Is There A Difference In The Way Prosecutors Prosecute Law Enforcement Officers Verses Civilians For The Killing Of Another
Reforms in police prosecution
Following an outcry by citizens against the judiciary system that seems to favor the local law enforcement agencies rather than focus on protecting the rights of the citizens, in 1994 the Violent crime control and law enforcement act began authorizing agencies to file both criminal and civil suits against law enforcement agencies. According to Simmons (2015) the basis of this reform foundation was to rein in abuse of office by police and especially curb what seemed like rampant killing of suspects and innocent citizens. Many departments following this introduced two aspects of civil suits: the first was the consent decrees, which allow departments to compensate the family of the victims without necessarily admitting any form of guilt on the part of the department as well as the officer. This allows the department to avoid facing any embarrassment that comes with lengthy trials and maintain a high standard in the face of the community. It also allows the victim’s family t enjoy some form of justice. According to Sherman (2000), a consents decree is often applied when the courts have declared mistrials or acquitted the officer, yet the family and community at large are still adamant to seek some form of justice. The second aspect introduced was the memorandum of understanding, which is a more formal gentleman’s agreement. Each party gives in something in exchange for a desirable outcome for all parties. For example, the civil suits could be settled out of court and the family issued with a standard payment agreed upon by both parties, in exchange for silence and an agreement not to pursue the matter, the court case and the officer under trial any further.
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Waegel (2004) admits that traditional policies have been one sided and as such have had little to no success in enhancing change of behavior. Despite several reforms to the structure of police departments, change of leadership and even breakdown of manpower, police violence and specifically cases of murder have remained on the increase. In order to make sustainable change, policies must therefore come to address the change in values which will in turn change and alter the pace and process of behavioral change. For police executives there are two specific areas which need to be addressed. These include the first, the police culture which for a long time has emphasized covering for and supporting officers accused of murder. Unlike normal citizens, the judiciary and investigation offices often build their cases from an assumption of innocence. The focus is therefore not on proving guilt but rather emphasizing and justifying the actions of the officer at the time of the offence. Secondly, policies must address the changing community cultures, which are multi-dimensional in nature and thus require a diverse form of understanding. Over time, communities have come to mistrust officers and police in general, a fact which leads to unrest and blame games when a citizen is killed by an officer. Officers need to be made aware of the culture that they are dealing with, the possible behavior of the individuals within the culture and the basis from which they can build and emphasize healthy relationships with the citizens they are protecting. Training cannot ignore the value and the contribution that culture often has to the behavior of the citizens and subsequent response from the officers on duty in the area.
Currently the focus on police reforms has shifted to local solutions. Whereas in the past, national and international reformed have been the focus of policies, it has become clear that such focus remains wanting with regard to the area and sections that are covered by the same reforms. Majority of the cases fall through the loopholes, allowing guilty parties to continue enjoying benefits of their job with little if any form of discouragement. Hughey (2015) highlights therefore that local solutions are threefold in nature. Activities and crimes that are not directly threatening the security of the public should be de-prioritized. Majority of the officers who are involved in murder cases were attempting to arrest or follow up investigations on what can be considered “minor crimes” such as loitering, traffic offenses among others. Therefore, the level of violence employed and the process of arresting the suspect is often not equal to the offence. Secondly, a new aspect of problems has risen within the police departments and this focuses more on profiling. Profiling is a process where an individual is made suspect not by their behavior but by race, ethnicity and religion. Profiling by officers in itself is not considered illegal rather immoral and simply wrong. Finally, police officers require sensitization on addressing the problem of mental health and suspects who are mentally ill. While they may be dangerous, it is important to note that their actions are not exactly malicious or based on malicious intent but rather born out of an illness. Response by officers should therefore factor in, mental health issues which can be addressed without resolving towards application of violence that may lead to death. Police killings and issues of race
In early 2010, an increase in the shooting of unarmed young people by police officers immediately called attention to the issue of race and police killings. In fact, it is quite difficult to discuss the issue of police killings without considering the matter of race; both go hand in hand and cannot be separated. In 2014, Michael Brown Junior an 18 year old African American student was shot dead in Fergusson by Officer Wilson. The shooting of brown sparked the longest and most violent o protests among the citizens of not only Fergusson but across the state. The focus of the protests was the assumption that indeed Brown had surrendered to the police, thus the slogan, hands up don’t shoot in the protest. With the grand jury choosing not to indict the officer, the members of the Congressional black Caucasus sparked renewed interest in the issue of race and police shootings calling form immediate reforms. According to, Onyemaobim (2015) this led to the formation of the presidential task force on 21st century which was designed to address racial profiling, police shootings and violence. The commission made several recommendations, among them the call for an independent prosecutor whose main job was to investigate and present cases involving police shootings and killings of any kind. Each state would employ an independent prosecutor whose performance would be evacuated on the basis on successful cases presented to court and subsequent decrease of police violence especially in areas that remain volatile including Washington and Chicago. This would introduce a policy of zero tolerance on police shootings and killings.
Smith (2009) states that it is from this commission that the guardian model was introduced. Previous models had focused on decreasing access to arms and weapons for officers in an attempt to decrease civilian deaths. While on the surface this theory seems palatable and indeed attractive, the practicality is far from the truth. Reducing arms not only puts the offices in danger it also puts the entire community in danger from violent criminals. The police officers lack the confidence and authority to approach and defend the community against such individuals. The guardian model on the other hand, is designed at enhancing gentleness among the officers. Emphasizing the need for safety and listening with equity among all officers with the aim of enhancing positive relationships. Lara (2016) states that the guardian model draws the officers away from profiling based on race and thus resorting to immediate reaction without second thought. Instead, it build the officer’s confidence through training and emphasis on their authority, so that the officers do not feel the need to draw their weapons and are confident enough in subdui ng suspects without resolving or entering into conflict and violence as the only solution. Despite these reforms, the arrest and subsequent death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore parked a new range of protests where majority of the citizens felt that police violence was based simply on their race. Despite the medical examiner ruling his death as a homicide, the officers indicted were subsequently acquitted and their cases dropped by the prosecutor. This sparked renewed interest with regard to the nature of racism and ethnicity when it comes to police violence as well as subsequent prosecution and punishment of officers involved in the same.
Davis (2004) states that black and Hispanic people are grossly represented in the deaths associated with police officers. Black young men especially are 70% more likely to die in the hands of officers in comparison o any other race around the world. Despite constant training and highlights of police violence based on race, more and more African Americans continue to die at the hands of officers. What is of concern is that often these officers are either not tried for the murders or simply acquitted for the same. This has brought renewed tension among the community members and officers especially with movements such as “black lives matter” and “blue lives matter” causing headlines across the globe. In his study Tolliver *et al. *(2016) found that black people are the most likely allegedly to have resisted arrested and thus been shot dead for the same reason (43.7 v 26.5%). However, in actual sense whites people in case investigated by the SIU were more likely to have a criminal record (56.4% v 43.%) and to have attacked a police officer (61.8% v 44.4%) than the black people of the same community. Therefore, it is not that black people or Hispanics are more likely to be engaged in criminal behavior rather the death of such individuals occurs simply because of racial profiling by the same officers who have vowed to protect and safeguard them. There is a current call to trace and record, maintaining a strong and current database of all cases where racial profiling has been suspected and all race based data. Such data should be made public for ease of taking such incidences and consistent monitoring of the trends involved.
Police killings around the globe
It may seem that police killings are an issue that affects only the American nation. However, contrary to this belief, police killings are a matter of emergency globally. There is little difference between the various countries with regard to police killings. Ross (2016) suggest that police have become a mechanism of the rich and the most popular to enact their own form of law. Control of officers has become difficult globally. This matter has drawn so much interest that human rights organizations have made it a forefront matter to be addressed immediately in each country. The call of reforms and restructuring of the police departments to curb the increasing police murders and killings has become urgent. Brinks (2007) in his study in Brazil found that federal and that authorities have introduced urgent reforms to curb the record high police killings within the state. From January 2018 to November 2018, police had killed the highest number of citizens in the capital city of Rio De Jeneiro that is 1444. Brazil had become recognized for its military style operations which increased death rate of citizens and decreased the public security mandate of the officers. Few of its citizens had any hope or trust in the police mandate and the discharge of police duties by officers. As Krieger (2005) states an increase in police killings across the globe has in fact led to decreased trust among the citizenry. Few people want to report crimes or be involved in police investigations. Rather, people would prefer to bury their hand, ignore happenings around them and rely on criminal agents for projection rather than the police. Police encounters are less than pleasant and would likely result in death.
What is of concern is that the increase in police killings has also led to decrease of safety of the officers. Across the globe, death of officers has increased by more than 50%. This is a matter that can mostly be traced to poor trust and relationships among officers and the public they have been sworn to protect. The citizens rarely report crime, which leads to officers to situations where they encounter difficulty and possibly violence with little to no support (Stone 2007). Further, citizens rarely cooperate and are unwilling to engage with officers leading to little knowledge with regard to possible danger than they may encounter. Gang members are also less wilting to surrender to officers. When cornered, they are most likely to react violently since they make the assumption that the officers will still kill them. There ahs been constant retaliation on the same length following extra judicial killings.
In 2016, following the shooting of Alton Sterling by police officers, Gavin Long shot six police officers and sparked outrage among law enforcement which not only increased arrest but also led to deaths of even more young black American men. Retaliation killings of officers especially in areas where gang operate and have strongholds is common after the death of one of their own. Arrests and arraignment of the criminals may not spark as much outrage as the death of a citizen. In some cases, citizens are more likely to cooperate and support the gags and criminals, out of fear from the same gangs or simple spite of the officers proving evidence and support to criminal activities both knowingly and unknowingly.
Whereas police officers in America may seem trigger happy in comparison to other especially Finland, where officers rarely make use of their weapons, the statistics show that the police killings are quite low in comparison to other countries. Prado *et al. *(2012) states that in Elsavador, police officers are 22 times more likely to kill citizens as compared to the states. In this country, police officers are more feared than the criminal elements operating in the country. In fact, it is common for criminals to be called upon to police and discipline officers who have gone rogue. In both Kenya and Nigeria, the number of those killed by officers is impossible to comprehend, since records are altered and cases often changed to reflect differing views of what actually transpired. One of the suggestions that has been globally accepted is the sue of body cameras to record what exactly transpires when officers are on duty. However, according to Brinks (2007) lack of resources, poor follow up and massive data entries make the use of the camera far from effective. As society continues to develop and socio-economic disparities continue to grow, with diverse cultures merging and living together, the problem of police killings continue to advance to what many consider to be ultimate unsolvable proportions. Reforms among the police according to the United Nations have become not a national or local problem anymore but more of an international and global situation that calls for immediate attention. Countries such as Finland should become the benchmark for every society, where despite low levels of police violence and killings the countries continue to enjoy a low crime rate and high security for both citizens and officers.
Prosecution around the globe
Despite an increase in the number of police involved and suspected of murder, it is clear that prosecution of the same officers remains quite low. In low income countries such as Nigeria, Elsavador and Brazil, prosecution of officers is not just low it is non-existent. Extra judicial killings are considered a normal occurrence and as such police are really questioned even when the international community becomes involved. Tolliver *et al. *(2016) indicates that evidence is rarely collected and witnesses do not want to be involved in the matter for fear of their lives. The result is that the police enjoy the confines of the law and often generate their own way of addressing the killings. Furthermore, prosecutors fear for their own lives and as such strive more to protect the officers whom they are called upon to prosecute. According to McClanahan and Brisman (2016) such countries are called upon to exercise changes in the process of prosecution. This can only begin when there is a change in the police culture. Officers need to be aware that the existence of police killings and murderers within the forces reduces the security and integrity of the entire force. Therefore protecting them is in turn putting their own lives in danger. The focus would therefore be on ensuring that due process is applied with regard to arrest and prosecution of such officers. Reforms cannot continue to be simply structural and procedural, there is need to focus on behavioral and thus psychological changes to alter future impediments in the prosecution of police officers involved in killings.
References
Brinks, D. M. (2007). *The judicial response to police killings in Latin America: inequality and the rule of law*. Cambridge University Press.
Davis, P. L. (2004). Rodney King and the Decriminalization of Police Brutality in America: Direct and Judicial Access to the Grand Jury as Remedies for Victims of Police Brutality When the Prosecutor Declines to Prosecute. *Md. L. Rev.*, *53*, 271.
Hughey, M. W. (2015). The five I’s of five-O: Racial ideologies, institutions, interests, identities, and interactions of police violence. *Critical Sociology*, *41*(6), 857-871.
Krieger, N. (2015). Police killings, political impunity, racism and the people’s health: issues for our times. *Harvard public health Rev*, *3*(Jan), 1-2.
Lara, I. G. (2016). Shielded from Justice: How State Attorneys General Can Provide Structural Remedies to the Criminal Prosecutions of Police Officers. *Colum. JL & Soc. Probs.*, *50*, 551.
McClanahan, B., & Brisman, A. (2016). Police violence and the failed promise of human rights. *The Routledge International Handbook of Criminology and Human Rights*.
Onyemaobim, I. O. (2015). The Michael Brown legacy: Police brutality and minority prosecution. *Geo. Mason UCRLJ*, *26*, 157.
Prado, M. M., Trebilcock, M., & Hartford, P. (2012). Police reform in violent democracies in Latin America. *Hague Journal on the Rule of Law*, *4*(2), 252-285.
Ross, C. T. (2016). Policing Pontius Pilate: Police Violence, Local Prosecutors, and Legitimacy. *Harv. J. on Legis.*, *53*, 755.
Sherman, L. W. (2000). Execution without trial: Police homicide and the Constitution. *Vand. L. Rev.*, *33*, 71.
Simmons, K. C. (2015). Increasing police accountability: restoring trust and legitimacy through the appointment of independent prosecutors. *Wash. UJL & Pol’y*, *49*, 137.
Smith, G. (2009). Citizen oversight of independent police services: Bifurcated accountability, regulation creep, and lesson learning. *Regulation & governance*, *3*(4), 421-441.
Stone, C. (2007). Tracing police accountability in theory and practice: From Philadelphia to Abuja and Sao Paulo. *Theoretical Criminology*, *11*(2), 245-259.
Tolliver, W. F., Hadden, B. R., Snowden, F., & Brown-Manning, R. (2016). Police killings of unarmed Black people: Centering race and racism in human behavior and the social environment content. *Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment*, *26*(3-4), 279-286.
Waegel, W. B. (2004). The use of lethal force by police: The effect of statutory change. *Crime & Delinquency*, *30*(1), 121-140.
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