Resolved: on balance, police are more responsible than protesters for recent civil unrest in the United States
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Aff Case 10“Race is there. You're tired of hearing about it? Imagine how exhausting it is living it.” As the Pro we agree with comedian and political analyst Jon Stewart, and stand in firm affirmation of the Resolved: On balance, police are more responsible than protesters for recent civil unrest in the United States. Definitions: We define responsibility as "the state or fact of being accountable or to blame for something," which is provided by the Oxford Dictionary in 2015. Second, Oxford Dictionary also defines protestors as "A person who publicly demonstrates strong objection to something." Our argument is that protestors are different from criminals that are looting and committing arson without a political objection or reason.
The recent rise of civil unrest began with police being racially discriminate in their actions. As we have seen recently in the Ferguson police department, police are racially bias and act on their racial bias. This is documented in The Civil Rights Division’s investigation and March 2015 report on the Ferguson Police Department which determined that the FPD impermissibly discriminates against African Americans. In fact, in 88% of the cases in which this department used force, it was against African Americans, according to Time 2015. But it's important to note that racial bias isn't just isolated to Ferguson, Missouri, nor is it a new issue. Historically, racial bias in the police force has created a growing distrust and resentment between the citizens of the United States, and the people who are in charge of protecting them. As the Head of the Civil Rights Division, Vanita Gupta, said earlier this year, “Where people perceive the criminal justice system to be arbitrary, biased and unfair…communities can build into a powder keg of resentment, ready to be ignited by a single tragic incident. We have seen this over and over—in Watts in 1965, in Los Angeles in 1992 and most recently, in Ferguson in 2014.” But Ferguson was just the tipping point in the battle for justice, the spark that ignited citizen’s unrest in the U.S. by highlighting the injustice that exists within our society. It’s been found that Ferguson is not an anomaly, and that the police injustice there exists across the nation. Without this injustice, there would be no need for protest. Therefore, the only entity that can be held responsible for creating recent civil unrest is the police. Contention Two: The police officers instigate and escalate civil unrest. Not only are the police the spark that initiates civil unrest, they are also the force that perpetuates it. When the force meant to protect your rights actively works to suppress them, this instills anger in citizens. This anger in situations such as Ferguson and Baltimore leads not only to more protesting but rioting as well. In Baltimore specifically recent news has proven that the police not only instigated the riots, but continued to let them happen. Brian Arnold, a former Baltimore City high school teacher testified to the fact that Baltimore Police were armed and waiting for students of Frederick Douglass High School to leave school, after shutting down the transit in the area. He says, “the police started macing people and brandishing tasers”. Without transit to get out of the area, the students responded by throwing rocks, and after the police painted the students as the aggressors. This injustice is corroborated by a recent After Action Report released on July 8th, 2015 by the FOP police union that found that the Baltimore City leaders used a strategy to make protesters “appear to be the aggressors”. This report also found that the police chiefs instructed the police officers not to stop rioters and looters. Since these police officers are sworn to protect the civilians and city, but they instead made the decision to let destruction occur, they are more responsible for the perpetuated civil unrest. Additionally, the militarization of police forces, ranging from small handguns to tanks and machine guns, “has helped transform our country into a battlefield”, says George Mason University Professor, Christopher Coyne. In his report this year, Coyne also found that the $450 million dollars worth of military equipment was transferred from the military to the local police forces in 2013 alone. The result of these transfers was seen first in the Ferguson protests that Senator McCaskill of Missouri says, “escalated the situation.” This police antagonization of protesters led to more violent protests and longer civil unrest. Jim Salter and Eric Tucker, of the Business Insider, found that the Ferguson Police Force’s response through militarization “was not justified and served to escalate rather than de-escalate the overall situation."
For these reasons we urge a Pro ballot. Cards-------------------------------------------------------------------------1-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Where people perceive the criminal justice system to be arbitrary, biased and unfair, they are less likely to cooperate with law enforcement, making us all less safe. The distrust and alienation experienced in some communities can build into a powder keg of resentment, ready to be ignited by a single tragic incident. We have seen this over and over—in Watts in 1965, in Los Angeles in 1992 and most recently, in Ferguson in 2014. --------------------------------------------------2------------------------------------------------------ The Civil Rights Division’s investigation and March 2015 report on the Ferguson Police Department (FPD) speaks to much of what I have been talking about. We determined that the FPD engages in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the United States Constitution and federal law. Specifically, we found that Ferguson PD routinely: Impermissibly discriminates against African Americans in violation of the 14th Amendment and federal statutory law; ---------------------------------------------------3----------------------------------------------------- In many ways, Ferguson is not an anomaly. We know from our work around the country that some of the same police and court practices that we identified in Ferguson – and the same deficit of trust between police officers and communities – exist in many other places. Local officials recognize this, as well. June 4th, 2015. Remarks given by the Head of Civil Rights Division [at the University of Chicago]: Vanita Gupta. =================================4=================================== In the days of last August's unrest in Ferguson, with young, black protesters standing face-to-face with police in full body armor backed by former military vehicles obtained through federal grants, Sen. Claire McCaskill reacted as much of the nation did. The Missouri Democrat didn't like the image of a militarized police targeting American citizens just miles from her Kirkwood home. "It escalated the situation," she told reporters at the time. ----------------------------------------------------5---------------------------------------------------- The biggest issue with the militarization of local police departments is one of scale and proportionality, and that's where Mr. Obama and Ms. McCaskill are on the right track. The American Civil Liberties Union reports in a recent study that about 80 percent of the SWAT raids in the U.S. are conducted to execute a search warrant in a drug case, more often than not in communities of color. The images of police as an occupying military force in the opening days of Ferguson protests were jarring to TV viewers. But in many American neighborhoods, they're real, everyday occurrences. The escalation in force has shown exponential hikes in the past couple of decades, according to Eastern Kentucky University's School of Justice Studies. May 20th, 2015. The St. Louis Post. Editorial Board. ====================================6================================ At first the response was mostly more of the usual conventional methods. Then in 1981 Congress passed the Military Cooperation with Law Enforcement Act (MCLEA), which allowed the Department of Defense to offer training, intelligence, vehicles, and equipment to domestic police forces to combat drugs. This included items ranging from small handguns and night-vision goggles to armored cars, tanks, assault weapons, and aircraft. One example of this expansion can be seen in the Department of Defense’s 1997 Excess Property Program1033, which allows the transfer of military equipment to local police. This was an offer the police couldn’t refuse. By 2010 some $212 million in military equipment was being transferred to local police annually \x97 a number that more than doubled, to [and led to] $450 million, by 2013. Similar programs are operated by the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department. The military-style police response we’ve witnessed in Baltimore and elsewhere should cause us all great concern. Police militarization has helped transform our country into a battlefield, where U.S. citizens are viewed not as civilians presumed innocent until proven guilty of a crime, but as enemies. Officers are trained to think of their patrols, not as their communities, but as “battlefields.” In fact, an internal memo to the Ferguson police department described protesters as “enemy forces” and “adversaries.” If we don’t address these concerns, we are likely to see repeats of the kind of tragedies that befell Baltimore, Ferguson, and other communities.
==================================7================================== Brian Arnold, a former Baltimore City high school teacher, shared a counter-narrative on Facebook that quickly went viral: “I want to make this as clear as possible: Step 1: the police created a "credible threat" about some high school students gathering at Mondawmin to start trouble. Step 2: the police showed up in force and riot gear before the students got out of school at Mondawmin, which is a major public transit hub, and SHUT DOWN THE TRANSIT, guaranteeing the kids couldn't leave. Step 3: the police started macing people and brandishing tasers. Step 4: the kids understandably responded to being stranded and maced by throwing rocks. Step 5: the media starts reporting it as "a riot" and "violent protesters. This is 100% bought and paid for by the police department. This is absolutely vile.” -------------------------------------------------------------8-------------------------------------------------------------- "This is part of larger dialogue and conversation about justice for black people," said Jackson. "People are dissatisfied with their conditions and are speaking up because they're sick and tired." [Adam Jackson, leader of Baltimore based organization: Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle] April 28th, 2015. Common Dreams. By: Sarah Lazare. ‘'Structural Looting' of Black Communities Driving Protesters to Baltimore Streets’. ==================================9================================== City leaders engaged in a political strategy to make sure that the Freddie Gray protesters and rioters "would appear to be the aggressors," the police union, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 (FOP), says in an "After Action Report" released today. Police at roll call were told by commanders that the department "would not respond until they [the protesters] burned, looted and destroyed the city so that it would show that the rioters were forcing our hand."
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