MOSCOW (Sputnik), Yulia Shamporova, Daria Chernyshova — A poll conducted by ICM Research exclusively for Sputnik and published on Tuesday suggests that a third of US citizens see police racism as the main reason for the huge difference in the number of white and black people fatally shot by police in the United States.
Some 51 percent of those questioned by ICM Research blamed the situation on a general increase in aggression and violence in US society, and 22 percent – on lack of professionalism within the police force.
“These shootings are not necessarily more common than in the past. It seems like this, because of greater media coverage, but the truth is we don't know that for sure,” David A. Harris, professor of law and distinguished faculty scholar at the University of Pittsburgh, said.
According to Harris, there have never been any reliable government statistics on the matter.
He noted that it is not only the mass media that brought the problem of police violence and racial profiling in the United States to both national and global attention, but also developing technologies.
“What's unknown is the frequency of such shootings before the era of cellphone videos making such instances public,” Koehler said.
Koehler added that the current militarization of US police, the growing gap between law enforcement officers and the general public, the general increase of violence in US society, and the wide availability of guns have all contributed to an increase in the cases of police violence in the country.
However, the fact that young black men are fatally shot by police more often than their white peers suggests that police racism is still widespread.
“American law enforcement is deeply embedded in racism. Racism is systemic,” Koehler said.
Cassandra Chaney, Ph.D., associate professor at Louisiana State University believes that the number of unarmed black people becoming victims of US police is actually growing.
“Unfortunately, the actions of a few ‘bad cops’ has, sadly, resulted in a major smear on the good ones,” Chaney said.
Police brutality and racial profiling continues to be a major concern in the United States. Over the course of the past year, numerous killings of unarmed black men by US police have sparked nationwide protests and received broad media coverage both domestically and abroad.
