By Sachit Tandon | June 13, 2020
“To Protect and to Serve,” the motto adopted by the LAPD and law enforcement
departments around the country. These words are used by police officers to build public trust. Officers usually take an oath of Honor, which claims they will uphold The Constitution and their community. This oath apparently has no meaning to them. Time and time again we see the heartbreaking news of police brutality, which in many cases leads to death, no punishment, and most often affecting our Black brothers and sisters.
Police brutality has been a topic of discussion since the creation of police departments.
Our country is now only taking it much more seriously because we sometimes get to see videos of their unnecessary aggression. Imagine everything that happens and is not recorded. In recent years, we have seen kids as young as twelve-year-old Tamir Rice get killed by police for playing with a toy gun. We have seen a hero hospital worker killed in the comfort of her own home and a father killed in front of his daughter during a traffic stop.
These actions have become an integral part of law enforcement. Instead of de-escalating situations, cops are quick to use lethal force. In many circumstances such as the death of Eric Garner, the murderer was not even charged. This issue of police brutality stems from a multitude of reasons, the biggest being racism.
Racism has been a foundation of America since its inception and although we have made tremendous progress, people are still targeted and murdered due to their skin color. Racism has found its way into law enforcement along with the judicial system as people of color are targeted at a higher percent as well as punished at a higher level compared to white people. Police brutality stemming from these issues have opened more and more people’s eyes in our country.
We are seeing peaceful protestors of all races, beaten and treated like animals by a militarized police force. Police have been using chemicals banned in war, onto their own citizens. They have been pushing elders down to the ground. They have been destroying medical supplies and water intended for protestors. Police have continued to cross a line with little to no repercussions along with some encouragement by people in power. In order to stop these actions, we need reform including no qualified immunity, better and more frequent training on de-escalating situations, as well as harsher background checks. The so-called “good cops” need to stand up to their departments and demand change. Cops lie and protect each other to the point that many are not punished for unlawful actions. Their loyalty should be standing with the American people. Every cop should always have audio-visual feed from a body cam recording as we need more public records and transparency. Police need to be held accountable for their actions just like the rest of us. In the United States, nobody is above the law, nobody.
Americans are in a tough spot right now, but this is necessary for change. Change is hard and a long process, but we must never give up. Our communities have every right to feel comfortable in their own home. We should not see a cop and immediately get filled up with anxiety when doing nothing wrong. We should not be afraid to voice our concerns without getting tear-gassed and shot with rubber-coated metal bullets. If we as humans of all races, cultures, backgrounds do not rise to suppress these actions, the blue shirts will continue their power-hungry, brute force attack on our own Americans.
