On 25 May 2020, George Floyd became yet another Black American to be killed by US police while in custody. Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck and, despite passers-by pleading for Chauvin to stop and Floyd himself saying he could not breathe, Chauvin maintained his stronghold for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, killing Floyd.
The incident sparked a resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement across the US and the rest of the world, where campaigners called for justice and an end to police brutality. Protests took place across America with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets to pressure the authorities to defund the police and arrest the officers involved in Floyd’s death. Chauvin was eventually charged with second-degree murder, a surprising result in comparison to similar cases. However, despite the global attention that this case received, the latest figures suggest that the police’s use of excessive force continues to rise – and that Black Americans continue to be killed at disproportionate rates.
POLICE KILLINGS CONTINUE UNABATED
From 26 May 2020 to 31 August 2020, police killed a further 288 people. While there are currently no public official records on the number of deaths in police custody, NGO and journalist tallies have recorded that, of the 288 fatalities, 59 were Black, 102 were white, 42 were Hispanic or Latino, five were Asian, two were Native American, and the race of 78 people was unknown. These figures bring the number of people killed by police in 2020 to 839. While these figures show that more white than Black people were killed, it must be acknowledged that Black Americans are killed at a higher rate. 28% of the total number of people killed this year were Black, despite the fact that Black Americans only make up 13% of the population. Black people are three times more likely to be killed by the police than white people, and 1.3 times more likely to be unarmed.
The rate of deaths is not slowing. In 2019, 965 deaths in police custody were recorded. As of August 2020, this figure sat at 721, indicating that the numbers this year will be equal to, if not higher than, that of 2019. It is clear that neither public anger, media spotlight, nor pressure from campaign groups, is having much of an influence on police conduct in the US. Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake, and Rayshard Brooks are just a few examples of unjust police attacks on people of colour that have received international attention. These incidents are not isolated in America, however they do beg the question of why US police are allowed to continue this way.
OFFICERS’ BILL OF RIGHTS PROTECTS POLICE
Police officers’ lack of action to change their behaviour perhaps stems from the lack of accountability for their actions through criminal conviction or dismissal from the force. 98.3% of killings between 2013 and 2020, for example, did not result in officers being charged with a crime. By failing to enforce stricter sanctions on officers who use excessive force, the authorities are not only perpetuating but also silently condoning the use of violence by police.
Carrying out disciplinary action or firing a police officer is difficult in the US. Unions offer protection for officers, and the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights exempts personnel from many of the strict regulations that a civilian would encounter should they come into trouble with the law. For example, officers are granted a “cooling off” period before responding to any questions and have the right to be questioned by only one other person. They are granted additional privileges, including the right to know the names of their complainants and the right to full pay while under investigation. With such stringent laws in place to protect law enforcement officers, it is perceivable why police brutality continues with such blatant ferocity in the US.
CALLS TO DEFUND THE POLICE RISE
Campaigners have called for changes to policing and to the laws that protect officers when they have committed a crime. Whilst some protesters have outlined proposals for restricting the use of deadly force and more adequate training, others want to prohibit the use of military equipment and cut police funds. For many, the notion to defund the police is a positive step in the right direction as police departments often account for the largest share of each state’s budget, as in 35 major US cities. Campaigners argue that this money could be better spent on education, housing, or public health initiatives. This sort of initiative has already been tested in some states, like New Mexico, where money has been spent on Community Safety departments focused on rehousing homeless, supporting social work, and preventing violence.
Above this, systemic change in the law that protects police officers must occur. The regulation of police varies by state, making it incredibly difficult for officers to be held accountable under a national law. The restraint used by Chauvin in Minnesota, for example, was banned in New York in 1993. When “use of force” policies like this vary from state to state, it makes standardising and monitoring police behaviour very difficult.
Standardising the reporting of deaths while in custody has failed to result in discipline within US police departments. Some statistics of police brutality have been published by non-governmental organisations and journalists, but total killings according to race are not clear. In 2014 Obama signed the Death in Custody Reporting Act, forcing police departments to report when a citizen dies in their custody. States must report to the Department of Justice information in every instance in which a person dies while in the custody of a law enforcement official, including: “(1) the name, gender, race, ethnicity, and age of the deceased; (2) the date, time, and location of death; (3) the law enforcement agency that detained, arrested, or was in the process of arresting the deceased; and (4) a brief description of the circumstances surrounding the death”. Although this law was passed six years ago, figures concerning the number of deaths in police custody are still unclear and often questioned by activists.
If the US authorities intend to reduce the number of deaths caused by police brutality, they must, first and foremost, accept and understand exactly what is happening within each police department. Tackling systematic racism and nationalising policies are key to ensuring large percentages of the population are protected from police brutality. These things, however, can only happen if US authorities acknowledge the wrongdoing of officers like Derek Chauvin, Brett Hankinson, and Garret Rolfe, among others, who have taken advantage of their positions with lethal results. Until police departments start to measure the devastating effect that police brutality has on the American population, they are, unfortunately, unable to effectively reduce and eliminate it.
Holly has a Master’s Degree in International Relations from Liverpool Hope University. She has a specific interest in gender equality and wrote her dissertation on role of the female peace movement in modern society as well as recently completing a course in Feminism and Social Justice at UCSC. Having worked for three years as a multilingual foreign news editor, she is pursuing a career in international relations and communication.