Trump to reform police after the death of two African American people. Image Courtesy – Times West Virginian
George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks – two African American has died within a span of 18 days. Naturally, a demand to reform the police force in the United States has come up. George Floyd was killed on May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis and Rayshard Brooks was killed on June 12, 2020, in Georgia.
US President Donald Trump told that they wanted better law and order in the country so that everyone should get equal justice. It was informed by a statement of the White House that President Trump was completely in favour of police reform. The police force would have to be more disciplined as per the new law. Information on the misconduct of the officers would have to be made public since it was not available.
Demands for police reform intensified after protests against Floyd’s assassination. During this, it was said that police officers use excessive force and sometimes weapons are used without any reason. However, the new law that Trump is going to approve is just a matter of administrative reforms. Nothing has been told about the way the police force use their power.
Read: Floyd’s death sparked violent protests in US, Horse Mounted Police to control
Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old African-American, was shot and killed by a police officer in Georgia on June 12, 2020. After this incident, the demand for police reform intensified. People gathered into the streets in Atlanta after this incident. A relative of Brooks said that their trust has been finished on the police force. If a major change has been made in the police department, only then their trust would come back again. President Trump had expressed concern over the Brooks case. He said that the incident was very disturbing and he remained alert on the subject.
Georgia’s legal department said in a statement that Brooks had been shot twice. The responsible police officer has been dismissed. Another officer involved in the incident was transferred to the administration.
The incident occurred on June 12, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Brooks’ car was in the parking area. He was sleeping in it. Police officers thought that he was drunk. During the interrogation, Brooks had a scuffle with the police. He snatched an officer’s gun and tried to run away. The other officer then followed him. While fleeing, Brooks reacted and aimed his gun at the officer. Meanwhile, the officer shot him. Brooks later died. The police chief of Atlanta resigned after the incident.
A sign of impatience and use of excessive power was found in the officers’ behaviour as in the case of George Floyd and later in the case of Rayshard Brooks. So, there must be some reform in the police force in the US as President Trump has also been thinking, and some control over the use of power should be implemented.
