The History of Policing in America

Policing can be traced back to the days of slavery in Colonial America. The first “policing” began in the Carolinas in the early 1700s, with slave patrols capturing runaway slaves and returning them to their masters, as well as terminating slave uprisings using excessive force. These slave patrols transformed into policing units that broke up revolts after the civil war. Additionally, these militia style groups were used to deny access to equal rights to freed slaves and enforce black codes. After the abolishment of slavery in 1865, white citizens felt threatened by the newfound freedom of African Americans,and therefore the police provided them with security by segregating and committing acts of violence against black populations in the form of police brutality. Additionally, police units served to arrest arrested African Americans for violating racist Jim Crow laws that meant to overcriminalize Black individuals. Particularly the Plessy v Ferguson case targeted African Americans for simply existing which encouraged racism in policing. During the civil rights movement, policing was centered around riot control as the police used hoses, police dogs, tear gas, and other crowd control measures to break up protests. 

The racist history of policing sets the tone for the discriminatory practices that still exist today. Policing exists as an institution designed to preserve racial hierarchy after the civil war and civil rights movements. The justice system is heavily impacted by the bias of the police as the presumption of guilt and dangerousness is automatically attributed to black citizens. For example, the Stop and Frisk policy allows the police to stop and search someone without a warrant if they believe someone is doing something wrong. Often police officers racially profile black individuals to be more suspicious looking causing them to stop or assert violence on innocent African Americans. Since 2015, there have been 135 instances where the police have murdered an unarmed black individual. This includes stories including Trayvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd. Additionally, police officers are asked to respond to issues that they are not equipped to handle. Society provides those with drug addictions and mental illnesses with incarceration and arrest as opposed to medical care. This also disproportionately affects black individuals as the War on Drugs targets African Americans for drug offenses. The brutality by police officers can often lead to a wrongful power dynamic, an abuse of power by police where they face no abundant consequence.

It is therefore largely because the police target communities of that color that America has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. In continuing the conversation to improve policing and equity among the justice system, dismantling America’s racial hierarchy remains a primary factor in the discussion.