at the teenager instead. This one by all indications of any reasonable standard really seems like it can just be chalked up as a tragic accident.

The most recent incident as of this writing involved 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant. Again, the police bodycam footage seems to be pretty evident. We see that one woman was clearly under attack by a knife and that potentially several others were in danger. While tragic, it sure seems that officer had really no other option than to do what he did. When even some radical police haters are stating that it was justified, that has to mean something. And from the perspective of the individual who would have been stabbed otherwise, the officer may very well come off as somewhat of a hero. After all, he did likely save her life.

So, what's the solution here? That is the million dollar question. While it is hard to tell what exactly we can do and what steps we can take to make these incidents as infrequent is possible, there are a few things we can be sure are not working and will not work in the future.

First off, instantly jumping to a conclusion before gathering facts is a good way to divide people further and really has no benefit whatsoever. Second, violent demonstrations have no place in a civilized society and those engaged in peaceful protest need to stand up and make that known. Even to the point of proactively discouraging it. Third, we need to regain a sense of respect in our society, on all sides. Law enforcement must be sure to respect the individuals they serve while the public should respect the authority of officers of the law. And last but not least, political pressure and fear of what people might do regarding the outcome of an investigation or trial should never play any part in the process.