Police brutality seems like it’s becoming a growing problem all across the country, some people blaming racism. It is hard to believe that after the Civil Rights Movement that America would be going back to mistreatment of black people but some people believe so. Over several decades up until this day, police forces have been known to be using too much force. For example, Ferguson, Missouri where unarmed Michael Brown was shot and killed, sparking massive protests around Missouri.

Michael Brown was an unarmed black male that was accused of stealing a pack of cigarillos from a local convenience store. He was seen in a video camera of him taking the pack of cigarillos but what happens from there is still a mystery. He was unarmed but according to the police officer in this case, he was seen as a threat to him and had to use lethal force. I do not think this was right at all to shoot him. It is very easy to pull out your gun and shoot someone to save yourself but if this officer had proper training, he would have used more reasonable force other than taking out his gun if he felt threatened.

Preparing police officers to use more reasonable force is one thing that law enforcement should do to prevent things like this from happening. Like I said before, it is easy to pull your gun out and shoot someone to protect yourself, but teaching officers something other than physical defense could be an option. Teaching officers mental preparation for situations like this could also lead to better outcomes in these criminal acts.

Freddie Gray was also a man who died due to unnecessary police force. Freddie Gray died on the way to the police station from a spinal cord injury while in police custody. Violence and riots sparked after his death. The people of Baltimore said that the riots were not because of this one specific incident but from many police brutality incidents before. Police officials of Baltimore do have a lot to think about according to President Barack Obama. None of this should have happened even after the shooting. The riots and looting should have been prevented due to all the built up tension. This being said, I believe that with the relationship between the people of Baltimore and the police forces, something should be done to prevent situations like this from happening.

Gaining a more positive relationship between police forces and citizens could also prevent occurrences like this from happening. I think that if the police and citizens interacted in more beneficial ways other than traffic stops and citations then this will cause less tension between the two. Workshops with police officers with families and children around the area where there is problems. This would be better for the police and the community. This could have numerous affects on future crimes. This could even prevent crimes from happening. Meeting a police officer could be very eye opening to some future criminals. For a police officer, this could change the decision on whether to pull their gun out in times where they think it could be unnecessary. This approach towards gaining peace throughout communities is the most reasonable and realistic.

Most of these issues have stemmed from racial tension. In recent news, there has been an incident at The University of Missouri where the discussion of racial tension between the higher ups in the school and the Missouri football team. The football team has threatened to not play their next football game (already played), unless the president Tim Wolfe steps down. He is known to recognize his students of color in racial slurs and the football team acted upon it. Wolfe did end up resigning and it was a victory for the football team. It is very eye opening to see that this kind of stuff can happen on college campuses even now.

Racial tension can appear anywhere. Salem State University could even be a potential spot for something like that to happen however, I do not think it is a big problem. It very easily could though. To prevent anything like that from happening here, I think having workshops or balls with the higher ups and the students will cause less tension between the two and hopefully spread throughout neighboring cities or schools. It is very scary to think that this stuff could happen so close to home but it is realistic. Keeping a close community within a school is important because it will create better outcomes in times of need.