Police Accountability
Excessive force being used by police is becoming a topic of discussion by many across the country, and in some cases, people are seeing this issue face to face within their lives. With the rapidly increasing percentage of individuals who have access to smartphones, violent encounters between the public and police are being recorded, shared and spread faster and more frequently than ever before. Because anyone in the public can share these altercations, and the public is becoming aware of just how often these instances are occurring. The issue of police accountability is being seen as a major concern by many. Knowing these violent altercations are happening to citizens and seeing videos on the internet of them occurring is not enough to become educated on the issue, and it’s important to know exactly why police accountability needs to happen and who is experiencing the effects of a lack of accountability.
Why Does There Need to be Police Accountability?
This website is a great place to start in getting a visual for violence within our country’s police forces. It gives perspective on the frequency that these violent acts are occurring. Along with this data are the races of the individuals shot by police; it’s easy to see what races are potentially being targeted unjustly from this data.
Another reason that there’s a cry for police accountability from the public has a lot to do with the Supreme Court ruling in 2014. Antony Davies wrote on U.S. News that, “In Harlow v. Fitzgerald, the court decided that public servants, including police officers, enjoy 'qualified immunity,' which means that an officer cannot be held civilly liable for violating a person's rights unless the person's right is established 'beyond dispute,' and the officer violates a clearly established law that a 'reasonable' officer should know.” This means that police officers can essentially commit illegal acts, and are held less responsible than regular citizens are when it comes to the law. This could mean using excessive force an unarmed person, or even shooting and killing them, without seeing the same due process as a citizen. |
What Can Be Done?
The first push towards police accountability starts with the people of this country, the citizens, letting their voices be heard. Every person who is wrongfully harmed by police is another reason to give an outcry for change. Police immunity is a huge part of the problem, but having devices in place to keep accountability within the police force is a great step in the right direction as well. Body cameras have been moderately successful in keeping police more accountable, even though it’s not yet a perfect system.
As a citizen, getting involved locally is also a huge way to make a positive change in a number of ways. SWAG is an organization that speaks to many social justice issues that affect the community on a small and large scale. We are passionate about shedding light on this issue of police accountability, and many others. To see Portland police accountability statistics and information, click on these links below.
The Auditor's Independent Police Review Report (Portland)
OIR Group Report on Portland Police Bureau Officer-Involved Shootings (pdf)
As a citizen, getting involved locally is also a huge way to make a positive change in a number of ways. SWAG is an organization that speaks to many social justice issues that affect the community on a small and large scale. We are passionate about shedding light on this issue of police accountability, and many others. To see Portland police accountability statistics and information, click on these links below.
The Auditor's Independent Police Review Report (Portland)
OIR Group Report on Portland Police Bureau Officer-Involved Shootings (pdf)