Hard problems require tough solutions, and in the case of decades of tension between minority communities and police departments, the remedy requires all of us to acknowledge that the problem is more pervasive than the transgressions of a few bad apples.

The bad apples narrative, while true in specific incidents, doesn’t allow for the necessary introspection that propels broader reform.

Just to be clear, police officers have one of the toughest jobs, and those who do their jobs with respect and dignity deserve our esteem and support for their dedication to public service.

But consider this disquieting statistic. According to a Brookings Institution essay, African Americans are 3.5 times more likely than white counterparts to be killed by police when they are not attacking or don’t have a weapon. Think about that. Lethal force is more likely to be used against African Americans even when they don’t pose a threat. It is for that reason that African American parents have the “talk” with their children, especially male teenagers, about the unpredictability of police encounters.

This is a cold statistic, not a mushy bad apples narrative. The awkward conclusion is that the color of one’s skin is a determining factor in many police stops, use of force and arrests. To our mind that signals a systemic problem that firing a few bad apples wouldn’t resolve.

For example, federal investigations during the Obama administration into police practices after high-profile incidents in Baltimore, Cleveland, New Orleans, Chicago and Ferguson, Missouri, all found massive structural and cultural problems that extend beyond the officers in a particular case. In Baltimore, the report concluded that racial disparities existed “at every stage of BPD’s enforcement actions, from the initial decision to stop individuals on Baltimore streets to searches, arrests, and uses of force.” And this was after controlling for population and crime rates.

The death of George Floyd is an appropriate time for departments everywhere to reflect and reassess. Effective policing is a two-way street. It requires community trust and support as well as officers who work to earn it.

This is not the time to excuse or accuse. This is the time to look into police department practices and revise practices that adversely or unjustly impact communities that officers have sworn to protect.

Every department should be reviewing officer training and tactics, with special attention to how to de-escalate situations and understanding implicit biases that everyone has. And police officers who patrol the right way also must be willing to break the thin blue line that too often has protected officers who should not have a badge or a gun. And this review should not be one-and-done in response to Floyd’s death. It should be standard operating procedure. It’s the morally right thing to do and might also prevent cities from paying settlements for wrongful death or civil rights violations.

Police officers have the power of life and death and must understand that their actions in extreme circumstances can be charged as murder. Only recently have we seen police officers charged with murder, and three of those cases occurred in North Texas. Botham Jean and Atatiana Jefferson were shot and killed inside their homes and Jordan Edwards died when a police officer fired at a vehicle he was in.
The moment and the opportunity to reform is before us. If we fail to seize it, we will regret it for generations.

Editorial by The Dallas Morning News

Visit The Dallas Morning News at www.dallasnews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Related Stories