Addressing the Policing Crisis — Michael Robinson
Black Codes. The laws were directed at newly freed Blacks after the Civil War and enforced by white police. In the North, police historically focused on the impoverished communities of immigrants, but they also targeted Blacks. For more than a century in both regions, law agencies chose physical force first to maintain control over poor areas. Today’s law enforcement practices still reflect this mindset to various degrees, said Robinson. The Council on Social Work Education’s Conference on Racial Ethnic and Cultural Diversity recognized Robinson’s 2017 paper, “Black Bodies on the Ground: Policing Disparities in the African American Community,” with its Most Impactful Article award. With Sharon E. Moore and A. Christson Adedoyin he co-edited the 2018 book “Police and the Unarmed Black Male Crisis: Advancing Effective Prevention Strategies” (Routledge).
Is such reporting mandatory now? I am not aware of any national legislation to make mandatory reporting of deaths of citizens by police. This January the FBI launched the National Use-of-Force Data Collection program, which invites participation from all law enforcement agencies, but participation is voluntary. Should police departments be abolished? I don’t believe they should be abolished, but I do believe that instead of spending a lot of money on militarizing police departments, funding should go into social programming in the neighborhoods. Funding should be put into after-school programs for kids. There should be incentives to have companies build businesses in poor areas and hire residents. You need more community policing that puts police of color in neighborhoods of color, walking or biking a beat as opposed to driving, because then
Here Robinson explains his researchgrounded recommendations for change. In your 2017 study, you recommended that police departments report any police-involved deaths to a national database. Why? A national database can shed light on racial bias in police use of lethal force and indicate where external reviews of police procedures may be needed. It shouldn’t take months to get accurate numbers.
Protester at the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement Justice for Black Lives Rally, Athens, Georgia, June 6, 2020. Photo by Joshua Jones/Athens Banner Herald. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/3gDi1zK. SOCIAL JUSTICE WANTED | 2020-2021
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