WASHINGTON, August 16 (RIA Novosti), Lyudmila Chernova - US policing is steeped racism, and its brutality, misconduct and abuse of authority is a national epidemic, President of Communities United Against Police Brutality Michelle Gross told RIA Novosti Saturday.
"Policing, like much of the rest of American society, is steeped in racism," Gross stated. "Our organization's data on complaints received on our hotline indicate that Blacks are the victims in 60 percent of police brutality incidents. Further, anecdotal evidence shows that Blacks are more likely than any other group to die at the hands of law enforcement."
The protests have been ongoing in Ferguson, Missouri since last Saturday, when a police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, for allegedly resisting arrest. US President Barack Obama ordered the FBI and the Department of Justice to conduct independent investigations.
The August 9 killing spurred mass protests due to the appalling nature of this incident, Gross said, underlining that the incident includes a number of elements that are sadly emblematic of American policing.
"Numerous studies show that Blacks, Latinos and other people of color are targeted for stops at rates that far exceed their numbers in the population, despite the fact that stops of whites are much more likely to result in actual evidence of crime," the expert noted.
Gross believes that much of the issue lies with the culture of policing. "Police officers are permitted to use force as part of their role, but have little to no supervision or accountability in the use of that force," she asserted. "A pervasive myth of the danger of police work (which is actually far safer than many other professions) provides abusive cops with legal and political cover for their actions."
Gross reminded that most recently, the federal government has provided many police departments - even those in tiny communities like Ferguson – with military vehicles, weaponry, and other equipment.
"That has turned police agencies into local armies and fed into a "them vs. us" culture that pits local police against members of their community," she said. "This has been evident in the obscene levels of militarized force used against protesters in Ferguson, but also during protests of political conventions and police suppression of the Occupy movement."
"Police brutality, misconduct and abuse of authority is a national epidemic," Gross concluded.
