“Police brutality in the United States, the unwarranted or excessive and often illegal use of force against civilians by U.S. police officers. Forms of police brutality have ranged from assault and battery (e.g., beatings) to mayhem, torture, and murder. Some broader definitions of police brutality also encompass harassment (including false arrest), intimidation, and verbal abuse, among other forms of mistreatment.” - Police brutality in the United States 2020, accessed 30 August 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Police-Brutality-in-the-United-States-2064580
To look at police brutality in its full context, let’s navigate the concept of brutality encompassing the broader definition above. Many times we overlook the softer actions of police overreach, making excuses for them. This is especially the case for those who are not directly affected or those who are more privileged to not experience these situations first hand. It’s easier to not rock the boat and have blind faith in a system, regardless of whether it is equitable and just. However, the impact of police brutality is heaviest on Black Americans, Indigenous people, and people of color-where speaking up about overreach can mean death. Unwarranted, excessive, illegal use of force by officers typically starts when a person feels empowered to harass, intimidate, verbally abuse, or mistreat others-without fear of repercussions. Have you ever wondered what role you might have played? Whether you realize it or not, no action, turning a blind eye, or making excuses means you have played a larger contributing role than you might think.
I work hard to look at this topic through the lens of my own family members and friends who are Black, Indigenous, or a person of color (BIPOC), realizing the impact on them is heavier than it is on me. I also reflect through my own lens as a woman, who many see only as “white”, not realizing my own diverse background. When I consider some of my own personal experiences with police officers over the last 15 years, I can see how some officers feel empowered, fueling brutality, and overreach. Thankfully, my experiences have not led to death, which could be contributed to the color of my skin-revealing part of my privilege. However, the feelings of intimidation and harassment that I have experienced in many interactions with officers have been real.
Prior to sharing, I want to note, I have worked and advocated alongside some amazing officers and have had the privilege of growing up knowing a close family friend who was an officer of integrity, who chose to defend, love, and support all those around him. He was the father of my best friend when I was a child. It is because of officers like him that I realize how important their role is and why I also understand how essential it is to hold officers to high standards.
Several years ago, I was pulled over for speeding, driving 10 miles over the speed limit. As the officer approached my car, I was pulling out my insurance card and registration document. When he got to my window he looked at me intensely smiling with a long pause before he started speaking. He then told me, “Hmm, it looks like you weren’t putting lipstick on for me after all.” Surprised at his comment, simultaneous emotions of anger and fear filled me. I clenched my teeth and turned my head with a questioning look, to show I didn’t appreciate his comment. At that point, he continued changing his tone a little, explaining many women try to get out of getting tickets by putting lipstick on and acting “real sweet” to officers. It made me realize at that moment how vulnerable I could have been if I had been in a rural area with no one else around.
When my son was a young teenager, I had to call the police to report him missing when he didn’t come home. The officer who came to my house to take the report, listened as I shared with him the phone numbers and addresses of all of his friends. As we were talking, with my mind fearing the worst, the officer commented on how my son is fortunate to have a parent who knows where all of his friends live and who cares so much for him. This would have been appropriate until the officer continued commenting that my son also has a very attractive mother. He spent the rest of the interaction making inappropriate comments that were just indirect enough to be covered up. As I was fearing the worst of my son’s well being, an officer who was supposed to be helping me, felt it appropriate to use it as an opportunity to make advances at me and lace his help with insinuations.
When calling the police department to report a man who was stalking me and creating fake profiles of me online, two officers came out to take the report. I explained the situation and the officers acted like there was little they could do, stating that online harassment was not really in their jurisdiction. When I shared how the fake profiles noted derogatory comments about me and my family and I was fearful, one of the officers looked at me with a smile and asked, “Wow...so are any of those things true?” It didn’t seem to matter the concern I had, nor the fact I had a man stalking me and I felt unsafe. By asking that question, I felt the officer was amused and wasn’t taking my concern seriously. I felt intimidated and somewhat harassed by an officer who was supposed to be helping me. At that point, I wanted to ask the officers to leave, but worried about repercussions should I demand they leave my home.
A few years later when someone broke the window in my car to try to steal it, the officer that came out to take the report, asked if I thought it was the man I had a restraining order on (the one who was stalking me and creating fake profiles of me). I told the officer I had looked at the security cameras and it was not him. He asked if I was absolutely sure and I said yes. He then asked, “Well, was it any guys you dated?” His question insinuated guys I date or surround myself with are stalkers, who would break into my car.
These incidents of harassment, intimidation, or mistreatment are an example of empowered officers with biases that feel it’s their right to overreach. Sadly, those noted above are the nicer forms of police overreach that fall into the “broader definitions” above. If you are Black, Indigenous, or a person of color (BIPOC), police brutality plays out in its fiercest form; truly think about how different things can turn out.
Let’s take this a bit further...think about how police brutality plays out when you have other intersectional areas of diversity, in addition. For example, did you realize that people with an untreated mental health condition are 16 times more likely to be killed in a police encounter than other civilians approached by law enforcement? This is why the Department of Justice has had to intervene in some police departments across the United States. As part of that intervention, organizations like NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) provide some of the Crisis Intervention training to police officers, dispatchers, and first responders teaching essential tools designed to help de-escalate interactions with individuals in a crisis who may be suffering from a mental health condition.
Police brutality is something that affects each and every one of us directly and indirectly. It can come in the form of microaggressions (Psychologist Derald Wing Sue defines microaggressions as "brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to certain individuals because of their group membership".), harassment, or intimidation, or outright excessive use of force.
We must have higher standards-our lives, and the lives of our loved ones, depend on it. What are you doing to demand higher standards? What boats are you rocking?
Your silence is no longer accepted.