On Aug. 9,2014, unarmed teenager Michael Brown was shot by Darren Wilson, a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Riots and protests broke out soon after the event, prompted by the case’s racial implications, and onNov.24 it was announced the Grand Jury decided to not indict Wilson.
This announcement sparked more protests and demonstrations and has resulted in a national conversation on the excess of police powers and racial discrimination in police departments. This incident, like the strangulation of Eric Garner in New York, has led civilians and municipal governments to take a long hard look at the way police departments interact with the population.
“I don’t think it’s just black, white or whatever. It’s a humane thing. Humans killing other humans,” said Ronald Robbs, co-president of the University of Maine chapter of the Black Student Union.
“To make that acceptable, you now are dehumanizing that person. Whether they’re black or whatever, we forget that they’re human beings,” Robbs said. “Personally, I think this has always been apparent. Recently it’s just brought to a [massive] scale where the controversy alone draws us back into history.”
Robbs, like many, believes that the issue brought forward by the lack of an indictment in Ferguson is not one of race, but of a lack of punishment for a crime. He also believes that the actions taken by the African-American community in Ferguson, regarding the spree of vandalism and looting was inappropriate and does nothing to progress the need for change.
“For black people and black neighborhoods, it comes down to not going out and vandalizing your city and protesting against a black versus white crime and not protesting for a black versus black crime because we are actually killing off more than what is seen of police killing blacks,” Robbs said.
“It’s how we react. Vandalizing and looting makes it look bad on our part for how we handled it,” Robbs said. “You’re not helping the situation, you’re adding to it.”
Many feel that the way the situation has been framed by national media outlets has also given the issue a racial bent.
“It’s not even that they made it into something. When they portray it and have people talking from a perspective of racial matter, then yeah you’re gonna get a story with angry black protesters and white officers that aren’t so angry and are trying to apologize. But they know that they committed crimes, and the only way they can justify this is to be arrested,” Robbs said.
Robbs urges the African–American community to more closely examine their own behavior to take away any reason that police may have to discriminate. According to the NAACP, African-Americans are incarcerated at six times the rate of white Americans, a statistic that paints a poor picture of racial equality in America. Robb believes that a change in behavior in the African-American community would help lessen the suspicions of the police while changes are needed in the way officers are trained to spot crime as well.
“The way we can go about it and handle it is to make sure we clean up our communities because in these cases it’s not just an innocent person walking down the street: they’re doing something to catch the eyes of the police and make them feel a need to pursue them. It’s not just a random person they’re picking.”
Body Cameras: A solution?
The uncertainties surrounding the death of Michael Brown are largely due to the fact that his fatal encounter with the Ferguson, Missouri police officer went visually undocumented.
In the wake of Brown’s death, a national conversation has been started regarding how law enforcement can prevent these uncertainties from happening again.
One argument that has been raised is making the use of police body cameras mandatory, so that every encounter between an officer and a suspect or victim is captured on video.
“Video is the best tool in law enforcement right now,” said University of Maine Police Department (UMPD) Detective Keith Mercier. “[When] you’re relying on just a written report from the officer and a written statement from the suspect or victim, somewhere in the middle is usually the truth. But video is very in your face — there is really no disputing it.”
UMPD has been equipping a portion of their officers with body cameras for the last two years. The department also utilizes video surveillance in the police cruisers as well as in its Rangeley Road station.
While at the present moment UMPD only has enough body cameras for two or three officers on patrol at a given time, Mercier says that the department is ordering more.
“[Body cameras are] a great tool: they protect us, and they protect [suspects]. They are a true representation of the facts,” Mercier said. “We’re looking down the road to where everybody is going to have to wear them.”
Robbs feels that, in spite of the knowledge that the incidents are being filmed, body cameras will not ultimately change the behavior of those involved in serious incidents.
“The body camera, I don’t think is gonna change the situation. This is all reaction, this is someone’s intention, and if they think or fear that they’re in danger, I don’t think a camera is gonna change that situation,” Robbs said.
What UMaine thinks
An online poll conducted by The Maine Campus has shown that University of Maine students share conflicting views about the Ferguson shooting and its subsequent legal implications.
Conducted on Facebook and answered by 48 people, the four-question poll asked participants their views on the racial views of the event, and whether the legal result set a precedent for future race-related cases.
The poll’s first question: “Do you agree or disagree with the Grand Jury’s decision not to bring charges against the officer who shot Michael Brown,” was answered with 67 percent disagree. For comparison, a similar nationwide question conducted by the Washington Post on Dec. 2 saw 45 percent disagree.
Second, the poll asked: “Do you believe the shooting was race related?” Sixty-three percent answered “Yes,” while 37 percent answered “No.”
Wilson, who has since resigned from the Ferguson police department, claims that he shot Brown after assaulting him. Brown was shot at least six times, according to his autopsy.
Matthew Tarsetti, a fourth-year finance student, voiced the concern that many Americans are having in terms of how a law enforcement officer finds themselves in the position where the only solution they felt they had was to utilize a fatal weapon.
“No one’s hands are clean. This is not an isolated incident. You hear of people being murdered by police every day. Most are justified. According to Prosecutor Robert McCulloch, Darren Wilson’s was too. But ask yourself, ‘How is there any situation ever in which an unarmed teenager deserves to be shot six times? How did Darren Wilson allow himself as an officer to be compromised into a situation where the only answer came from his gun six times?’” Tarsetti said.
The third question asked whether or not participants support President Obama’s handling of the situation. Fifty-three percent said “yes,” while 47 percent said “no.” The Washington Post’s poll showed 39 percent approved Obama’s actions, while 52 percent did not, with the remaining 9 percent having no opinion.
Obama has held numerous meetings with civil rights leaders, cabinet members and law enforcement officials since the shooting. He has also requested $263 million in funding for police cameras, and has announced the creation of a special task-force to study police practices.
“Justice has not been served to Michael Brown, but we can change this. We can prevent hundreds, even thousands of unnecessary deaths by taking action now. We need stricter laws that place more accountability on police departments. We need a change in procedure that can ensure that the next Darren Wilson doesn’t find his way into a situation where his only solution is to shoot his way out. Maybe police body cameras are the solution; maybe they aren’t. All I know is that if we don’t act now, you can be sure that police will continue acting with hostility towards its citizens, and many more will die,” Tarsetti said.
The fourth Maine Campus poll question asked, “If you believe the shooting was the result of discrimination, do you think the grand jury’s decision has set a precedent for future race-related crimes?” Fifty-seven percent of poll-takers said, “Yes, it has set a precedent,” while only 10 percent said “no.” The remaining 33 percent believed the shooting was not race-related.
The Washington Post polled a similar question, which saw that national opinion on the government bringing civil rights charges against Wilson were split, with 48 percent approving of the action, 46 percent disapproved; the remaining 6 percent had no opinion.
While public reaction to the Grand Jury’s decision to not indict Wilson for Brown’s death remains largely pessimistic in the ability of law enforcement to change, second year political science student Allyson Eslin says that hope for change lies in the hands of citizens making their opinions heard.
“[H]ope is not absent in the situation. The Internet has been boundlessly useful in connecting oppressed individuals and their supporters to evidence and financial funding, which, paired with tools like tools Twitter and Facebook, make protests more profitable and easy to organize than ever before,” Eslin said. “With this level of publicity, acquittals in these cases are more shocking, visible, and dangerous to the reputation of the city than at any other time in history, leaving citizens rightly appalled that despite this enhanced cognizance, police brutality continues to go unpunished.
According to Eslin, everyday Americans can use these social media channels to hold law enforcement accountable and ensure that police officers are performing their duties to society ethically.
“Without more American investment in the plight of non-white individuals and greater accountability for lethal police action, the dismissal of these crimes by the American public will continue to not only harm [the] African-American community, but the legitimacy of an institution largely populated by officers who are genuine in their desire to serve and protect,” Eslin said. “Ignorance is bliss only to those who are privileged enough to be given the luxury.”