SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
From Rage to Reform
Police violence is a national problem, and everybody has a stake in solving it.
May 06, 2015
Another city just erupted in rage in response to a police killing.
After a week of peaceful protests following the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, "Charm City" was in flames. The authorities declared a state of emergency and deployed the National Guard.
In less than a year since the killing of Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri police officer, numerous cases of police beatings, shootings, and killings of unarmed civilians -- from New York to South Carolina, and from California to Baltimore -- have grabbed the public's attention.
Even white people like myself who identify with the "Black Lives Matter" slogan -- the phrase that's come to represent the movement against police violence -- are stunned and emotionally drained by the almost daily reports of senseless killing and police brutality.
We're tempted to turn away. But we can't, because this issue is here to stay.
While we all condemn acts of violence, we must try to dig a little deeper to understand what's happened in Baltimore and around the country. And we all have a responsibility to be a part of the solution -- to channel this rage into real reform of the police.
Baltimore is wracked by pervasive poverty, racial segregation, and crime -- a grim reality popularized for the rest of the country by the HBO drama The Wire. One in four families in the city live in poverty, nearly double the national rate.
Baltimore is also troubled by a long history of police misconduct and violence against its residents. According to The Baltimore Sun, the city has paid $5.7 million in settlements from police-brutality cases since 2011.
That history helps explain the explosive reaction by a small number of people to Freddie Gray's alleged murder by six cops charged in his death.
Gray died after having his spine severed while in police custody -- without any clear reason for his arrest. Deaths like his are all too common. And police are almost never held accountable.
This time, however, the state of Maryland has leveled charges against the officers involved, ranging from false imprisonment to assault to second-degree murder. That prompted celebrations in Baltimore, but further clashes are all but certain without real reform.
What else can be done? A few things come to mind:
Racialized police practices like stop-and-frisk and "zero tolerance" policing must end in Baltimore and across the nation.
Cities should adopt alternatives to jails and prisons for nonviolent crimes. Programs like Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) in Seattle have proven effective in reducing recidivism by diverting low-level drug offenders to rehab instead of prison.
Other communities have found restorative justice effective, involving offenders in the process of repairing any harm they may have caused.
Most importantly, governments must follow the example set in Baltimore in the wake of Gray's killing. All police officers must be held accountable for abuses such as beatings, killings, and corruption.
Many critics of Baltimore's uprising have invoked Martin Luther King Jr.'s appeals to nonviolence. But don't forget King's other essential reminder: "A riot is the language of the unheard."
The only way to show that our country has heard the anger and sorrow of black communities is to end impunity for police officers who commit acts of brutality. This isn't a Baltimore problem or a Ferguson problem or a black problem.
It's a national problem, and everyone has a stake in solving it.
Harsh policing and more prisons haven't reduced crime or solved the problems of our communities. The only way to avoid another Baltimore is to overhaul standard police practices across the nation.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
This column was distributed by OtherWords.
Leeann Hall
LeeAnn Hall is the Executive Director of Alliance for a Just Society and director of the National Campaign for Transit Justice.
Another city just erupted in rage in response to a police killing.
After a week of peaceful protests following the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, "Charm City" was in flames. The authorities declared a state of emergency and deployed the National Guard.
In less than a year since the killing of Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri police officer, numerous cases of police beatings, shootings, and killings of unarmed civilians -- from New York to South Carolina, and from California to Baltimore -- have grabbed the public's attention.
Even white people like myself who identify with the "Black Lives Matter" slogan -- the phrase that's come to represent the movement against police violence -- are stunned and emotionally drained by the almost daily reports of senseless killing and police brutality.
We're tempted to turn away. But we can't, because this issue is here to stay.
While we all condemn acts of violence, we must try to dig a little deeper to understand what's happened in Baltimore and around the country. And we all have a responsibility to be a part of the solution -- to channel this rage into real reform of the police.
Baltimore is wracked by pervasive poverty, racial segregation, and crime -- a grim reality popularized for the rest of the country by the HBO drama The Wire. One in four families in the city live in poverty, nearly double the national rate.
Baltimore is also troubled by a long history of police misconduct and violence against its residents. According to The Baltimore Sun, the city has paid $5.7 million in settlements from police-brutality cases since 2011.
That history helps explain the explosive reaction by a small number of people to Freddie Gray's alleged murder by six cops charged in his death.
Gray died after having his spine severed while in police custody -- without any clear reason for his arrest. Deaths like his are all too common. And police are almost never held accountable.
This time, however, the state of Maryland has leveled charges against the officers involved, ranging from false imprisonment to assault to second-degree murder. That prompted celebrations in Baltimore, but further clashes are all but certain without real reform.
What else can be done? A few things come to mind:
Racialized police practices like stop-and-frisk and "zero tolerance" policing must end in Baltimore and across the nation.
Cities should adopt alternatives to jails and prisons for nonviolent crimes. Programs like Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) in Seattle have proven effective in reducing recidivism by diverting low-level drug offenders to rehab instead of prison.
Other communities have found restorative justice effective, involving offenders in the process of repairing any harm they may have caused.
Most importantly, governments must follow the example set in Baltimore in the wake of Gray's killing. All police officers must be held accountable for abuses such as beatings, killings, and corruption.
Many critics of Baltimore's uprising have invoked Martin Luther King Jr.'s appeals to nonviolence. But don't forget King's other essential reminder: "A riot is the language of the unheard."
The only way to show that our country has heard the anger and sorrow of black communities is to end impunity for police officers who commit acts of brutality. This isn't a Baltimore problem or a Ferguson problem or a black problem.
It's a national problem, and everyone has a stake in solving it.
Harsh policing and more prisons haven't reduced crime or solved the problems of our communities. The only way to avoid another Baltimore is to overhaul standard police practices across the nation.
Leeann Hall
LeeAnn Hall is the Executive Director of Alliance for a Just Society and director of the National Campaign for Transit Justice.
Another city just erupted in rage in response to a police killing.
After a week of peaceful protests following the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, "Charm City" was in flames. The authorities declared a state of emergency and deployed the National Guard.
In less than a year since the killing of Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri police officer, numerous cases of police beatings, shootings, and killings of unarmed civilians -- from New York to South Carolina, and from California to Baltimore -- have grabbed the public's attention.
Even white people like myself who identify with the "Black Lives Matter" slogan -- the phrase that's come to represent the movement against police violence -- are stunned and emotionally drained by the almost daily reports of senseless killing and police brutality.
We're tempted to turn away. But we can't, because this issue is here to stay.
While we all condemn acts of violence, we must try to dig a little deeper to understand what's happened in Baltimore and around the country. And we all have a responsibility to be a part of the solution -- to channel this rage into real reform of the police.
Baltimore is wracked by pervasive poverty, racial segregation, and crime -- a grim reality popularized for the rest of the country by the HBO drama The Wire. One in four families in the city live in poverty, nearly double the national rate.
Baltimore is also troubled by a long history of police misconduct and violence against its residents. According to The Baltimore Sun, the city has paid $5.7 million in settlements from police-brutality cases since 2011.
That history helps explain the explosive reaction by a small number of people to Freddie Gray's alleged murder by six cops charged in his death.
Gray died after having his spine severed while in police custody -- without any clear reason for his arrest. Deaths like his are all too common. And police are almost never held accountable.
This time, however, the state of Maryland has leveled charges against the officers involved, ranging from false imprisonment to assault to second-degree murder. That prompted celebrations in Baltimore, but further clashes are all but certain without real reform.
What else can be done? A few things come to mind:
Racialized police practices like stop-and-frisk and "zero tolerance" policing must end in Baltimore and across the nation.
Cities should adopt alternatives to jails and prisons for nonviolent crimes. Programs like Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) in Seattle have proven effective in reducing recidivism by diverting low-level drug offenders to rehab instead of prison.
Other communities have found restorative justice effective, involving offenders in the process of repairing any harm they may have caused.
Most importantly, governments must follow the example set in Baltimore in the wake of Gray's killing. All police officers must be held accountable for abuses such as beatings, killings, and corruption.
Many critics of Baltimore's uprising have invoked Martin Luther King Jr.'s appeals to nonviolence. But don't forget King's other essential reminder: "A riot is the language of the unheard."
The only way to show that our country has heard the anger and sorrow of black communities is to end impunity for police officers who commit acts of brutality. This isn't a Baltimore problem or a Ferguson problem or a black problem.
It's a national problem, and everyone has a stake in solving it.
Harsh policing and more prisons haven't reduced crime or solved the problems of our communities. The only way to avoid another Baltimore is to overhaul standard police practices across the nation.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.