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The Problem of Police Shootings, Reasons, and Solutions

A police force is an institution formed by the state. It is a body empowered and charged

with the responsibility of maintaining law and order in the society. Similarly, police officers

have been bestowed with the mandate to protect people's property, prevent crime, and prevent

any form of civil disorders from occurring within the community. The police have been entirely

entrusted with the above-named responsibilities because they have been appointed by the state.

Therefore, they are expected to perform up to the expectations. Fruitvale Station is a film that

depicts police shootings of Oscar Grant II, who was declared as unarmed and laid with his face

down in Oakland. The careless occurrence provoked the onlookers who started protesting and

arguing against such incidents. Indeed, the demise of this African-American brings in the

question of the motive and solutions that can be implemented to mitigate the shootings. It should

be noted that police shootings have been on the rise over the past years due to varying reasons,

such as drug abuse and racism among others, which explain the need to understand and

implement reliable solutions.

However, of late, the forces have turned against the same people that they should protect.

They are ruthlessly and mercilessly killing innocent and unarmed individuals in the streets of

America and many other places in the world. Day in day out, there are several reports in various

places about the shootings performed by the police (Ceccato et al. 522). A week cannot elapse

before cases are taken to court of the law enforcers denying families their loved ones by bringing
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their lives to an end by their unreasonable bombardments that amount to terrible massacre. The

fact is evident in the film, Fruitvale Station, where Oscar is pulled by one BART officer, who

cuffs him while another shoots him on the stomach. It seems like a careless massacre that

resulted to the death of a black individual, who appears just desperate to have his life back on

track.

Furthermore, it is so ironical that they are giving the public a cold shoulder and some of

them have failed to discharge their core roles of protection of property (Ceccato et al. 523).

Negligence has become part and parcel of their everyday living. They do not care about the

general public as long as they do not feel the impact of their failure themselves. In fact, Fruitvale

Station reveals about class, masculinity, and the complex relations among diverse individuals in

the police service, which seem to be embedded in aspects of both character and location.

Therefore, if they feel their individual rights are being violated, they tend to misuse the firearm

that they have been given by the state to protect. Instead, they perform aimless shootings that

result in brutal killings.

Several studies have been done revealing numerous reasons for such incidents. First of

all, the police force is seen to be drunk with power. Having been given the authority to use the

guns, they feel superior to the other people and the urge to exercise the power supersedes them.

Indeed, it is clear from Fruitvale Station that sometimes police fail to comprehend certain

situations, such as that of Oscar who is a symbol of a normal human trying to find his place in

society. However, the officers feel that he brings a lot of pressure and fail to acknowledge his

complexities as well as contradictions. Therefore, any kind of pressure felt by them triggers the

firing of the gun. Due to anger in them, they fire aimlessly and result in many killings observed

all over the world, and most especially, in the United States (Ceccato et al. 525). Secondly, the
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possession of the gun in a way makes them feel that they are above the law. This inculcates some

kind of pride in them making them feel that they can commit any crime and still walk scot free.

Similarly, many of their colleagues have in the past committed some crime and they have never

been brought to book. This bad history perpetrated in the workforce makes them feel important

than the other common citizens, thus the reason for the many shootings recorded over the past

years.

Moreover, some of these police officers abuse drugs. Some of them even sell the illegal

drugs as depicted by Grant in the Fruitvale station. They take advantage of their position and

exploit it to the latter. Similarly, during the drugs crackdowns, they get the access to such

numerous drugs that would have rather been used in the court of law as evidence. Having too

much of such in their possession and having the liberty to exercise their rights and freedoms

triggers some of them to smoke bhang, inject the inject able, and sniff substances even before

going to work. They also consume alcohol prior to attending duty, which makes them feel so

high. In this case, when subjected to any kind of pressure, they overreact because they are under

the influence of the substances they have taken (Pimentel 130). In effect, the action leads them to

breaking the law and cause aimless shootings, which causes massive killings even those

innocently walking along the streets.

Additionally, police shootings also occur as a result of stress. This might be because of

family issues, financial constraints, and misunderstanding among policemen themselves in

conjunction with the demanding nature of their work. Therefore, when under stress and they go

out for an operation and get some form of reluctance from any perpetrator of violence. They can

also get provoked by the rioting group of individuals (Pimentel 132). In effect, they slowly get

steamed up and get to ever react in the event causing shootings in the streets. In addition, any
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small amount of provocation from their fellow workmate can result in shooting at the police

station. They can fire either themselves or their workmates or both, which is so unfair on the part

of the victim.

Some police officers lack proper anger management skills. They do not know what to do

when they are sad. This is seen when Ingram shoots Grant from the back in the Fruitvale Station

because the two failed to agree thus making Ingram unable to control himself. Likewise, an

example narrated is the policeman who got so angry because the wife had fled from home back

to her parent's place with the kids. This made him so bitter and decided to go get his family back

home. On arrival, he got some reluctance from the parents in law who demanded an explanation,

and to help save the marriage, they needed to talk about a few things (Pimentel 133).

Unfortunately, this did not go well with him and so having carried his gun with him, he started

firing in the air. The stampede in the house resulted in him committing homicide.

Furthermore, some citizens fail to follow simple instructions given by the police. For

example, in the roadside, the traffic police might order the driver of a certain vehicle to stop

maybe because they are speeding, or they might want to perform a regular check on what the

individual might be having on board. Some drivers might fail to stop the car because they are late

for an errand or they are just being rude and disrespectful to him (Pimentel 133). In this case, it

might result in the police shooting the vehicle as they would be having numerous questions in

their minds as to why the driver had refused to heed to their command. The continued shootings

might become so dramatic and be involved to the extent that the other vehicles might be tangled,

thus resulting in the enormous killings caused in the event.

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Similarly, the police might be fleeing a very dangerous suspect that had been caught after

several years of being a wanted criminal. The suspect might try to escape from the police to get

his freedom back and go continue living his life. In this case, since the suspect is to be arraigned

in court for proper judgment and his runaway might be judged with a lot of suspicion and fear as

well to the general public, the police then begin to fire their guns in the air to alert the public that

there might be the danger (Kochel 252). Moreover, they fire to frighten the running suspect, and

thus, make it easy for him to be caught again and brought to book for his actions.

To add to that, there is the event that the police comes across armed people who might be

performing robbery with violence and causing the people around to shrink and live in fear. The

officer has no option but to do some shootings to frighten them and also protect them. Other such

incidences are a life and death mission where the police have to use their firearms to save their

lives, which is a good thing because life is important and when faced by a criminal, they ought to

put their lives first (Kochel 253). This is even though such a stampede might result in the loss of

lives of other innocent people around.

Racism has also contributed to the mass shootings by the police. This is evident as most

black people are the ones who have been victims of such actions because most of the people in

the police force are whites. Indeed, they feel no shred of tenderness for the blacks, thus making

the killings so rampant. In a similar way, the black people feel alienated and segregated as they

are least involved in the workforce. In effect, this makes them feel bitter and easily break the

rules, thus provoking the police, hence resulting in the brutal shootings. In fact, the black in

America are an endangered species as they feel particularly targeted by the entire police

workforce.
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There are also some political personalities that condone the police shootings. Such people

find pride in seeing others suffer and in turn gain in one way or another. They may also use their

power to provoke the police to eliminate their competitor or business partners who they feel they

are not condoning with their way of doing things. This and many more amounts to the several

killings and shooting witnessed day in day out in the United States. Other policemen find

pleasure in shooting (Kochel 254). They feel that by firing they exercise their freedom, and thus,

maintain superiority and remain in control. Indeed, this is a bad vice that should be highly

preached against if people are to live in a better and peaceful America.

Finally, the police officers might be mentally ill. This is a disorder that one cannot

recognize they are suffering from unless they are diagnosed by a doctor and proven to be sick.

Therefore, they would start to begin shooting for no good reason when ailing. Moreover, any

form of slight argument or misunderstanding with whoever they interact with can make them use

their gun and cause mass shooting that cannot be explainable. Such people could even kill

themselves, which is key for the police workforce and anyone having a gun in possession to go

for a mental checkup at a specified stated time to prevent such cruel happenings from taking

place any time in the future.

However, each problem must have a solution and this is the reason several scholars have

tried coming up with the solutions to curb the extremely growing phenomenon that is becoming

adversely rampant today. In fact, people need to start from the basic of all, which is to preach

against racism. It is each and every person's initiative to help fight this problem since it leads to

many murder cases. The black people living among the whites are brothers and sisters and living

in alienation to them is evil. It makes them feel unaccepted and unwanted by the society which
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might be the reason when they are caught in the wrong arm of the law or when talked to by

policemen; they easily provoke them making them get shot. It is high time the government of the

United States takes the initiative to enroll, involve, and make them part of the workforce. As a

result, this will make the black people feel at least part of the society at large and may help

change their attitude towards the police (Harrison 6). The long amenity among the various races

should as well be healed and neutralized. In essence, this would need the participation of both the

church leaders and the influential government officials as the people that look up to them and

their followers will heed to the advice offered by them.

Most importantly, better communications and good relations between the police and the

society should be enhanced. If possible, great importance should be put on the publicity of the

idea. Posters, billboards, forums and several advertisements should be put up with messages that

preach reconciliation and peaceful co-existence between the police and other citizens. This will

play a greater role in helping curb the exceedingly increasing cases of police shootings in the

States (Kochel 252). The Internet should also be used as a tool that preaches peace and soberness

in the interaction between the two conflicting members of the community.

The training that the police undergo should be made better. This can be done by

incorporating the anger management lessons. It will go a long way in reducing the shootings

because many of the instances recorded point out to poor anger management that made the police

lose the temper and shot the victim concerned. They will also learn how to interact with other

family members whenever any form of conflict at family level emerges (Harrison 6). In effect,

this would play a great role in the whole state and there will be less or no cases of homicides

reported will be a good thing for the growth of the entire country.
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Similarly, another established solution to the problem is for all the resident of the city

concerned to protests and match to the police stations, city halls, and other government

institutions. This worked well for the residents who protested against the killing of Grant in the

Fruitvale Station. In doing so, the working environment of the places will be disrupted. It would

call for relevant action taken by the administrators of the place and in turn, the issue at hand will

be addressed. To prevent future occurrences of such acts, the police will be held responsible and

accountable for each and every activity that they undertake in the day to day running of the

operations (Harrison 7). This will indeed play a greater role in the reduction of the shootings to

both the innocent and the unarmed civilians of the country involved. The protests in the film

made Ingram arrested hence brought into book for his actions.

The phenomenon can also be eliminated by voting out the politicians that condone such

violent acts. When such people are out of power, the policemen involved in the shootings

sponsored by them might lack the finances to carry out their operations, thus ceasing shooting

once and for all. Besides, when out of power the police might lack the godfather that bails them

out when found guilty or bribes for them to be set free and as a result, the incidences of police

shooting will come to a halt encouraging harmony and peaceful co-existence among people.

Moreover, the economy of our country will grow as the fear of attack will evade people's minds

making the sober to make decisions and run their businesses in peace.

Tough legal action should be taken to officers found guilty of shootings anywhere and

anyhow without any reasons just as Ingram was tried and found guilty and sentenced in Fruitvale

Station. In addition, tough laws should be put to support the action taken that the entire police

force will fear using the firearm for other reasons rather than protecting people and their property

as well as for protection (Harrison 11). Once one officer is charged and the law enforced to the
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latter, this will serve as an example to the others who have similar behaviors. As a result, this

will go a long way in instilling fear to the police and will only shoot when perceived to be

necessary. Any form of unnecessary shootings will be a story of the past to be read in the books

of history.

Another solution that is perceived to work is to treat the addicts by taking them to

rehabilitation centers and also treating the mentally ill like they need the help, not jail. Once the

diagnosis is done and says an officer is mentally ill, he should not be allowed to possess a

firearm but instead given an alternative job to enhance his sustenance and treatment. This would

greatly reduce the shootings as a result of the irrational decisions that would otherwise be made

the officer. Similarly, the police should be trained on making some decisions and not only

shooting (Harrison, 2018). They should be taught on how to identify a person with the situation

such that when they encounter any citizen with the same condition, they are able to tell and thus

will not perform the shootings witnessed before.

The police should also be taught to stop criminalizing everything and anything they come

across. Some mistakes are not worth shooting but punishments. Others are not even mistaken

worth punishment. They should learn to talk to people too. This helps put sense in the mind of

the individual concerned that they might not repeat what they had done before. Talking nicely to

the citizens will reduce the stereotype in their minds that policemen are not sociable individuals

as it was (Harrison 17). Therefore, the citizens will reduce the hostility and will have a good

choice of words not to provoke the policemen thus reducing the observed shootings here and

there in each and every street around.

Dialogue with the police should also be practiced. Generally, police are seen are

individuals that lack mercy and are really harmful to the people at large. To curb the shootings,
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people should promote a national dialogue between the police and the other citizens. The

discussion will put a light in peoples’ mind and will really help reduce the crime. Similarly, the

streets should be covered with surveillance cameras all through (Ceccato et al. 548). By doing so,

the police will be afraid of perpetuating the criminal offence of killing people without

meaningful reason.

In conclusion, we all have a role to play in reducing the high rates of criminal shootings

by the police. It is a collective responsibility that cannot be achieved by the state acting alone.

People need to play their roles individually and together will have a peaceful relationship with

the police force, thus making the shootings a story of the past. Just in the way people recorded

the shooting of Grant in the Fruitvale Station that was used as evidence in the trial of Ingram, we

all have a role to play in order to reduce such shootings.

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Works Cited

Ceccato, Vania, Silas N. Melo, and Tulio Kahn. "Trends and Patterns of Police-Related Deaths

in Brazil." The Palgrave Handbook of Criminology and the Global South. Palgrave

Macmillan, Cham, 2018. Pp. 521-550.

Harrison, Destinee Chanté. Is the Damage Already Done? Effect on the Black Community's

Psyche Caused by Viral Police Shootings. Diss. 2018. Pp. 2-25.

Kochel, Tammy Rinehart. "Police Legitimacy and Resident Cooperation in Crime Hotspots:

Effects of Victimization Risk and Collective Efficacy." Policing and society, vol. 28, no.

3, 2018, pp. 251-270.

Pimentel, David. "Forfeiture Policy in the United States." Criminology & Public Policy, vol. 17,

no. 1, 2018, pp. 129-137.