Obama Must Push For Reforms in Police Work

Christina Dressel
Ms. Tommaso
Ap Lang and Comp 5B: Editorial Blog Post
December 4 2014

    This editorial was published in the Boston Globe on December 3, 2014, regarding the events in the past week in Ferguson, Missouri starting with the death of Michael Brown. It states that President Obama should take measures to decrease the degree of racism in police work. It was found that 85% of African-Americans and 61% of Hispanics disapproved of the grand jury’s final decision of the Michael Brown case, and only 35% of white Americans disapproved. The author of this editorial suggests that one way to solve the problem of racism in police work is for president Obama to give out a commission intent on reforming police training and raising awareness of the negative stereotyping of black people in police encounters. Obama stated that he would regulate the use of military-style equipment used by the police and push for more body cameras to get a more accurate picture of incidents such as Michael Brown’s. The editorial also states that in the 1900s, the Kerner Commission under Lyndon Johnson was formed to improve police protection in ghettos in Boston while refraining from excessive force (this was during a time of discrimination and riots.) It was found that after these changes were implemented, the police departments in Boston and around the nation greatly improved.
    I sometimes feel as though this country goes a little overboard with the issue of racism-not every police incident involving multiple races should automatically be considered discrimination. I do believe that any measure taken to improve the justice system is worthwhile, I feel like the technical aspects such as the regulation of weapons and the implementation of cameras would be more effective than the awareness aspect. Awareness in general is difficult to enforce, and would probably not be very effective in spur-of-the-moment crimes.

Link: http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2014/12/03/obama-must-push-for-reforms-nation-police-departments/wzAKSgitDb0DCwnaiXVzBO/story.html
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