Why are Black men and other minorities at a higher risk for dying due to an excessive use of force by police than their White counterparts? BBC News. With the onset of the Great Depression, more than 2 million men and women begin vagabonding their way across the country in search of work. The advocacy group Dont Shoot Portland filed a lawsuit against the city of Portland in June, alleging indiscriminate use of teargas at the protests. To reduce the use of excessive and deadly force, it is important to improve the relationships between the police department and the community, particularly the Black community, as this sector is generally the one most affected by police brutality (and subsequent anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress). Residents of the African-American neighborhood say that for years they have walked across the tracks to go to work, to bus stops or to a supermarket. The records and interviews show that there have been numerous complaints and dozens of lawsuits filed against railroad police officers in recent years. Personal problems experienced by police officers may increase the likelihood of them engaging in excessive force, such as relationship problems or other stressful life events. "Theres a lot of this embedded in the police departments that helps foster this problem. Not only that when youre protesting violence to be met with violence but also the fact that during Covid were all isolated, a lot of people have to adjust to a new way of living, their livelihoods are affected and now theyre realizing that their civil liberties do not matter at all.. The first strike took place with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O Railroad) in Martinsburg, West Virginia, on July 16, 1877. "Modern technology allows, indeed insists, that the white community take notice of these kinds of situations and incidents," says Pretzer. In addition to the above measures, it is also necessary to continue to conduct research to understand the psychology behind police brutality. Anyone can read what you share. However, it's worth remembering that roughly half of the encounters in this survey were traffic-related incidents, and the report did not include police behavior during protests as a category. 1 for railroad bulls. "It is bad, really bad. When police officers and the public begin to see each other as individuals rather than as groups to fear or cast stereotypes upon, real change will begin. Nineteen incidents show police being permissive to far-right members and treating white supremacists favorably at protests. While these incidents occurred in 2020, police brutality has been a problem for decades. While police departments across the country face increasing scrutiny and demand for reform after several cases of brutality, the railroad authorities appear to operate with near impunity. Unfortunately, the situation is inherently one that needs to be fixed from the top down, beginning with the government systems and how they allocate their funding. 2020;7:393-397. doi:10.1007/s40615-020-00738-2. Mr. During the Civil Rights Era, though many of the movement's leaders . Elliott-Copper added: The rise of far-right nationalism and widespread anger at the handling of coronavirus has contributed to the summer seeing some of the largest protests in US history. In July a protester, Donavan La Bella, was shot in the head with a less-lethal munition at a demonstration. The officer who responded to the call, Christopher Manney, began what would later be described by the Police Chief Edward Flynn as an "inappropriate pat-down.". In other words, there is a tipping point at which excessive force begins to be used, and this tipping point can be dialed backward when police officers receive adequate support for their mental health needs. Four Tennessee police officers are being investigated for their treatment of a woman whose pleas for help they repeatedly ignored as they accused her of faking illness after she was discharged from a hospital, An Arkansas law enforcement officer who held down a man while two others beat him during an arrest recorded on video is back on the job after he did not face any criminal charges, The next hearing for five former Memphis, Tennessee, police officers charged with killing Tyre Nichols has been scheduled for May 1, The family of a Black man who died after police officers in North Carolina repeatedly used stun guns on him is calling for officials to fire and charge the officers involved, Authorities say two sheriffs deputies who have been suspended for five days for their role in the arrest of Tyre Nichols failed to keep their body cameras activated after they went to the location where Nichols had been beaten by five Memphis police officers. A cardboard placard in the collections of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture and on view in the new exhibition More Than a Picture, underscores that reality. The Civil War is over, but its substantial shadow still looms across the country. The case appears to have been settled last week. Another troubling detail from the data is how police have handled rightwing extremists, who have frequently come out to counter-protest anti-racism demonstrations. Most of the victims were unarmed and have not committed a serious offense. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Below are some of the more well-known cases and issues surrounding them. Sometimes legislatures do that, and sometimes legislatures dont.. We Never Sleep.. His death sparked protests and "I can't breathe" as a slogan for protest. The entire incident became public when video footage shot by onlookers was released to the public. One way to reduce the risk of police brutality is to hire individuals who have a lower risk of becoming violent on the job. Racial profiling is a public health and health disparities issue. Dr Adam Elliott-Cooper, a researcher at the University of Greenwich who is also part of anti-racism charity the Monitoring Group, said that although protests against racism and policing in the US have a long history, there have been developments in recent years. If you are in crisis, contact theNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineat988for support and assistance from a trained counselor. What forms of training help most to reduce implicit bias and improve the situation? People have being doing this for years, said Edduard Prince, a longtime resident of the neighborhood who was arrested in 2013 while crossing the tracks to get to his job. The incident, which was witnessed by dozens of bystanders and recorded on the officers video camera, shows Mr. Simmons choking Ms. Hill before throwing her to the ground. In Miami, over the last three years, people in the Overtown neighborhood have been arrested by the Florida East Coast Railway police. Racism refers to bias held against a person or group of people because of their race or ethnicity. That same year, President Herbert Hoover established theNational Commission on Law Observance and Enforcementto investigate crime related to prohibition in addition to policing tactics. Read our. During the summer of 1967, 158 riots erupted in urban communities across America. George Floyd was a 46-year-old Black man who died on May 25th, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota after being arrested for using a counterfeit $20 bill. By and large these kinds of things have been used on mostly peaceful protests, said Heather-Lynne Van Wilde, a Portland-based journalist who has covered the demonstrations for the Raindrop Works news site. The bulls go from boxcar to boxcar, searching for freeloading train jumpers. Mr. Simmons retired from the railroad last year, a Union Pacific spokesman said. When Rodney King was finally "swarmed" by police and taken to the ground he resisted violently by kicking, punching, and flipping the arresting officers. Understanding the psychology behind police brutality is the first step toward fixing the problem. The idea behind implicit bias training is that those who are better able to manage their biases will be safer, more effective, and fairer in their role as police officers. There are a number of different steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of this phenomenon from an organizational and psychological standpoint. Conducted between 1927 and 1928, the survey sought to analyze causes of high crime rates in Chicago and Cook County, especially among criminals associated with Al Capone. Delali Sakpa. Reflecting the beliefs of many whites, northern police departments acted upon the presumption that African Americans, and especially African American men, possessed an inherent tendency toward criminal behaviour, one that required constant surveillance of African Americans and restrictions on their movements (segregation) in the interests of white safety. The majority of the arrests have occurred on track where trains rarely travel. Sadly, the trend of fatal police shootings in the United States seems to only be increasing, with a total 1,096 civilians having been shot, 225 of whom were Black, in 2022. This was seen taking place when some police departments chose to attend Black Lives Matter protests and marches and kneel in support instead of taking a combative stance. Racial profiling may help to explain this phenomenon. The Underground Railroad depicts the full spectrum of brutality and violation that defined the institution of slavery. Their ahead-of-its-time strat-egy launches a new era in private security. Using such measures will also deter other officers from acting in the same manner and set the tone for the overall behavioral expectations of police officers in a department. For rookie officers, acceptance, success, and promotion within the department depend upon adopting the attitudes, values, and practices of the group, which historically have been infused with antiblack racism. Thats the full extent of our dealings with railroad police.. However, it is also possible that engaging in excessive force results in a sense of profound guilt and moral injury that in turn lead to PTSD symptoms. Last month, hours after a jury acquitted former police officer Jeronimo Yanez of manslaughter in the shooting death of 32-year-old Philando Castile, protesters in St. Paul, Minnesota, shutdown Interstate 94. The commission identifiedsegregationand poverty as indicators and published recommendations for reducing social inequalities,recommendingan expansion and reorientation of the urban renewal program to give priority to projects directly assisting low-income households to obtain adequate housing. Johnson, however,rejectedthe commissions recommendations. But, as it turns out, railroads dont like being stolen from. 1 Most encounters with the police do not involve violence. This is clearly racial profiling, Mr. The bulls are still around today, but their numbers are on the decline. After the B&O Railroad announced their second ten percent wage cuts . Manney's defense team would later use Hamilton's prior diagnosis of schizophrenia to suggest that he was dangerous, but Flynn would later justify his firing of Manney by saying the officer ignored departmental policy and instigated the fight. Information presented in this article may be triggering to some people as it describes various examples of police-related violence. The origins of the unrest in Newark weren't unique in a police versus citizen incident. Aggression and Violent Behavior. Police brutality refers to the excessive use of force by a police officer against a victim or victims that is deemed to go beyond the level required to sustain life, avoid injury, or control a situation. The year 1877 was the low point of the 1873-1878 depression, which brought wage . In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, for example, poor and working-class whites expressed frustration over discriminatory policing in northern cities. Best known as Americas first private eye, the roughneck Scotsman founds Pinkertons National Detective Agency in Chicago before becoming the 19th-century J. Edgar Hoover, serving as the head of the Union Intelligence Service, the precursor to the U.S. Secret Service. Hamilton woke up and began to struggle. Not just on passengersburgeoning companies have begun transporting payroll and other valuables via railroad cars. CBS News. Police Brutality Recent High-Profile Media Cases Black's Law Dictionary defines police brutality as ''the use of excessive and/or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians.''. Prince said. Plus, the unsettled lands of the West provide plenty of isolated areas ideal for stopping trains and hiding out from the law. Police brutality, a form of police misconduct, is the unjustified and often unnecessary use of excessive force, i.e., tasing, shooting, beating, or slamming, while procuring an individual or. On January 7, 2023, 29-year-old Black man Tyre Nichols was pulled over in Memphis, TN, due to claims of reckless driving. Traits such as "fearless dominance" or "cold-heartedness" can be adaptive in dangerous or emotionally charged situations, but they can also make an individual more likely to engage in excessive use of force or to feel that they do not need to follow the rules. Some governments in Africa tend to send the police to deal with anyone who demands accountability for human rights violations. While implicit bias training seemed to improve officer knowledge of implicit bias concepts and motivation to act without prejudice, the study found that training had little to no effect on racial and ethnic disparities in police enforcement. Officers with PTSD at Greater Risk for Police Brutality. Personality psychology can be helpful in making these decisions, as there are assessments that can be used to predict how individuals will respond to stressful situations as well as predict their behavior when on the job. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine They are hired by various railroad companies across the country to track down suspects, solve train robberies, and devise ways to keep them from happening in the future. But also the survey provideddata on police activityalthough African-Americans made up just five percent of the area's population, they constituted 30 percent of the victims of police killings, the survey revealed. The data documents 60 incidents of officers using unlawful assembly almost half of these instances took place in Portland. Millions are unemployed, broke, and desperate. Privacy Statement 988 Police brutality refers to the excessive use of force by a police officer against a victim or victims that is deemed to go beyond the level required to sustain life, avoid injury, or control a situation. Rather than feeling isolated with their trauma, stress, or unmanageable emotions, police officers should be made to feel that they know exactly who to speak to for support and that those supports will be in place and easily accessible when they are most needed. These traits can make it more likely that they will overreact and use deadly force when not necessary. These railroad police are hulking, aggressive types who can fight and shoot and are willing to lose their lives to protect railroad passengers and goods. The data is probably an undercount as it only contains documented and verified incidents. But the railroad bulls job of cleaning up the railroads isnt done. After body-camera footage was released on January 27th, the public was outraged as many deemed it to be one of the most heinous acts of police violence ever witnessed. According to annual statistics from the Independent Police Investigative Department, South African police officers killed 538 people in the 2017-2018 reporting year, and 440 people in the 2018- 2019 reporting year. Nor are they well-trained, like the Pinkerton agents. The thing that gets lost in all of this is how central a democratic practice gathering in the streets with other people to try to get your voices heard is, Abu El-Haj said. Edduard Prince was charged with trespassing in 2013 after crossing tracks. But, as African-Americans fled the horrors of the Jim Crow south, they toobecamethe victims of brutal and punitive policing in the northern cities where they sought refuge. But the numbers of reports of violence are much higher. Garner said "I can't breathe" 11 times while he was held down. The Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) is investigating the discovery of an 18-inch pipe bomb, or explosive device, near railroad tracks in the northeastern Philadelphia neighborhood of Holmesburg. They gave information only on arrests on railroad property, not on complaints or disciplinary actions against their police officers. For decades the bulls have been used to dealing with dangerous outlaws, fighting fire with fire. Updates? No child is supposed to die like that. As a society in general, mental health is still surrounded by stigma, so it is doubly important that police officers are made to feel that it is acceptable for them to talk about their mental health struggles. It's also worth noting that while this problem seems to be most prominent in the United States, other countries may have their own racial tensions (for example, in Canada and Australia, there is tension between the government and Indigenous people). Police were also sometimes complicit in drug dealing, prostitution, burglaries, protection schemes, and gun-smuggling within African American neighbourhoods. John Crawford III was killed on August 5, 2014 after being shot by a police officer at a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio. The charges brought against the officers included second-degree murder and kidnapping. The Washington Post's police shootings database shows that police shoot and kill roughly 1,000 people a year in the United States. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Around the early 1800's, significant amounts of foreigners began to immigrate into the country. The yellowing sign is a reminder of the continuous oppression and violence that has disproportionately shaken black communities for generationsWe Demand an End to Police Brutality Now! is painted in red and white letters. Simple enough: no freeloaders. Similar prejudices are thought to have played a role in police brutality committed against other historically oppressed or marginalized groups. The death toll among these police brutality victims is extremely alarming. These railroad police are hulking, aggressive types who can fight and shoot and are willing to lose their lives to protect railroad passengers and goods. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson organized theNational Advisory Commission on Civil Disordersto investigate the causes of these major riots. This is more effective than calling out police officers as racist, as most officers would not consider themselves to fall into that category. By the early 20th century, the era of the fantastical train robbery is all but over. The railroad police are certified by states and are required to undergo training similar to other police officers. However, the official explanation has contradicted the description of witnesses. This helps us to understand how to fix the problem from a psychological view. Around 61.5 million people had an encounter with the police the year before the survey, but only 2% of people experienced threats or use of force. Police violence has increased all over the continent. It's very much similar to the concept of directing money toward prevention instead of dealing with problems after the fact. Psychology Today. That said, research on this theory is limited. FiveThirtyEight. These can include policies of the police department or the general working environment. Arlin Cuncic, MA, is the author of "Therapy in Focus: What to Expect from CBT for Social Anxiety Disorder" and "7 Weeks to Reduce Anxiety.". To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. During the Civil Rights Era, though many of the movement's leaders advocated for peaceful protests, the 1960s were fraught with violent and destructive riots. 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