Structural imbalance and psychological crisis .. Al Jazeera Net talks to an American expert in police reform

With widespread protests erupting in hundreds of American cities against the backdrop of the killing of George Floyd, an African American citizen by a white policeman, the attention of American policy elites - whether in Washington or in the 50 states - has focused on reviewing and remedying structural imbalances in the composition, construction, and psyche of the police. , Which led, according to observers, to the spread of racism within it and its adoption of some brutal methods in dealing with minorities, especially black people.

A group of these elites believes that the American police, like other police services around the world, must abide by what the police services of countries near America, such as Canada, Britain, and Germany.

On the other hand, another team demands that they be reformed, polite and persuaded that they are public officials, who provide a public service to citizens for a fee.

A third party does not see any disregard for police practices, and attributes the excesses to individual incidents supported by the fear of police personnel about the spread of weapons in American society, as it approached 400,000 weapons last year.

The decentralized nature of the US police work is hampering the reform effort, with 800,000 policemen spread over 18,000 units, most of them small units.

In this context, Al-Jazeera Net was interviewed by Professor Paul Hirschfield, expert in criminal justice and crime at Rodgers University, New Jersey.

Hirschfield has specialized in police reform programs in recent years, before President Donald Trump signed an executive order to reform them.

The following is the text of the interview:

• How can you explain the development of recent events related to police violations and their aftermath?

The developments of recent weeks have been unprecedented in American history in many ways. We have never seen protests against police violence and racism of this magnitude in all American states, and their transformation into a global protest movement.

Never before have politicians perceived the widespread nature, brutality, and brutality of police violence and the amount of protection afforded to its members, in addition to the systematic violations and racism of many police officers, and their rejection of any initiatives to reform the performance of the police.

Never before have many cities and states adopted massive steps to reform the police, especially with regard to strangulation and beatings to the head. Cities such as Minneapolis have not previously seriously considered dissolving their police forces and reshaping a new device with different specifications.

• Was it because of the massive demonstrations?
  

Yes, recent protests and demonstrations have given local lawmakers and members of Congress a boost and strength to reform the police, and implement measures that have not been discussed before.

States such as New York and Colorado have adopted advanced policies regarding police work through their legislative assemblies. The state of New Jersey did the same by executive order of its governor, and the same steps are being considered by the states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Everything we are witnessing is a rare phenomenon, as the states have hesitated in the past to implement these reforms.

I look to the rest of the states to adopt legislation prohibiting the use of firearms against people inside their cars, and prohibiting the excessive use of deadly force, and I envision adopting legislation that limits the use of deadly weapons except in cases of extreme necessity.

But what is most surprising is the support of many Republicans for these reforms in many states, and some professional police personnel unions support these reforms.

• Most recent police violations related to the killing of a white unarmed black policeman. Does this reflect racism in the police?

There are many reasons for these practices, including racism, of course, which plays a major role in cases of black men being murdered by white police. But at the same time, I do not believe that this explains all the dimensions of violations and repeated killing.

In fact, recent incidents have reflected the fact that most of the police are white, and I have not seen documented data indicating that the rate of killing a black man by police officers varies if the policeman is black. Some black policemen killed black men as well.

I imagine that killing a black man at the hands of a white policeman gets much more media coverage than a black policeman killing a black man.

However, racism clearly contributes to the killing of black men by several points. Racism in its various forms (institutional racism, racism in representation proportions, and racism targeting blacks) results in black suspects being arrested, searched and arrested in greater proportions in cases of black men, and this is linked to the increased exposure of black men to murder by the police.

This - in addition to the extensive media coverage - contributed to the belief of many blacks that confronting a policeman raises the possibility of being killed, and this in many cases leads to fear and resistance to the policeman, which increases the rate of fatal accidents.

• What are the roots of this racism?

It is worth noting that many black men carry a negative legacy towards the police, just as many black police officers carry a negative legacy towards black men at the same time.

I don't think the majority of the police are racist, but there are sure to be many police agencies that tolerate racist police practices much.

It is hard to be a white person and grew up in the United States without being influenced by some "clichés" and bad stereotypes about blacks.

The high rate of killing unarmed black men by the police reflects a wrong estimate by white police officers, that blacks pose a danger to them.

In the vast majority of cases of police officers being killed outside working hours and while they are not wearing police clothes, the victim is black, which is also a significant indication of police racism.

• What is the best way to reform the behavior and racism of the US police?

History has taught us that heads of police units and commanders can implement policies and reforms that can reduce unjustified killings.

But this is rarely the case, and changing the chief of police can bring back the old methods. Hence, the confidence of leaders of the protest movements, civil society organizations, and activists in the police services and their reform plans, especially as the police do not deal with the real causes of the violence of their men and not being held accountable.

Many of the reform initiatives demand structural changes related to allocating a lot of resources to housing projects, creating job opportunities, or increasing resources to deal with mental and mental illnesses, as factors that help reduce crime and improve the living conditions of blacks.

Of course, this is a good approach, but improving living conditions can not only reduce crime rates, and if this money comes from prison or drug war funds, this will double its positive image.

• Why haven't repeated reform efforts succeeded yet?

So far, no efforts have been made to reform the police at the local level within the states, due to the political difficulties associated with these efforts. The success of the police reform policy requires coordination between legislators at the local level with the police, which in most cases obstruct these efforts.

Police reform requires complex efforts that go beyond party loyalty and unite in one voice behind reform measures and programs, through specific, measurable standards.

No success in police reform can be achieved without success at the state level, and a central mechanism within each state can be built for this purpose.

No reform program can succeed without facilitating the method of punishing and dismissing police officers, and granting the Minister of Justice within each state greater powers over the policies and practices of police personnel.

Police training programs should be funded in order to become more professional and focus on managing difficult situations without resorting to violence.