The Badge That Camouflaged Murder

Disclaimer: The Monthly advises all those triggered by violence, weapons and injury to not read this article.

Local saviours, enforcers of the law, heroes of the street, and glorified serial killers...One of these is an accurate description of police officers in the United States.

Usually, if a person has committed murder they would have to get charged within 48-72 hours of their arrest. But if you are Derek Chauvin: a white, male police officer; you would get charged 10 months and 26 days after your crime. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Makhia Bryant. These are only 3 of the 312 innocent black lives taken by police officers between 2020 and 2021. But how? But why? Why is it so easy for white police officers to get away with murder in the United States?

Before getting into any details at all, we first need to acknowledge the systemic and institutionalized racism that has been existing for decades and is present in today’s world. Although it is difficult to point out one root event that caused systemic racism, systemic racism is a result of constant recurring marginalization and oppression. Due to decades of economic, social, and political oppression, black people have been restricted from the rights, opportunities and respect that white people have received. With difficulties in receiving higher paying jobs despite equivalent qualifications, it forms a never ending cycle of economic difficulties for many black individuals across the United States.

Racial profiling plays a huge factor in police brutality. Racial profiling is when law enforcement stereotypes invidiuuals and suspects them for alleged criminal activity as a result of their race, gender, or religion. A recurring image has become common in the media, of a racially profiled innocent person of color, who resists the use of force against them, only leading to death or severe injury as a result of their resistance. This process disregards numerous processes that officers must use before carrying out an arrest, such as a search warrant for entering houses, recognising the legal right to resist arrest if the reason is unstated, and third that use of force by the police is only justified if the alleged criminal serves a threat. The United States is built on the very doctrine of ‘Innocent Until Proven Guilty’ The neglect behind these common policies is noted by the Guardian when they found that Black people in California were stopped by police officers much more frequently than other racial groups in 2018, and police were more likely to use force against them. The lack of accountability in racial profiling urges police officers to continue using these methods of maintain a racist status quo.

In the cases of George Floyd, Jacob Blake and Daniel Prude, officers have broken numerous guidelines and instructions, as well as abusing the power their occupation offers them. George Floyd was suffocated to death because of an allegedly counterfeit bill, with officers using unnecessary force despite resistance being shown and there being no violent threat. After 9 minutes of suffocating, Floyd passed from asphyxia. George Floyd not only passed away at the hands of an unfair police officer, but an unfair system and he is only representative of the paradigm that haunts the justice system of the United States.

These incidents are not one-off anomalies, but representative of the wider system. Moving onto the system, the lengthy court processes only further inhibit justice to take place swiftly and hold police officers accountable. This is only further exacerbated when District and State Attorneys refuse to prosecute as in the case of the blaringly unjust murder of Breonna Taylor. At officers Breonna Taylor’s home, confusing it for another to arrest someone, they did not turn on their body cameras, or announce themselves but simply broke in- violating police procedure. As Breonna’s boyfriend shot one bullet in self defense, the trained police officers returned with 16 blind shots, murdering Breonna Taylor, an EMT who passed away. The irresponsibility of police officers was not something worthy for the Supreme Court of Kenutcky to hear, with this case only being deemed worthy of a civil case of wrongful death.

After reading through an overview of the justice system and the disparities it has created, I urge you to educate and inform yourself further, always advocating for the rights and protections of others.

Yusuf Kamran