On March 5th of 2021, police in Chatham, Illinois, responded to a call that a mentally unstable man was wielding a knife. During the interaction, the police officer shot Gregory Smalls, leaving the 30-year-old black man in critical condition. This senseless tragedy, which took place a stone’s throw from our own community in Springfield, illustrates the desperate need for reform in law enforcement policy and practice.
One policy that I think should be implemented to prevent similar tragedies involves adding a mental health department to the police force and changing how officers are outfitted during routine patrols. Police officers are armed with guns but sorely lacking in the kind of training needed to deescalate volatile situations. While police officers do face danger situations, most of their interactions in the community would be better served by providing them with nonlethal means of subduing suspects. Instead of ready access to guns, police should be outfitted with Kevlar protection to minimize their risk. Possession of a gun does not actually reduce their risk; if their assailant has a weapon as well, they have no protection against the bullets. Thus, having a gun available in the vehicle as a last resort and body armor for protection is likely to result in less danger to both officers and suspects.
However, no amount of body armor can provide the kind of training that would enable them to handle situations such as Gregory Small’s. Instead, trained social workers or other mental health professionals should be available to respond alongside their militant counterparts. If someone had been present who had knowledge of mental illnesses and how to resolve conflicts safely, Gregory might have ended the night in a mental health facility, getting the help he needed, rather than in critical condition in the emergency room.
However, I also think that police training needs to focus on serving the community and bringing suspects to justice rather than the current mentality they seem to express, that of viewing members of the community as potential criminals to be uncovered rather than citizens who deserve respect and protection. Another important element to include in this new training is anti-bias education. I believe that many police are unaware of the implicit biases they hold that cause black citizens to be targeted and incarcerated at disproportionate rates as compared to their white counterparts.
As a member of the African American community, the discrimination rampant in our criminal justice system is a source of anxiety and fear for me. Although I am lighter skinned and rarely experience being targeted by law enforcement, I have a family that is not. My brother, my nephews, and my cousins all have darker complexions, more obviously African hair textures, or both, and each news article reporting the assault or murder of Black citizens fills me with fear for my loved ones, and empathy for the survivors. Although being a target is rare for me, I too have been singled out by police in small rural towns. Black Americans face discrimination in many forms, and one of the single best ways America could show its commitment to ending racism would be to take decisive steps to prevent more black deaths at the hands of police.
It needs to be said: the treatment your brother, nephews, and cousins have experienced is wrong, and we should not accept it, and law enforcement professionals who care about their mission of protecting the public and the Constitution should also not tolerate this. You have been singled out by authorities because of your background, and that is wrong.
The situation of Greg Small, Jr. hits close to home. He and his brother and dad were active in the Scout Troop I've volunteered with, and my sons camped with him and his little brother on many occasions.
There are a variety of biases that come into play in police interactions with persons who experience mental illness and also have African heritage. Anti-bias education that is based on good scientific evidence that it can reduce bias should certainly be part of training and professional development for law enforcement personnel. I think we also need to change the way police create a professional self-image. If they had more focus on "protect and serve" and a deeper ideological commitment to public safety, I think that would help. Other goals and ideals seem to be too powerful in may law enforcement sub-cultures.
Here are some good articles about this issue:
https://policy-class.blogspot.com/2023/04/reaction-essay-on-child-poverty.html
https://www.wandtv.com/news/springfield-police-department-begins-new-co-responder-initiative/article_76c8a624-9774-11ed-98f3-8b6e05363ae0.html and https://bja.ojp.gov/funding/awards/15pbja-21-gg-04324-ntcp describe the new initiative in Springfield, Illinois
Peoria is doing something similar: https://www.wcbu.org/local-news/2022-02-14/peoria-police-unitypoint-mental-health-staff-could-respond-to-911-calls-together
Here is what is going on in Nashville, TN: https://www.nashville.gov/departments/police/executive-services/alternative-policing-strategies/partners-care
Eileen Molloy Langdon wrote an article about this for an Illinois law-enforcement trade magazine (see page 12: https://www.ilchiefs.org/assets/Command/2020_November_Command_FINAL_optimized.pdf
VICE did an article on this a few years ago: https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3zpqm/these-cities-replaced-cops-with-social-workers-medics-and-people-without-guns
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