Hands Up Don't Shoot

CONTENTS 01 02 03

LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THE FACTORS BEHIND THE SOCIAL ISSUE. 01 - 06 Police Brutality 07 - 08 3X more infographic 09 - Laws against police brutality

EXCESSIVE FORCE IS ONE OF THE MOST COMMON FORMS OF POLICE MISCONDUCT 13 - 14 Reported Killings in 2019 15 - 16 Conflicts 17 - 18 Accountability 19 - 22 Police Trainings

IT IS YOUR RIGHT TO START A SOCIAL CHANGE IN YOUR COMMUNITY 25 - 26 Social Justice Movements 27 - 28 Proven Solutions 29 - 30 De-escalation Training 31 - 32 De-escalation Infographic 33 - 34 Whose Life Matters?

DISCLAIMER This publication will focus on the brutality against Black people regarding unethical uses of force when being confronted by the police. There are controversial topics surrounding the use of force being used against Blacks since the time of slavery leading up to modern day. Most common topic talked about in our news outlets is police shootings. This book will cover questions about the history, how our country handles conflicts and whether the system is working for the people. The next following pages will show imagery that might be triggering to those who aren’t familiar with the topic. Please be aware that this is to show a depiction of what is being misinformed in our news outlets to this day.

LET’S TAKE A LOOK BEHIND THE S 2019

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K AT THE FACTORS SOCIAL ISSUE. Chapter

01

WHAT IS POLICE BRUTALITY? Police brutality is the use of excessive and/or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians. The controversy surrounding police brutality isn’t a new idea, dating back to the 1800s. However, it has been a topic of conversation in recent years, with related cases popping up in the news regularly. Let’s take a look at the factors behind the social issue that further answer the question – what is police brutality?

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FORMS OF POLICE BRUTALITY The most obvious form of police brutality is a physical form. Police officers can use nerve gas, batons, pepper spray, and guns in order to physically intimidate or even intentionally hurt civilians. Police brutality can also take the form of false arrests, verbal abuse, psychological intimidation, sexual abuse, police corruption, racial profiling, political repression, and the improper use of tasers.

Police Brutality is seen today in the way police handle house calls and pulling over cars. We see a misuse of force when officers are put in a situation where they have to decide what is a risky situation. They controversy around that is what makes the situaion dangerous? When assumptions are being made instead of actual facts.

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HISTORY OF POLICE BRUTALITY Police brutality as a societal issue dates all the way back to the Industrial Revolution in the 1870s when law enforcement would physically harm workers that went on strike. In more recent history, some of the most famous reporting of police brutality happened during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, where officers used high-power water hoses to knock civilians to the ground, as well as police dogs to attack protesters.

The disproportionate killing of black people is not a new phenomenon.

Even though it was not until 1991 when the first public beating post-civil rights era was captured on camera (Rodney King), the historical evidence of public harming and devaluing of black bodies dates to enslavement, and was reinforced in the 19th century when lynching laws were in place.

In a lot of ways, police brutality against black people mirrors lynching. That today, blacks, Latinos and Native Americans are disproportionately killed by the police should come as no surprise given that policing in the U.S. has its origins in the mission to conquer Native Americans and then to prevent enslaved Africans from fleeing.

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3X MORE LIKELY TO BE KILLED BY POLICE

Black people are 3X more likely to be killed by police than white people. This stat is based on police killing per 1 million population.

XXX XXXXXXXXX In addition 21% of black victims were unarmed compared to 14% of white victims.

LAWS AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY Nowadays, many countries have laws addressing police brutality. Under these laws, police brutality is seen as a very serious offense and is investigated by a commission of district attorneys. Unfortunately, even with the law covering police brutality, many complaints made by civilians about excessive use of force are not investigated. Researchers suggest that it happens because the police have the authority to use force when necessary, and it is often difficult to prove that police brutality has taken place.

To find justice in these cases, police officers are now constantly recording all interactions with civilians. Later on, the recorded conversations can be reviewed in the case of an investigation.

However, not all countries have laws in place to protect civilians from police misconduct. In nations where no laws about the use of excessive force exist, complaints about police brutality are very common.

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EXCESSIVE FORCE IS COMMON FORMS OF 2019

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S ONE OF THE MOST POLICE MISCONDUCT Chapter

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717

********************************** ********************************** ********************************** ********************************** ********************************** ********************************** ********************************** ********************************** **********************************

********************************** ********************************** ********************************** ********************************** ********************************** ********************************** ********************************** ********************************** ********************************** ********************************** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PEOPLE HAVE

BEEN SHOT AND KILLED BY POLICE IN 2019.

CONFLICTS WITHIN THE COUNTRY Although police brutality against African Americans had become a serious problem in many urban areas by the mid-20th century, most whites remained unaware of it until about the mid-1960s, in large part because most large-city newspapers (whose readerships were primarily white) did not consider it newsworthy. In contrast, incidences of police brutality were regularly covered in the black press from the early 20th century, frequently in front-page articles.

Likewise, local and national civil rights organizations collected thousands of affidavits and letters from African Americans documenting their direct experiences of police brutality.

Whereas racism is thought to be a major cause of police brutality directed at African Americans and other ethnic groups, it is far not the only one. Other factors concern the unique institutional culture of urban police departments, which stresses group solidarity, loyalty, and a “show of force” approach to any perceived challenge to an officer’s authority. 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 anti-black racism.

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THERE IS NO ACCOUNTABILITY

99%

of cases in 2015 have not resulted in any officer(s) involved being convicted of a crime.

No criminal charges

Officer(s) Charged

Officer(s) Convicted

POLICE TRAINING IN THE UNITED STATES In the United States, Some argue that the ubiquity of guns in the U.S. is a major reason that many seemingly innocuous incidents escalate into fatal shootings. At the same time, racial tensions are more pronounced than in many other countries. Yet, analysts believe that other nations have adopted a number of practices that contribute to less-contentious relations between police and residents that might make a difference on U.S. streets.

These range from more rigorous police training to changing the way officers interact with residents to requiring more education for cops.

A key difference between the US and elsewhere is training. Paul Hirschfield, an associate professor of sociology at Rutgers University, points out that US police officers are trained for an average of just 19 weeks. Compare that to police in Norway, who have three years of training before they’re fully qualified.

“If you only have 19 weeks of training, you’re going to spend those on the most essential things. Unfortunately, in the United States, it’s about what you need to defend yourself. How you’re going to avoid getting hurt,” says Hirschfield. “If you have three years, you can also learn how to protect people, how to avoid these situations from arising in the first place. It fosters a whole different orientation and culture in law enforcement.”

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POLICE TRAINING IN OTHER COUNTRIES Police in other countries are generally trained to de-escalate hostile situations and use minimal violence in response to a threat. A police officer does not have to shoot to kill and, in several countries, a police officer does not even have to carry a gun. This means that police are rarely taken by surprise by a firearm. There are officers trained in how to handle firearms when necessary, and can respond to reports of a citizen with a gun by sending out an armed police officer.

Below are examples from other countires and how they are trained and handle conflicts within their communities.

New Zealand

Finland

Officers are disarmed to follow the principle that: “constables are placed in authority to protect, not oppress, the public.”

officers have to get permission from a superior officer before shooting.

Spain

Japan

officers should fire a warning shot, then aim for non-vital body parts, before resorting to lethal shooting

Officer’s are more community based and usually don’t carry a gun on them when responding to an arrest call.

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IT IS YOUR RIGHT T CHANGE IN YOU 2019

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TO START A SOCIAL UR COMMUNITY Chapter

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SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENTS Black Lives Matter is an international activist movement, originating in the African-American community, that campaigns against violence and systemic racism towards black people. BLM regularly holds protests speaking out against police killings of black people, and broader issues such as racial profiling, police brutality, and racial inequality in the United States criminal justice system.

Blue Lives Matter is a countermovement in the United States advocating that those who are prosecuted and convicted of killing law enforcement officers should be sentenced under hate crime statutes. It was started in response to Black Lives Matter after the homicides of NYPD officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu in Brooklyn, New York on December 20, 2014.

All Lives Matter Is a movement that has come to be associated as a counteract to the Black Lives Matter movement. The movement has become more political with it’s association to politicians using the saying throughout several campaigns throughout the United States.

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THERE ARE PROVEN SOLUTIONS

Police departments that have adopted these use of force policies kill significantly fewer people. But few departments have adopted them.

-25%

Requires officers to use all other means before shooting.

-25%

Requires all use of force be reported

-22%

Bans Choke-holds and strangleholds

-19%

Has use of force continuum

-15%

Requires De-Escalation

-9%

Duty to Intervene if another officer uses excessive force

-8%

Restricts shooting at moving vehicles

-5%

Requires warning before shooting

Percent fewer police killings by police departments with each policy implemented.

DE-ESCALATION TRAINING It’s called “de-escalation” training, and it teaches officers to slow down, create space, and use communication techniques to defuse potentially dangerous situations. It gives officers strategies to more calmly deal with people who are experiencing mental and emotional crises.

There are 34 states that do not require de-escalation training for all officers, according to an analysis by APM Reports, and only eight have done so since Brown was killed three years ago. As of February, Georgia requires one hour per year of de-escalation training.

Though most states have boards that license peace officers and oversee state training requirements — boards with the power to require the training — the vast majority have failed to mandate it.

That has left the decision of whether to train up to local chiefs and sheriffs.

And many haven’t done it, citing, among other reasons, cost, lack of staff, and a belief that the training is unnecessary or constitutes a rebuke of traditional policing.

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STATES THAT REQUIRE DE-ESCALATION TRAINING

There are 16 states that require policeman to do de-escalation training.

This is due to the lack of funding in some areas of the united states and others claim that they lack the resources and people who are qualified to train.

++++ ++++ ++++ ++++ California, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Illinois, Ohio, South Dakota, Connecticut, Washington, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts

+++++++++ +++++++++ ++++++++ ++++++++ Arkansas,Alaska, Alabama, Arizona,Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Oregon, Montana, Minnesota, Nevada, Missouri, Louisiana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, Hawaii

WHOSE LIFE MATTERS? No matter how uncomfortable it makes us feel, we should frame police brutality against people of color as a structural racism and white supremacy problem. Police brutality is one of several ways in which systems and institutions oppress some groups and afford opportunities to others simply based on race. It is sadly consistent with what is happening in the education system, where some children receive high-quality education in resource-rich school districts and some don’t simply because of their skin color. Police brutality is not different from the policies and structures that maintain the school-to-prison pipeline for students of color, especially black students. It is not different from what is happening in the criminal justice and law enforcement systems where being black means being more likely than your white peer to be arrested, charged and incarcerated for the same crime.

Even with enforced training or lack there of that isn’t going to be the solution that will fix systematic racism. There really is no quick fix solutions that could resolve this issue. Being aware about it is the first step to understanding the complications many Americans face in their day to day life.

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BE AWARE OF THO 2019

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OSE AROUND YOU Misinformation

END

Printed 11.03.19 Sources are from various websites each article and infographic is made to showcase the reality of police brutality.

Sources: Alang, Sirry, and Opinion contributor. “How to Dismantle

Lartey, Jamiles. “By the Numbers: US Police Kill More in

Racism and Prevent Police Brutality.” USA Today, Gannett

Days than Other Countries Do in Years.” The Guardian,

Satellite Information Network, 12 May 2017, https://

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theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/09/the-counted-po-

how-dismantle-racism-and-prevent-police-brutali-

lice-killings-us-vs-other-countries.

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Llana, Sara Miller. “In Many Countries, Police Rarely Use Chief, Editor in. “42 Shocking Police Brutality Statis-

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lice-brutality-statistics.

police-rarely-use-their-guns-heres-why.

“Fatal Force: 2019 Police Shootings Database.” The

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2016, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Police-Brutal-

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Taibi, Catherine. “The Fairly Obvious Reason Police In

lation-training.

Other Countries Kill Fewer People Than American Police Do.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 26 Sept. 2016, https://www.

Hirschfield, Paul. “Why Do American Cops Kill so Many

huffpost.com/entry/police-countries-guns-fatal-shoot-

Compared to European Cops?” The Conversation,

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Lantigua-Williams, Juleyka. “How Much Can Better Training Do to Improve Policing?” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 13 July 2016, https://www.theatlantic.com/ politics/archive/2016/07/police-training/490556/.