Police Misconduct and the Use of Deadly Force

The original objective behind a police force was to establish a governing body of trained citizens to apprehend criminals for fair trial through the judicial system. But over the last few years major police forces such as those in Ferguson, Milwaukee, and Chicago have been acting as judge, jury, and executioner. A staggering number of police complaints, and criminal charges arose in 2015 with minimal punishment for their wrongdoings. In some cities the police force is nearly untouchable due to the lack of the operation of the system of Internal Affairs which has led to an uproar of public protest across the nation. The abuse of power by these officers creates an image of a force to fear within the citizens of these areas as opposed to the desired image of a force to turn to for help.

            The year of 2015 has entailed multiple causes for concern towards police brutality in cities like Milwaukee, Ferguson and Chicago. In Milwaukee there have been ongoing protests due to the dispute between the constituents of the Milwaukee and the prosecutors in a case against Officer Christopher Manney who was brought up on criminal civil rights charges after fatally shooting an unarmed black man 14 times. According to NBC 15, the Department of Justice decided that there was insufficient evidence to charge after receiving eyewitness accounts, physical evidence, testimonies and even counsel from use-of-force experts.  More protests arose in Ferguson due to a similar situation when an unarmed 18 year old black male was shot dead in street. Multiple news sources such as the New York Times and Guardian state that the initial incident that led to the death of Michael Brown was that he was walking down the street. Once again the courts found there to be a lack of evidence against the officer despite eyewitness accounts of Brown’s friend who was with him at the scene. The failure to prosecute the officer led to not just protests, but also riots in the city of Ferguson, eventually sparking the Black Lives Matter movement and the All Lives Matter movement after an investigation by the Department of Justice revealed the extent of excessive force used by the Ferguson PD. The most recent and more startling event is the recent scandals among the Chicago PD beginning first with the discovery of an off the books holding center in downtown Chicago known a Homan Square. The Guardian released an article that exposed the inner workings of the facility and described it as “an interrogation warehouse that has been described as the equivalent of a CIA black site and now a torture chamber” (Woolfe). Evidence provided by the article also suggests that upon the arrival of the detainee, he is denied both a phone call and the access to legal counsel even during interrogation, both of which are constitutional rights after being arrested. The Chicago PD was also involved in the shooting of Lequan McDonald, a 17 year old black male who was stopped by police and immediately shot 16 times for refusing to stop walking away from the officers. A video was released a year later showing the actual shooting from the dash cam of one of the police vehicles. The video caused an outrage among Chicagoans, especially after the evidence pointed toward the attempted cover up of the event along with the cover up of a similar case in 2008. The combinations of these police misconducts have led to a Department of Justice investigation of the whole Chicago PD, and the stepping down of the Chicago Chief of Police. Other police injustices have come to light once the investigation began, according to the Citizens Police Data Project there have been a reported 18,000+ complaints against officers with only 1,009 of those complaints leading to any disciplinary action at all. A large portion of those complaints have been regarding use of force, illegal search, and Inadequate/Failure to provide service (CPDB).

            This issue continues to grow with the constant release of more cases of police misconduct that reach public eye all across the nation. The continued protests of these cases have brought an overwhelming amount of awareness on the issue since the initial protests at Ferguson which has sparked a chain reaction of Department of Justice investigations. Movements like Black Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, and If You See Something Film Something are also pressing the issue with multiple social media campaigns as well as the organizing social gatherings like protests or meetings with public officials. Thanks to modern technology, electronic media has been the primary social force causing change in this issue by spreading the news of new cases and other information, by showing support through electronic posts, and by providing a means of sharing personal experiences through phone video recordings. Since the exposing of this issue hundreds of videos have reached the web of police misconduct which often force action within the police forces that would otherwise would not happen, in a way citizens are shaming police into changing their ways through media. However, there has also been social forces resisting the issue from further out brakes. In the case of Lequan McDonald the police union is making a significant effort in destroying a mass collection of documentation regarding police misconduct to protect officers from further charges. Similarly a law has been passed in Cook County to prevent the recording of police officers in the line of duty, but due to widespread outrage among the general public the law is up for constitutional review by the Supreme Court.   

            Recent developments in this issue have led to beginning of reform in police training and policies. For example, in Illinois new legislation has been proposed to have all officers pass a mandatory psych test before entering the department. Also, in the case of the Department of Justice investigation of the Chicago Police department, a new system of accountability is being designed for disciplinary action due to the alarming lack of action and investigation for police misconduct cases. Part of this proposed system involves the use of personal cameras for officers on duty which will be required to be recording anytime an officer is on duty.

            As a member of the general public that has been well too informed on the issues of police brutality due my upbringing in the Chicago area, I too have felt outraged by the misconduct and propose a few possible solutions. The first possible solution follows the English model for policing which involves the possession of non-lethal weapons only. In most European countries police officers do not carry guns, instead they use non-lethal weaponry such as Tasers, batons, and pepper spray. Because of this method, the number of people killed by police is often in the single digits as displayed by the graph below. 

 This method would be easy to implicate into modern policing because American police officers are already supplied with these items. However, many may argue that because of the much higher rate of guns per capita in the US that this might put officers more at risk in the line of duty. That is why I also propose solution 2 which would entail that officers that have had complaints of excessive force be subject to criminal assault charges. In many cases made against police officers the excessive force is often justified as necessary for the apprehension of the suspect, but officers are often seen tackling, dragging, and beating suspects unnecessarily. A system of criminal charges eliminates the gray area between unnecessary violence and policing. The third possible solution is that all complaints of police misconduct be handled by an outside governing institution instead of by internal affairs within the department. Officers often form a sense of unity within a department because they all work together and have all been through the same training and day to day operations that often creates a conflict of interest in disciplinary cases. If an outside body were to oversee the disciplinary portion of the department, there would be no sense of attachment to the officers in question. While not all of these possible solutions may not be plausible due to unknown political, financial, or judicial reasons, they still should be considered in hopes of changing the ways that police operate. At the end of the day the police motto is to protect and serve, not to install fear abuse power entrusted by the people that police are supposed to help. So get active, join the cause, find a way to make change within the issue, and don’t sit idly by while innocent people are wronged.  

Sources

http://sacredheartspectrum.com/2015/12/justice-department-investigating-chicago-police/

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/07/us-attorney-general-homan-square-findings-are-extremely-important

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/01/homan-square-public-testimony-chicago-police-chief-resignation

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/07/us/justice-dept-expected-to-investigate-chicago-police-after-laquan-mcdonald-case.html?_r=0

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-do-us-police-kill-so-many-people-2014-8

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30193354

http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/National-Guard-may-respond-to-Milwaukee-protests-286553731.html

Civic Engagement

When my Dad was about my age he was involved in the tail end of the Vietnam Anti-War movement, the main point of this movement was to end the US involvement in Vietnam and to end the drafting of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers that went over to Vietnam. This movement began out as peaceful protest and largely remained so with the exception of a few moments such as the Kent State Shootings. The rest of the protest consisted of marches/picketing, speeches from veterans, and even the burning of draft cards. Over about a decade the movement gained enough support that the Americans Supporting the War dropped from over 61% to 28% which led to the eventual exit of US forces in Vietnam due to the chaos it was creating on US soil. One of the biggest issues of the Vietnam war was the use of the Selective Service that drafted young men to fight in a war they wanted no part in, but since Vietnam the Selective Service has not held a draft once. The movement also made a lasting statement about the US foreign policy at the time which waged proxy wars in undeveloped countries against the Soviet Union as a statement of communism versus capitalism. This movement was one of the most successful movements made in US history mainly because it not only ended the drafting and the Vietnam War (which the US was winning in terms of body count) but it did so in peaceful protest through the American people. This movement also sparked a whole new generation of culture with musical influence, media influence, and even being called “The Impossible Victory” by Howard Zinn. In a way though, the movement was not successful because they failed to permanently change US foreign policy with military involvement. The whole point of the movement was that the US was in Vietnam for no reason so they should leave. Today the US continues to do the same thing but in areas like Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and now Syria. Today the Vietnam Anti-War movement serves as an example for the US people to rebel against the tyranny of its own elected government. For many of those who lived through the movement, it was a turning point in American History where peaceful protest finally made a difference, it also caused a lot of people to lose faith in the government since it was one if the first times the US had gone to war without the support of its people and one of the first times that its leaders admitted that they were wrong. However, unfortunately to most of my generation it was just the years of classic rock, hippies, and Apocalypse Now. 

Segregated Neighborhoods

To follow the requests of Dalton Conley, I used the racial dot map program to view the racial locations within my hometown neighborhood, along with the racial locations of the greater area. What I found was very interesting, my specific neighborhood was found to be entirely white with the occasional sprinkle of Asian. This discovering was not surprising seeing that according to the US Census, my hometown is contains a population of approximately 80% white, 15% Asian, and only 5% other. As a result of this race distribution the majority of all areas in the town are white with small Asian communities around the outskirts of town. However, just beyond the border of my hometown is a large community of almost entirely Hispanic people. As a result I believe that my neighborhoods homogeneous demographics is directly related to the entire town’s racial segregation due to the economic status of the town as a whole. As I established in a former post, my hometown as one of the highest mean household incomes in the whole state of Illinois. This means that the high income level has created a upper class society with higher taxes, more expensive houses, and better schools which other minorities cannot afford when observing the mean household incomes of African American and Hispanic/Latino families which are on average lower than that of white suburban families. This would explain the segregation of the large population of Hispanic/Latinos in the nearby town which has a much lower mean household income. In my experience living in this area, the data is very consistent with my observations, for example the majority of my high school was rich white kids with the majority of the African American and Hispanic/Latino students being bused into the area from Chicago as a part of the No Child Left Behind program. As a whole I believe that this is an example of how segregated neighborhoods negate the idea of a socially just world. Sociologists often mention the cycle of poverty, and I believe that my area is an example of this theory as the opposite or cycle of wealth. Because my area was so wealthy, and predominantly white, we received the best resources such as one of the best public and private education systems in the country, lots of real world job connections, and the ability to never work until we graduate because of our parent’s wealth. Then this upbringing allows us to get high paying jobs to live in expensive neighborhoods that, once again, exclude the lower class. Today unsegregated neighborhoods are almost far-fetched ideas because of area like mine which are designed to resist gentrification. 

Gender Benders

As a predominately gender separate society, we tend to notice when something is out of place. If a girls too tall, or doesn’t wear makeup or dresses she’s mannish. And if a guy is not big, athletic, hairy, and masculine he’s a “fag” or girly. So we decided to test the boundaries by taking it way too far. Typically when someone decides to take a stroll down to their local superstore they encounter some typically average people, men in jeans and boots with maybe a hoodie/jacket, and girls in some sort of tight pants/skirt and a pretty blouse also possibly carrying some sort of warm outerwear. As a group we definitely noticed these trends of clothing between guys and girls not only among those we observed but also within our own perceptions of how a person should dress. So in turn, as our gender norm experiment we took two rather masculine guys from our group and sent them shopping at Walmart, but with a catch. Each of them were wearing nearly a complete ensemble of a stereotypical college girl. Both of them entered Walmart at the same time, one wearing a very short dress and the other wear a short dress with a sweater to cover those scandalous shoulder straps. The gender norm violators then simply walked around to do their daily shopping while the rest of examined their behavior, as well as the behavior of the pedestrians, from afar.

We interviewed the gender norm violators before and after conducting the experiment, the initial responses were concurrent with both subjects, that they were nervous and felt awkward even wearing such formfitting clothes out in public. This was an interesting response because in relation to what a girl can wear out in public, these outfits were rather conservative. Also, guys typically walk around shirtless when it gets hot enough. After the test was conducted, the boys seemed a lot more lighthearted by saying that their performance in the store was funny that they are glad that was over. They did mention that they felt like the center of attention while walking through the store, as if they could feel when people were looking at them.

From a safe distance the rest of us observed the effects that these young men dressed in woman’s clothing had on other pedestrians. Surprisingly there no dramatic reactions, the most confrontational reaction that anyone had towards the boys is when another man jokingly commented towards them “looking good ladies”. Other than that the violators did not receive a lot of acknowledgement, people would just pass by and maybe have a second take once they were passed and kid sometimes pointed at the strange sight. From what we could observe there was really no impact on the pedestrians, most of them acted like either they didn’t really care or that it was rather funny.

In the eyes of any member of the general public this experiment might have been viewed as a failure, looking at the fact that we never received any dramatic effect on the pedestrians, but I believe we did yield some very important information from the violators. The violators stated that they were uncomfortable with the whole situation ever since the conception of this experiment and that they felt like they stuck out when walking through the store. This is important because we can only assume that this is how a cross dresser or trans person must feel as they live every day like that, as an outcast. The results of this test showed us that while society believes that we are ready to accept all kinds, we still unintentionally cast out these individuals because of our idea of gender boundaries with clothes that have been subliminally programmed into our brains since we were babies. While we have come a long way since the days when we would publically humiliate those who are different, we still have a long way to go before we can say society is truly accepting of gender boundary violators.     

Socialization In the Woods.

As an Eagle Scout I often identify with a national organization known as the Boy Scouts of America. This organization acts as a social institution by recruiting young men from the age of 5 and shaping them into model citizens until the age of 18. I was one of the few that went through this whole process to eventually achieve the highest attainable rank of Eagle Scout. The Eagle Scout rank is recognized all across an impressive achievement because of the way Eagle Scouts are socialized. The Boy Scouts of America socializes young men at the very begging of the process by introducing the uniform which is requires at each weekly meaning until the scout either quits the Boy Scouts or reaches Eagle. The Boy Scouts also maintain pledges, oaths, and laws within the organization that are required to be followed to avoid minor punishment. Along with these standards the institution also requires that each member earn merit badges which are comprised of complicated tasks related to everyday life. While performing all of these duties and tasks, the scout is required to a board of review to advance in rank which is essentially a meeting with a bunch of adult leaders who evaluate your performance. At the end of all this the scout must perform one final task of leading a large service project to better the community.

               The Boy Scouts of America socialize its youth to be model citizens in the eyes of its leaders through this process. Every piece of this process is shaping you for society since the begging of the program, for example the uniforms. The uniforms create a sense of representation and belonging to a group much like once a person joins society as an adult they often peruse some sort of position which requires them to wear a uniform whether it be a suit to work, a hat at McDonalds, or a uniform in the military. The merit badges also socialize the scouts into learning important skills for fitting into society, scouts have to learn about personal finance, communication, citizenship in the nation, citizenship in the world, citizenship in the community, and family life. All of which teach you to behave how society deems fit. The scouts also are shaped by their law which is stated at the begging of each meaning, it’s quite obvious to see that the laws are meant to socialize the scouts by stating “A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent”. The final objective of the whole process, the service project, is the culmination of all of these parts by which the scout is tested as an adult. This is to shape the scout into not only a functioning member of society but an example for all others to follow. In the end of it all the BSA turns an ordinary child at their most impressionable age and shapes them through a series of fun but often objective tasks that mold them into what society sees as a perfect citizen, outlined by Scout Law.

            Today this socialization has actually helped me significantly. I used the skills of personal management and developing life goals in high school to take me from an average student to an excelling student that allowed me to earn admittance to Michigan Tech on scholarship. The socialization from BSA also provided me with the skills needed to get and maintain a good job, in combination with the leadership skills developed I was able to earn the trust of my bosses and advance through the ranks. Even just the title of Eagle Scout has provided me connections to other Eagle Scouts in this “elite group” which is actually rather impressive according to social standards. The socialization provided by the BSA has yet hurt me, sometimes I do wonder though what I would have become if my life choices weren’t guided by the morals and teachings of the BSA. Would I be happier? Would I be a hooligan? Would I just be a lazy bum? Or would I still be here? 

Socialization through Children’s Books- The Lorax

Children are molded by a variety of institutions, groups, and media to fit the behavior of the society in which they live using often subliminal methods. This process is called socialization and can be carried out by a collection of influences, in this case a children’s book.

When thinking of Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax the first thing that comes to mind is often the classic tale of the angry Lorax and the young boy searching for the story of the tale of it all from an old Once-ler up in his tower, not how the whole story is secretly a metaphor for big business and pollution used to introduce the idea of environmentalism to children. These ideas are actually introduced on the very first page where the illustration depicts a small boy venturing off from a developed town, out into the barren fields where he finds pieces of the past. This is meant to depict our lives today of people living in great cities where untouched forests and prairies once laid, but are now covered by concrete or developed in mass farming with only pieces of preserved land left behind as state/national parks. After the boy meets the Once-ler, and the Once-ler begins his tale, the Once-ler tell how he discovered a pristine forest of Truffula Trees where Bar-ba-loots, Swoome-Swans, and Humming fish roamed in peace because the grass was still green, the air was still clean, and the pond was still wet. The illustration for this section depict a much different landscape filled with a dense forest filled with happy animals and clear blue skies. Even the general color scheme in this part of the book was much brighter than the color scheme of present day. This is obviously another metaphor for the environment in harmony before the over development by mankind.

The Once-ler goes on to tell how he used one of these trees to make a Thneed which he sold for a profit. After realizing that he could make money, the Once-ler ignored the warnings of the Thorax and set up a large business to cut tress faster to make more Thneeds so he could make more money. This represents the ideas of big business, how companies discover valuable resources and harvest them in mass quantities without any regard for the environment, for example in the Rainforest with deforestation and even in the UP where they mined copper and leaked a lot of heavy metals into torch lake.

The Thorax then returns on three separate occasions to tell the Once-ler that he is sending away animals because of the lack of food for the Bar-ba-loots, the polluted air for the Swomee-Swans, and the polluted water for the humming fish. And each time the Once-ler felt bad but continued on because he needed to “bigger and bigger” because “everyone needs thneeds”. Immediately after, the last Truffula Tree is cut and everyone leaves. This section of the book is once again set up to display how big business rips an ecosystem barren without any regard for the fragility of life in the area. Even the illustrations that were once bright and happy begin to turn dark and empty in this section, depicting a shift caused by the actions of the company. The story then jumps back to present day where the Once-ler wraps up the book by saying that unless someone cares a lot, nothing will ever get better so we must grow more forests, clean the water/air, and protect it from harvesting using what little we have left. This ending takes on a different tone which is almost a call to action from Dr. Seuss that the reader should actually be the one that cares because they will most likely encounter this later in life when this message will still be drilled into their heads. The overall message that resonates through all the relations to real life is the idea of environmentalism against big business operations and overconsumption. 

Bibliograpgy

Seuss. The Lorax. New York: Random House, 1971. Print.

Culture and Media

What was once a society that valued character and actions over all else (pre-1970’s US) has since been transformed into a consumeristic society which values material possessions to create the image of wealth through branding. It’s evident that every species has always been competitive in one way or another but the human race has shifted its competition to attempting to establish who is the wealthiest, according to Juliet Schor the current cultural structure in the US allows an individual to display wealth without actually being wealthy.

      

       Schor argues that the acquisition of high cost materials items such as cars, cloths, and houses is the result of modern day consumerism through the establishment of a brand most likely due to mass media appearance. As a modern day college student I observe this ideology on a daily basis but I like to consider myself an exception to it. Growing up in a household that has always struggled with money has drifted me away from all of these priority materials, however I do occasionally follow the cultural script and put on my only expensive clothes for select events (i.e. Dates, Graduations, Weddings, Interviews). While I normally don’t mind consumerism, I do observe it quite often in the younger generations. Since adolescents are still developing their sense of self they often mimic what they observe with almost no subtlety, for example kids always want the newest game system, the most high end bicycles, the coolest clothes, and if they don’t acquire these items or acquire generic brands they are often ridiculed by other kids.

This interaction between adolescents is a good example of competitive consumption which essentially is the need to have the best of all material items to establish one’s self above all others even if it is a false depiction. Another good example of competitive consumption is the constant feud between my friends regarding their cars. They all have very similar vehicles but are always trying to have the best one in the group by installing expensive upgrades such as lift kits, satellite radios, LED light bars, and custom exhausts. In many ways this is a reflection of the shift within the American Dream which has been inflated from its original concept. In the early 20^th century the American Dream was to own a house, have a steady job, and get paid enough to live comfortably without any struggle however now it seems that everyone in the US wants to be the next Bill Gates. This shows in a monumental way in my hometown, comfortable family homes that were built in the 70’s and 80’s are being ripped down all across town and being replaced by mansions and mini mansions to the extent where my 3 bedroom split level home housing 4 people and a dog is now considered a cramped space. Like Schor explained in the video this is happening all over the US, the average square footage per person has increased despite the recent concerns about global population growth and consumption of resources. At first glance you would think that because these large, expensive homes are being built that means that the average salary must have risen significantly over the last 40 years which it has. However, when you consider inflation and the rise of the average cost of living it about evens out to what it was 40 years ago.

The cause of the upscaling of the American Dream may a result of upscale emulation, which Schor describes as the process in which people with comparatively smaller incomes mimic the consumption practices of the "rich and famous" class. I believe that upscale emulation is a fabrication of the media. Each day we encounter advertisements, stories, and subliminal messages in all forms of media which glamorize the lifestyles of celebrities who endorse and use these high end items. In the eyes of the producers (celebrities, companies, and media) this is a three way win. Celebrities are paid large sums to endorse a product, which companies use and place in the media for a fee, and in turn creates an image of superiority, viewers then desire this product more and buy it over cheaper products which drives up the price and moves more product. In the end of it all everyone gets paid except for the consumers.