In august of 2014, Michael Brown, an 18 year old African American male was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a 28 year old Caucasian Police Officer. Wilson had fired almost 12 rounds, with 7 bullets hitting Brown and fatally wounding him. Brown, a Ferguson resident. had just been shoplifting and walking home with his friend Dorian Johnson when Wilson pulled up next to the pair in a Police car and a struggle ensued whilst he was still seated in the vehicle, wherein Brown was shot once. Wilson then pursued Brown, and killed him with 6 more shots to the body. This sparked a wave of riots, protests and violent mobs mobilizing against the “white-on-black crime,” as according the Johnson’s testimony Brown had his hands up and told the officer not to shoot and was unarmed. According to Wilson’s testimony, Brown was advancing towards him and he had to take the fatal shot in self-defence. In November of 2014, Wilson was acquitted of all charges. With cases such as the Trayvon Martin shooting, wherein George Zimmerman shot and killed an African American teenager and was acquitted as well, in the rearview, this decision set off a fresh wave of protests and riots in Ferguson that is ongoing.
Now, there are many things to take away from here, foremostly the fact that the Police, specifically in the US, have a rapidly declining reputation. However, I argue that the advent of body cameras for Police officers is a positive move for the reputation of the police force, and laud the $75 million body camera initiative for law enforcement employees that Obama has unveiled in the wake of this tragedy. This initiative will directly increase accountability for police officers, thus directly addressing the declining trust in America’s police force by minority communities. Moreover, it will add transparency to an opaque system, thereby increasing trust and bolstering the relationship between police officers and minority community. Attorney General Eric Holder also said in a TIME Magazine interview on how pivotal this moment is for race relations:
This event was extremely momentous, as was the death of Eric Garner in the same vein, however this was completely caught on camera. Garner had broken up a fight and was being questioned by police on the sidewalk for selling cigarettes illegally. One of the NYPD officers placed him in an illegal chokehold, and Garner’s head was pushed into the sidewalk by many police officers subduing him. Garner died, and the officer in question was, unsurprisingly at this point, acquitted. This is introduces an element of comprehensiveness to the body camera debate. Both sides need to be acknowledged to have a comprehensive argument, and although I am a proponent of body cameras to increase security, accountability and transparency, this incident is an argument against the effectiveness of them. The entire incident was caught on video by a bystander, with Garner’s pleas of “I cant breathe,” being heard clearly. This did nothing to sway the jury, as the officer in question was acquitted. For body cameras to be effective, the structural embedding of racial profiling and discrimination needs to be addressed in the first place. However, it is still a big step towards police accountability, albeit a somewhat superficial step. Nevertheless, it would increase trust, which is something that the force badly needs from its minority, communities.
The time for change has come and these events are catalysts for it. “Ferguson was the spark, but Garner was “it.”
References:
1.http://time.com/3617369/eric-garner-grand-jury-protests/
2.http://time.com/3613058/obama-ferguson-police-body-cameras-funding/
3.http://time.com/3617425/ferguson-garner-eric-holder-attorney-general/
4.http://time.com/3132635/ferguson-coming-race-war-class-warfare/