Policing in Black Neighborhoods

This paper begins with an evaluation of the article, and US justice is built to humiliate
and oppress black men. And it starts with the chokehold (Butler). After scrutinizing the article,
there is a need to evaluate police procedures to identify whether they are safe, the risks of
running discriminatory police procedures, and the strategies that can be used to make policing
safe and equitable to all.
The articles suggest that African Americans are always under a symbolic chokehold
whenever they leave their house. Some arrest procedures that have come under strict scrutiny
over the years are excessive force, excessive violence, dangerous use of the K-9 (dog unit),
pepper spraying, and chokehold. Such procedures have appeared discriminative because they are
rarely used against white people. In contrast, they are commonly used against African
Americans; many have lost their lives. Among the most notable ones is George Floyd,
One of the most significant risks of such a procedure is that it reduces the efficiency of
police work. Police work is meant to benefit the community. The community is an active part of
the police since, in many societies, police work is fulfilled through the commitment of
cooperation between the community and the police. However, members of the community
cannot cooperate with the police if their mentality is that they are targets of police chokehold and

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brutality(Morris, 3). Lack of cooperation becomes a compounded problem because the
community suffers from societal ills of crime in the community, and the police appear powerless
to contain the situation; there is no winner. Victims of crime in African American neighborhoods
do not get justice for the crimes perpetrated against them because police cannot perform two of
their most crucial activities freely; crime prevention and crime solution.
Secondly, such situations only increase the tension between police and civilians, and as
such, most interactions that include potentially harmful situations end up being needlessly
aggravated. When individuals expect harm from the police instead of protection, they will
always be preconditioned to survive. As such, civilian-police interactions that could be
potentially non-violent end up being violent (Morris, 6). There is, therefore, a need to evaluate
strategies that police can use to improve policing procedures and make them more equitable.
Therefore, interactions between police and civilians carry the potential for violence, which
determines the nature of actions during police-civilian interactions. The challenge with this is
that in most cases, police are armed, and extreme actions end up being deadly. It creates a cycle
where civilians and police expect violence and are preconditioned to take extreme actions to
protect their lives.
One of the most talked-about proposed strategies is reducing the bar for police criminal
culpability. Police are always aware that the law and standard operating procedures have set a
high bar for proving police culpability. Police justify chokeholds and other forms of extremities
by stating that such brutality is necessary for the greater good of society (Bowleg, 4). Many have
gotten away with brutality because under the current procedures, it is hard to prove criminal
negligence, and as such, the bar should be set lower.

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There needs to be more severe punishment for police who commit harmful acts. Beyond
reprimanding, complaints against police need to be taken more seriously. Many police
departments claim that the police force is primarily good aside from a few bad apples. However,
it is the bad apples that cause the most harm. For example, the policeman implicated in the
George Floyd case had several pending complaints against him and, if investigated, could
probably have avoided a civilian’s death. Another strategy that can be used here is to ensure that
the “bad apples” become personally liable for damages arising from a chokehold and other
related forms of brutality. In conclusion, the most important lesson needs to target police
psychology to change their mentality.

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Works Cited
Bowleg, Lisa, et al. “Beyond “heartfelt condolences”: “Supplemental Material for Beyond
‘Heartfelt Condolences’: A Critical Take on Mainstream Psychology’s Responses to
Anti-Black Police Brutality.” American Psychologist, 2021. Crossref,
https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000899.supp.
Butler, Paul. “US Justice Is Built to Humiliate and Oppress Black Men. And It Starts with the
Chokehold.” The Guardian, theguardian.com, 26 Sept. 2017, www.theguardian.com/us-
news/2017/aug/11/chokehold-police-black-men-paul-butler-race-america.
Morris, Cody, and Nicole A. Hollins. “On the uncanny similarities between police brutality and
client mistreatment.” Behavior Analysis in Practice (2021): 1-6.