America, we have a problem. Well, we have lots of problems, but we're going to focus on one big problem that has been especially prominent lately. The huge rift between the police and the communities they are in charge of protecting. I've purposely abstained from writing this article for a long time because I honestly didn't know what to write. Where would I even begin to discuss such a huge talking point. Would I write in support of the police force that protects us on a daily basis, or in support of the minority communities that see a disproportional amount of their people arrested, abused, or even killed by officers of the law? No. That’s too easy. It’s far too easy to just write an article that throws around blame based on a personal bias or one source of information instead of research. So I spent the time asking around, researching, and truly digging deeper into the issues with the goal of answering three questions: "Why does this disconnect exist?", "Who is truly to blame?", and "How can we fix it?". After taking the time to personally interview individuals from both sides and gathering all of the information I possibly could, I believe I finally have the answers to those questions.

Now before I could even consider solutions or who to pin the blame on, I first had to look closer at the issue at hand and ask myself some smaller questions. Is this really an issue of racial profiling, or is it something else? And why does it seem like minorities in the worse neighborhoods that you would think rely on the police for protection seem to hate the police the most, especially in the Black community? All of these questions needed to be answered in order to paint the bigger picture. So let’s start with the biggest cited issue regarding the police departments in America: Racial profiling. Is racial profiling actually as big of a problem as some would have you believe? Before I came to my own conclusions I reached out to a few of my peers as well as some of the officers in my own city of Chicago. Jarod Navarro, a friend and peer from high school had this to say when asked if race played a role in the recent cases of police brutality that have shaken the nation: " Our generation [is to blame]. We are raised to believe if we see a group of minorities in a single location, it’s a gang. We are raised to believe a minority in a hoodie is always up to no good…While not all police officers are racist, there is a HUGE problem with lack of training…"

Josie Brun, a fellow Heidelberg University classmate, responded to the same question: "I do, however, believe that many of these officers don't consciously say "This man is black, he's a criminal", but I think it's always in the back of their minds and they're more suspicious because of whatever ideas they have of the black community that stem from the media and the way they were raised, where they were raised. Officers from inner cities have different upbringings than say someone from a rural area, same as someone born and raised in the South versus the North."

Jarod and Josie both seemed to believe that there was definitely a problem with racial profiling within the police force while sharing the notion that this profiling may not be necessarily intentional. After hearing their responses and multiple more similar responses from my peers, I decided to bring in the other side. I began to ask the police if they believed racial profiling was an issue within their own departments. The most compelling response I received was from a Chicago police officer who has asked me to keep their identity anonymous. When I asked them the same question I’d asked my peers they said, " It really doesn't have much to do with race. Look at Milwaukee....black officer shoots and kills an armed offender, now the city is rioting… I worked in Englewood for over 7 years and I NEVER had a problem because I treated everyone with respect and that's usually how they treated me. I believe there is a bigger disconnect between command and regular police officers." Englewood, for those of you who aren't aware, is one of Chicago’s roughest neighborhoods. It’s known for it’s prominent gang violence and low income living. I found this officers answer extremely interesting. And it wasn’t just them, the overwhelming majority of police officers I asked seemed to think racial profiling wasn't a big problem. Why was their view so different from my peers? I don't think the officers were lying to me though. Nor do I think my peers were. Meaning I was missing something. There simply HAD to be a reason it seemed like minorities were being distinctively targeted by police. And it also leads into my second question: Why does it seem like the poorer minority communities in the U.S. seem to have the most hate for law enforcement, when they should be relying on them for protection?

The answer to that question is simple. Historical Cause and Effect. What happens when you take a group and oppress them to a point of poverty and ignorance up until the late 1990’s? They end up in poorer neighborhoods. Hispanics, Latinos, and especially African Americans find themselves in these poor neighborhoods that the government ignores. If you’ve ever driven through Chicago you know exactly what I’m talking about. These people had no way to inherit any wealth or benefits from their parents or grandparents. Most people who are born in these "ghettos" are very likely to stay there. Without access to role models, good paying jobs, and education, many of these minorities result to crime to pay the bills. Liam Schofield, another friend and classmate of mine explained this phenomenon very well. He told me, "A lot of minority neighborhoods are worse off financially, so they resort to crime to pay the bills. This surge in crime means the police spend almost all of their work hours in said minority neighborhoods (no one is out committing crimes in quiet gated homogeneous communities because there is no stolen property value). When the police spend almost all their time in minority neighborhoods, of course they end up arresting and killing a larger portion of the community than they would in a white community." This response was spot on. It helps to explain why it seems like so many more minorities are killed by police as well as how it’s possible that the aforementioned officers who worked in these neighborhoods told me that it isn’t really about race. Most of the time the link with race is more circumstantial. Sure it’s rooted in systematic racism but that’s a conversation for a different time. The minority population in these communities don't have the same access to resources that some of us do. All they see are their friends, family, and peers being arrested and gunned down for doing all they can to get by. For a lot of them this life is all they know and the police are a hinderance to that. A sad but true reality some people in this country face daily.

Alright let’s take a breather. That was a lot of information to take in but let’s bring it all together. Does racial profiling and racism play a part in this huge divide between the people and the police? Yes it does. There are times when racial profiling, intentional or not, leads to these cases of unfair treatment or police brutality. Police officers are people. Some people are racist and ignorant. However racism isn’t the biggest cause for this disconnect. After listening to police, my peers, and doing my own research, I finally made a decision. The disconnect comes from a lack of understanding. We as civilians don’t understand the pressure an officer goes through when in high intensity situations. When he or she knows that their life could easily be in danger if they don’t react forcefully. So when they get it wrong we always pin it on race or lack of training and not simply the fact that we are all human. When we feel our lives or the lives of others are in danger, it puts intense pressure on our shoulders. Conversely, the police need to better understand the communities they protect and do more to connect with them. This rift won’t go away until both groups come together. Okay, one question down, two to go.

Now let’s talk about who is to blame for all of this. I’ll make this quicker than our last question because it actually was pretty easy for me to figure out. I believe that everyone needs to take the blame to a certain extent. The police definitely need to get better training on dealing with high intensity situations without resorting to deadly force so quickly. They also need to recognize when they are profiling. Civilians need to be far more empathetic with the police force and stop criminalizing police departments for the actions of a few. However there is one entity that has continually perpetuated tension between these two groups over the past two years and that is the media. Every single time an unarmed person is killed the media will immediately jump on the opportunity to rile people up. Fox News will accuse the victims of being thugs while MSNBC lashes out at the police. When people see that they naturally are influenced by these extremely one sided beliefs. And when I asked my peers they said the same thing. The media is constantly causing us to divide under the false idea that we are all enemies. Until we stop allowing the media to influence us without doing any research ourselves, we will always be at odds with each other. When the protests were happening in Ferguson I’d say about 99% of them were peaceful. You know how many times I saw a peaceful protest being covered by the media? Zero. But I saw a hell of a lot of the riots being broadcasted 24/7. That 1% of violent protesting was projected to be the way that every Ferguson protest was and that simply wasn’t true. The result? Rage fueled arguments coming from both sides. When an officer kills an unarmed person I see tons of liberal media outlets that are so encompassed in ratings that they will spin the story to make every officer seem like the devil. That’s simply not okay. The media has continued to divide people for the sake of getting higher ratings on their channels. Don’t believe me? Google, "Ferguson Protests" and see what comes up. Moving on.

So how do we fix this mess. Well, it took me a while but I think I finally have an answer. We talk to each other. For the last two years the police have been at odds with the communities they patrol. I’ve watched protesters yell ignorant things in their faces, cut them off, spit on them, etc. Meanwhile I see officers standing silently as they try and control the crowd. Yet I never see officers simply going around the community and talking to people and vice versa. I think all to often we don’t see the police as people. They are human beings. They have feelings, families, values, mindsets, etc. Talk to them. Ask them how their day is going. Speak to them when you see them on the streets. Wave to them, smile at them. Show that you appreciate what they do for us on a daily basis. Show them that we appreciate them putting their lives on the line for us. And officers, come to us and talk to us. Ask us about our day. Learn our names and we’ll learn yours. Ask us where we work, or where we go to school. We’re people too. Can you imagine how much better off the communities in the US would be if the residents knew officers by name? If the police could come up to me and say, "Hey Austin, how are your studies at Heidelberg going?" It’s that friendliness, that connection, and that understanding that could bring us all together. Because let’s face it, yelling at each other for the last few years just hasn’t cut it. And yeah, some people will be rude. They’ll be racist, ignorant, mean, etc. But the majority of people won’t be. So let’s stop fighting each other and actually get to know each other. I think it would make a hell of a difference.

A huge thanks to Josie Brun, Jarod Navarro, Liam Schofield and the CPD for helping me out with this article! I appreciate you!