Develop Mental: Part 2

Step number four investment alternatives, community policing style is to crack down hard on minor infractions and as a result flooding neighborhoods with police enforcement. Research goes to show the more you invest in your community the greater the outcome will be. They have found that across 250 cities a huge number of nonprofit organizations were linked to a decline in crime. For every 10 organizations in the city of 100,000 people the murder rate dropped by 7% in the violent crime rate went down by 6%. Investing in the community also means investing in things such as mental health, it’s expected for every one in four people with mental health issues will be killed by a police officer. Some, but not all which needs to change, have set up programs that consist of specially trained officers who work to get treatment for the mentally ill, rather than letting it escalate into something more violent. This first program began in the 1980s after police killed a mentally ill black man that was already cutting himself with a butcher knife. I think that the step needs to be taken further and we need to remove all police from the mental health response as a whole, instead of even taking their call, they need to immediately transfer them directly to healthcare professionals since police definitely aren’t qualified to give medical advice. Last but not least step number five instill oversight, who is policing the police? Independent and civilian oversight of the police department could really do us some justice. It will in turn give the community accountability and reduce bad behavior. The studies show that an outside citizen agency was more likely to notice merit in the complaints instead of dismissing them, like most police departments typically do. The study also shows that most complaints were more likely than others to be dismissed and most of them were people of color. More consistent federal investigations of police shootings can also reduce this issue, like I said, who is policing the police? Bystander video is also deemed successful, having any actual footage of police killing civilians has opened the door for more effective conversation over this topic. Following the Michael Brown shooting the great divide between whites and blacks became even greater, all over the opinion on whether or not the officer should be charged. 91% of black Americans thought that the officers should be charged compared to the 42% of white Americans. But the study also shows 23% of white americans thought Brown had a gun while 4.4% of blacks did not. But one of our most recent killings, George Floyd, had a more unified response. 78% of Americans believe the officers should be charged, the reason for these differences aren’t clear, but having the actual footage of Floyd’s death could have played a role in the change of statistics. Nothing and no one is perfect but if you want to change you have to give the world something to reflect. Look within, look past all the outside factors, practice empathy and understanding but most importantly stay safe stay educated and always know you’re rights because with that beautiful black skin you’ll always be left.  Peace love and happiness and prayer Thanks for tuning in to Black Phoenix