In recent years, police departments have come up against many serious allegations, especially in regard to violating citizens’ civil and constitutional rights, policy abuse and brutality. In many of these areas, police have been found to be deficient and ineffective.

For instance, Baltimore riots erupted this year after police officers were accused of killing African American Freddie Gray. Gray, who was arrested by police, was put in jail. A week after his arrest, Gray died, his spinal cord found to be severed. Even though Baltimore police claimed to have no idea what had happened to Gray, the public wanted some answers and cited discrimination and racism in the case. Citizens also felt that Gray’s constitutional and civil rights had been violated. Riots erupted when charges were not pressed against the police officers involved in the case. However, six police officers were indicted for the crime. In Ferguson County, African American Michael Brown was killed by police, which sparked some dangerous riots (Ferguson riots: Violence erupts after Michael Brown police shooting verdict, 2014)

There have been several other cases when police brutality has resulted in the death of young African Americans. One of these cases was police officer George Zimmerman, who was put on trial for shooting African American teenager Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman was found not guilty of the crime, which resulted in riots (Botelho & Yan, 2013). Incidents, such as these and other cases around the country have strained police-community relations, resulting in lack of trust in the police force. I feel that too many people are being killed unnecessarily by police.

Some possible solutions include better training for police officers, training manuals and policies completely revamped in terms of racism, shooting, and discrimination. In addition to this, officers who are charged with misconduct and suspected of racism and deadly force should be subjected to suspension, desk duty, or other police roles that require no contact with citizens and front line criminal activities. In some cases, police officers should lose their guns for a specified period of time.

In certain states and police communities, officers now have to wear video cameras, which can detect cases of deadly force and police brutality. Other solutions include having some police officers attend anger management classes and or counseling to deal with negative emotions and issues that can make an officer ask more violent and aggressive toward citizens, especially African Americans. I feel that these solutions can help with some contemporary police force problems.