Since its formation in 1867, the motto of the Minneapolis Police Department has been “To Protect with Courage, To Serve with Compassion!” Recent events related to the murder of George Floyd suggest it may ring hollow. In certain corners of the United States, Black Americans are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police officers as white. For many Black American, Indigenous, Latino and other racial minorities in the country, compassion from police feels insincere if not completely lacking. In its place, deep frustration, anger, resentment and fear fortified by a history of oppression and violence and provoked by senseless and shameless police brutality has been left to smolder. The past few days have seen those embers turn ablaze, with mass protests igniting from Minneapolis to New York City and solidarity protests in Canada and the United Kingdom. While the media has been occupied with reporting on the violence, peaceful protesters have been calling for the younger generation to “come up with a better way”.
Peaceful protests are important, and we need them on the right occasions and for the right reasons. Almost four years ago, in the aftermath of the protests in Baton Rouge sparked by the killing of Alton Sterling, Dr. Umar Johnson shared his perspective on how the racism, structural disadvantage and inequality that pervade American society operate, and what is necessary for real change to occur. Johnson argued that “Protest is your marketing programme to let the world know what I stand for, what’s happening to me, and what I want. Protest allows you to control the public narrative about your struggle. Without the protest, the world doesn’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing” and that “protest is the first stage of any political, economic struggle”. Indeed, what comes after the public’s attention is captured is even more important. As former President Barack Obama wrote in a recent essay, we not only need to express our discontent for the present, we must also share ideas for the future that protesters can in turn demand be implemented.
Compassion is needed alongside justice. But how is compassion cultivated? And why don’t we see more of it, even if claiming to be compassionate is etched on police department mottos? More than ever, we need extended education on social and political history and anti-racism. It is paramount that this education takes place at the K-12 level, with emphasis on considering how implicit racial biases formed during early-childhood development can be counteracted through curriculum, school culture and out-of-school activities.
The humanities and social sciences play a vital role here not just in schools and colleges, but in police training. Beyond ensuring that those responsible are convicted for the crimes committed, police departments should implement structural changes to the training, evaluation and monitoring of officers. Police cadets should be required to undertake community-building placements, volunteering on projects and schemes in disadvantaged communities, but also emerging from the experience with an understanding of the systemic problems that give rise to and perpetuate that disadvantage. Cadets should be required to share amongst themselves, and to reflect upon, what they’ve learned from the various places they worked. Upon entering the force, officers should be routinely evaluated for racial biases both in simulated and in real-world circumstances, and departments should collaborate with local community organizations to address them. Data pertaining to an officer’s track record should be made easily accessible, in addition to any complaints, suspensions or other violations committed by an officer. Indeed, information about these infractions shouldn’t just be made available through Freedom of Information Requests, but transparently advertised to the community. Predictive analytics should be applied to the biases and behaviour of officers, not just for criminal recidivism. We may not be able to completely eliminate individual biases, but we can control, monitor and proactively address them before harm is caused.
Without question, the peaceful protests that have emerged within and beyond the United States have provided a platform for marginalized voices to be heard. However, the real listening must begin and continue when the streets clear. Structural changes, such as police training reform that emphasizes empathy over enforcement, should be implemented along with the ideas put forward by individuals and organizations such the ones listed by the Obama Foundation. This will take real courage, but it is necessary.