Many Americans saw in the uprising hope that the arbitrary rule of law will stop, but the centuries-old scenario calls such a scenario into question.
This is reported by the American publication “The Washington Post”.
As previously reported by News Front, in late May, a Minneapolis police officer killed African-American George Floyd. The man was detained on suspicion of forging a $20 check. During his arrest, the policeman began pressing Floyd’s neck with his knee. He said he had nothing to breathe, but the policeman wouldn’t listen. As a result, the detainee died. It triggered a riot that spread rapidly across the country.
At one point it seemed that the voice of the people was heard, the media wrote. All four policemen involved in the murder were fired with charges. The local authorities began to prohibit strangulation techniques in the work of law enforcement officers. Also, Congress is planning to consider a package of police reforms. However, Floyd’s murder is not a turning point, as many think.
“We have a four hundred year history of policing that tells me things don’t usually change”, – commented Lorenzo Boyd, director of the Center for Modern Police Studies at the University of New Haven.
In particular, he recalled the murder of 43-year-old African-American Eric Garner in New York 6 years ago. Like Floyd, he was murdered by police officers during his arrest with a similar strangulation. The incident sparked widespread public outcry, thousands of protests began, but nothing has changed.
The publication believes that the Floyd incident, like many others, will not be a turning point for the same reasons as before. Local changes will not affect the situation, and systemic changes are backed by powerful police unions lobbying for the security forces.
“Collective bargaining agreements have so many conditions that protect the police from liability and transparency”, – said Jody Armor, a law professor at the University of Southern California.
Banning asphyxiation training for new recruits is also useless. The expert community recognizes that training and the street are two very different worlds.
“With experience, officers will build on what they learned at the academy and come to what works on the street”, – explains Lorenzo Boyd. – “And officers often say, ‘We have to control people differently because power is all they understand.”