Police Brutality Infographic

Police Brutality on People of Color

Causes, Effects, and Possibilities of Reformation

Race in Policing

The police force system was created in the slave ages. Their original purpose was to arrest and punish people of color suspected to be a runaway slave. In today's society, many police are naturally conditioned to feel threatened by and target people of color solely because of their race.

Causes of Racial Bias

Effects of Racial Bias

Reasons for Force

• Rooted in upbringing, personal experiences, what’s seen in the media, etc..
• If a person enters the police force racially biased, it’s likely they will keep that bias

• More likely to use force in poor neighborhoods and on POC
• Citizens less likely to view arrest as legitimate if it’s a white cop on black citizen

• White cops 5x more likely than black cops to use force in the same neighborhoods
• Low education and low income = more force
• Fired previously for abuse of power

Attempts to Fix the Issue at Hand

• Increase in body cameras
• De-escalation training
• Implicit bias training
• Banning of chokeholds
• Increase in data collection on use of force
• Potential bill could end the doctrine of qualified immunity, 1960s policy that protects officers from punishment for their abuse of power or use of misconduct

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With federal legal action and more intensive training within individual police forces, racism could be removed from the police force system.

Works Cited Savannah Duffy