George Floyd’s name will forever be etched into history alongside others like Derek Williams, Michael Brown and slain civil rights workers Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner—regular Americans who were killed by law enforcement.
Systemic issues regarding police misconduct are the responsibility of every citizen and politicians at every level of government.
In the City of Milwaukee alone, $34 million in taxpayer dollars have been spent on settling police misconduct cases over the past sixty-two years.
Reporter Ariel Cheung stated, “Departments from Appleton to Wauwatosa — 48 in all in Wisconsin — exceed Ferguson’s controversial 3-to-1 disparity in arrests of blacks, according to a Gannett Wisconsin Media analysis of 61 police and sheriff’s departments” (Cheung, 2014).
Holding law enforcement accountable is right; holding individual officers fiscally responsible for their misconduct and utilizing taxpayer dollars to fund settlements is right; having explicit standards for use of force is right; investing in drug treatment and youth diversion programming is right; truly embracing community policing is right; mandating annual diversity and inclusion training from qualified and certified professionals is right; ending administrative leave when misconduct is suspected is right; holding legislators at every level of government accountable is right; and having citizen review boards that have the ability to fire officers for misconduct is right.
