Police Chief Apologizes

The president of one of the largest police organizations apologized for past treatment of minorities by police. Chief Cunningham is the president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, which has over 16,000 members worldwide. In a recent speech he said “For law enforcement officials to regain the trust of minorities, they must begin “to acknowledge and apologize for the actions of the past and the role that our profession has played in society’s historical mistreatment of communities of color”. The apology is a step towards change as it opens up communication about the issue. However despite the acknowledgement of the issue the organization has resisted change, and has not agreed to proposals that would encourage the police to use less force when confronting suspects. It confuses me why police use deadly force when they have other means of disarming a suspect. There is no need to draw a gun when they could easily draw a Taser. I understand that police are fearful but until proper training and accountability take place the issue of police brutality is going to remain and issue.