By: Asmaa Hussein
On June 19, 2018, 17-year-old Antwon Rose was shot and killed in East Pittsburgh by a police officer. Antwon was in a car with friends when they were pulled over because their car matched the description of a vehicle that had fled in an earlier shooting. When an officer placed the driver in handcuffs, Antown, along with another passenger, fled the car and Antown was shot 3 times by the officer, leaving him dead. Antwon was unarmed, innocent and he didn’t deserve this; especially when his only “fault” was the color of his skin. As horrifying as this is, this problem happens very frequently, and it isn’t any better here in Philadelphia. A new federal study shows that Philadelphia police shooting victims are 81% African American. Most of these victims were unarmed and innocent, but they were still shot by these police officers, the same officers that are supposed to protect us.
So, how can we make sure another innocent life isn't taken by a police officer that uses lethal force? Well, there are a few concrete solutions that may help end this perpetual problem. One solution- that many other states have already started to administer- is changing the current police training system, that doesn’t teach officers how to interact with different types of situations, without using unnecessary force but instead, armed patrolmen that are stereotypically bias and rely on force and the power of their guns. According to the Washington Post, new police recruits spend about 60 hours learning how to handle a gun and only 8 eight hours learning how to de-escalate situations and deal with the mentally ill. This training system is a serious and consequential issue. Many state departments have already changed or started to change their corrupt training system. For example, in New Orleans, police are being trained to step in when they see their partners about to overreact in heated situations, tell them to take a break, and urge them not to do something they will regret. A year after this reform was launched, the city had seen some positive effects, such as fewer police officer complaints and negative criticism. These results are just the start of what will happen if police are better trained and prepared for situations that are usually unnecessary.
Here in Philadelphia, there is an independent, non-profit organization called the Philadelphia Police Foundation. It was first established in 1998, and it aims to promote and maintain safety in Philadelphia. Although the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania only demands a limited training for police personnel on annual bias, this foundation provides a program for new police officers on anti-bias training. This implicit bias and anti-discrimination program teaches officers to be more aware of the effects of bias and provides the information and skills that officers need to identify and reduce their biases. Programs like this are supposed to allow police to learn how to better interact with our communities and not over escalate many situations that are unnecessary. Now, over 21 years later, we still see articles about people like Antown Rose and Stephon Clark, who died because of the police officer’s fear and discriminatial bias. And in order to prevent this, we as citizens, need to put pressure on the leaders that are letting these problems slide. We have a right to ask for change and actually see it happen for the better of our city. With consistency and dedication, we need to see change for our’s and our city’s future.
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