The conversation about racial inequality in the United States has recently reinvigorated in a way that this country has not seen since the Civil Rights Movement. Ever since an unarmed, African-American man named Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, MO by white police officer Darren Wilson, the topic of racism has once again become a popular talking point in American culture. While race is significant in this case, the genuine issue behind the shooting is not only going unnoticed,but completely ignored. In acts of self-defense, the police should not be using excessive force or shooting to kill.There is a common misconception that police officers are trained to shoot to wound, rather than to kill. However, United States officers are trained to do whatever is necessary to eliminate the threat. This is the root of the problem because what most officers immediately see as “necessary” is gun violence, even though most officers carry a series of non-lethal weapons.
As infuriating and confusing as it may be, the question of whether Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown with racist motivations is still up for debate. What is not up for debate is the brutality of the Ferguson police force and the superiority complex of officers all around the United States.
United States police officers are trained to shoot for the “center mass.” In other words, the officers are trained to shoot to kill, not to incapacitate. When asked why officers cannot just use taser guns or pepper spray, a former officer of the Los Angeles Police Department explained officers “are not required to risk their lives unnecessarily.” In cases of self-defense, US law determines deadly force as necessary when an “officer who reasonably believes himself or herself to be in imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm.” While this law sounds practical in writing, the execution of the law historically has been flawed. The ambiguous language of the law protects officers as intended, but also allows officers to interpret the law as they please without extensive reasoning. This law causes the undue use of excessive violence in law enforcement in the United States. If the law acts in favor of the officer a majority of the time, we cannot consider police brutality an easily solvable issue. It is a tragedy to admit, but the judicial system cannot fail those it was never designed to protect.
The gray area of this issue — the confusion between what is or is not necessary force — could be resolved first by requiring all police departments to use body cameras on their officers. These cameras record the daily interactions between officers and suspects, ensuring that both the officer and the suspect have a higher level of security and protection in a court of law. This form of concrete evidence leaves interpretation of violent situations in the hands of the justice department instead of the officers and eyewitnesses.
The situation in Ferguson has caused uproar across the United States and enhanced distrust in the United States justice system and law enforcement. However, it does not have to be this way. The beauty of living in a country such as America is that there is no law that we cannot change, no rules that we cannot get rid of and no precedent that has to stand. If U.S. citizens want to avoid situations like the killing of Michael Brown, then we must find ways that a faulty system can generate positive results. This comes from filing lawsuits through the court system, writing letters to local elected officials and even protesting in peaceful manners. We must fix the technicalities of our law enforcement before we can focus on the deep-rooted issues of racism in American minds.
Lauren Horne is an Opinion Columnist for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at l.horne@cavalierdaily.com.
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