Daily Times

In the past weeks, the Baltimore, US riots have terrorised the city, forcing the Mayor to institute a curfew and to shut down schools and places of work. Civil rights activists, leaders of the Baltimore black community and the family of the deceased have urged protestors to demonstrate peacefully. The riots broke out after Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man sustained a spinal cord injury after being arrested by the police for carrying a switch-blade. Gray died on April 19, a week after his arrest, which was proved unlawful because the ‘switch-blade’ that he was allegedly carrying was actually a pocket knife. Although the Baltimore Police Department refused to admit that excessive force had been used, eyewitnesses stated that Gray’s injuries had been inflicted by the police officers after they chased him down and arrested him. It was also reported that the officers repeatedly refused his pleas for medical care while they were transporting him to jail. On Friday, the Baltimore State Attorney charged the six officers involved with murder and misconduct charges.

It is unfortunate that the rioting has gotten out of control and that several rioters have had to be arrested but it is important to understand that the people of Baltimore are not just protesting the death of Freddie Gray. There have been countless cases of wrongful arrests and shootings of black men (along with other minorities) in the US, yet these have largely gone unspoken and unheard of. Since the Michael Brown shooting last year however, these cases have been increasingly attracting public attention and sparking outrage and protests from people of all races. These reactions show that the attitude towards African-Americans and other minorities has changed drastically in recent history. Yet, there are still strains of racism left, of which police departments countrywide are prime examples. There are many security nets in place for police officers’ misconduct and a system of proper checks needs to be put in place to prevent the police from misusing their power and exercising caution whilst approaching and arresting suspects. Most of the cases in which police officers have used unnecessary force to unlawfully arrest black men seem to have been motivated by fear that the suspects are armed and dangerous based on the way they look. This fear reflects a mindset that African-Americans are more likely to commit crimes. It is regrettable that it took days of rioting for the Baltimore State Attorney to begin investigating Gray’s murder. The police union of Baltimore and many legislators are still opposed to the charges that the State’s Attorney has brought against the officers involved. There were both black and white officers amongst those charged with Gray’s murder, showing that police officers of all races tend to racially profile African-Americans. The US Police Departments need to rethink their training procedures to make officers more racially sensitive and less fearful of African-Americans and hold police misconduct to a higher degree of accountability. *