Does Diversity in Policing Address Police Brutality?
After Tyre Nichols was brutally beaten by police, people are asking whether diversity in policing helps. Five of the officers charged in Trye’s death are Black. A sixth is white. Many say the problem isn’t a handful of racist individuals but systemic racism in policing. Communities of color are over-policed, people of color more likely to be killed, and police training encourages violence. Color Of Change President Rashad Robinson is quoted, “If we don’t change the structures — the incentive structure, the accountability structure, the consequence structure, the role [of policing] in communities — it doesn’t matter how much diversity we have. How do we make investments in mental health, community-based violence prevention programs, de-escalation? The communities we know are safe communities are not the communities with a lot of police.”
