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Police Brutality

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Recent incidents of police brutality have brought up critical discussions on policing and law enforcement across the country. The nation seems to have come into a consensus about police reforms, and find an alternative way to fight crimes while assuring the safety of the public . At a time where unarmed black teenagers are being gunned down by police officers who were there to protect, and police departments are more militarized than ever; one wonders about the legitimacy of the police system that is in place. The mistrust of the public on police, and the costly militarization of police are the results of “aggressive” policing approach that has been practiced for years. An alternative way of policing, community policing, has been recommended …show more content…

With the aggressive style of policing, we observe that the state focuses heavily on militarization. Not only spending money on vehicles, equipment, weaponry and other military property, but also providing trainings. “It is estimated that the pentagon spends nearly $23 billion annually on military equipment” (Brad Lockwood). This does not help reduce crime, instead it supports the “aggressive” style of policing which provokes confrontation. As police departments get more militarized, communities feel a sense of invasion rather than protection. Following the relentless protests in Ferguson, due to the killing of unarmed Michael Brown, president Barack Obama proposed a three year program worth $263 million in order to fund for body-worn cameras (Linda Feldmann). Further spending tons of money to ensure security and safety in a community where police don’t have the public’s trust. Spending more money on militarization will not solve the issues Ferguson faces; implementing police reforms and bilaterally working with the community for their safety and progress will, and community policing does just that. With community policing, the priority is set on solving core problems that communities face which often lead to crimes. Community centers, teenage retention programs, parks and sport programs are projects that are implemented in …show more content…

Historically New York policing has been an “aggressive” one; with racially focused way of policing, stop and frisk, and three strikes and out are some of the tactics that come to mind. After crimes reached ultimate high at the beginning of 1990’s, the idea of community policing was brought about to bring an alternative way of policing. The mistrust of the black and latino community on the predominantly white police force was one of the main challenges that had to be faced. Since then, the New York police department have observed an improvement of communication between the public and police(J. DAVID GOODMAN). This makes it easier for officers to deal with crimes as they are assigned to small communities, which results in the reduction of crimes. The data collected from the police department of New York gives a historical perspective on the reduction of crimes from 1990 through 2015. Crimes such as, murder, rape, robbery and burglary are collected throughout the years, and we will observe the changes made from 1990-2015. We observe a -81% change in murder, -51.9% change in rape, -80% in robbery and -84.7% in burglary. These percentages are huge and can be affected by multiple factors, but community policing plays a huge role in the reduction of

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