By Mel Wilson, NASW Senior Policy Advisor
Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old mother and Woodside Township, IL resident, called 911 on July 6 to report a home invasion. When the police arrived, Sonya remained calm and in control. Even when the law officers suddenly changed the situation from investigating a reported prowler to one where the officers treated her as a threat to their safety, she followed their instructions and made no actions that would suggest harmful intent.
Despite those facts, a Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office deputy shot and killed Ms. Massey at close range, during which time he and his partner could be heard yelling expletive-filled orders at her. Shockingly, as Ms. Massey lay on the floor dying, they refused to render aid as required by police use of force standards.
Ms. Massey should not be dead, considering she was unarmed and not a threat to the officers. This is true even if one factors in suspected presence of mental illness on the part of Ms. Massey – which has been implied in some reports.
Based her mother’s 911 call on the previous day, Ms. Massey’s mental illness did not pose a threat to herself or others. Therefore, the sheriff deputies had many other options for managing the situation without resorting to lethal force. The deputies simply failed to the use skills, techniques, and abilities — that their training would have taught them— to effectively and appropriately address the situation, while minimizing violence .
Factors of Race and Racism in Excessive and Use-of-Force Cases
There are inequities at every level of the criminal justice system. As a result of disparities in arrests and prosecution, there are many more African American and Latino males in jail than any other racial groups. They are also vastly more likely to be killed by police.
Recent studies indicate that racial minorities represented 62.7 percent of unarmed people killed by police. Emerging data and studies indicate that disparities in police use of force is more widespread across the entire American criminal justice system.
People of color continue be the victim of discriminatory, and deadly policing. Police and other law enforcement encounters continue to result in the deaths of Indigenous, Latinx, and Black people at significantly higher rates—as much as 350 percent more frequently—than white people. Such disparities are much more evident when we look at nonfatal uses of force by police — where police similarly target people of color, especially Black people, for stops and arrests at much higher rates than white people.
The deaths of Ms. Massey, George Floyd, Eric Gardner, and Breonna Taylor demonstrate there is a continued need for enhanced use-of-force training. To that end, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D- IL) has re-introduced the Police Training and Independent Review Act. The background statement of the act states that: “On average, police in the United States shoot and kill more than 1,000 people every year. Despite staggering rates of fatal on-duty shootings, low conviction rates highlight the challenges in holding police officers accountable. Factors such as close relationships between local prosecutors and police departments can hinder independent investigations and impact the pursuit of charges and convictions.”
As its title suggests, the Police Training and Independent Review Act seeks to greatly reducing incidents of excessive use -of- force by authorizing states to expand training on use of force standards, The bill also authorizes funds to hold police accountable allowing states to conduct independent investigations of incidents of excessive force resulting in injuries and deaths.
What can be Done to End Unjustifiable Law Enforcement Excessive use of Force?
Implicit and Explicit Bias Training
Use of excessive force does not necessarily stem from of overt racism, according to research. There are recent studies that suggest that law enforcement officers’ decisions to use force is more likely the product of unconsciously biased, decisions that instigate disproportionate arrests, shooting deaths, and incarceration of Black and Latino men. This is commonly referred to as implicit bias.
For that reason, many advocates and law enforcement agencies believe that training on explicit and implicit bias is essential. Data that points to racial and ethnic disparities among victims of excessive police force cannot be ignored. Although implicit bias is often associated with white law enforcement officers in the encounters with Black or Brown suspects, the Center for Policing Equity says Black-on-Black implicit bias also exists. Therefore, implicit bias trainers and participants must approach the need for implicit bias training to include all police, regardless of race or ethnicity.
Demonstrators protesting in front of police.
Legislation (The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act)
The murder of George Floyd was such a horrific public execution (spectators captured it on cellphone video) that it caused world-wide outrage and condemnation and a call for comprehensive policing reforms. In response to the demand for changes in police practices, a Democratic-led House passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Unfortunately, the legislation failed to pass the Senate. Among many other standards and practices to address abuses in the bill there is a use of force provision that states:
“Deadly force be used only as a last resort and requires officers to employ de-escalation techniques first. Changes the standard to evaluate whether law enforcement use of force was justified from whether the force was ‘reasonable’ to whether the force was ‘necessary.'”
NASW has joined the social justice and civil rights community in calling for passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
Body Cameras
It is important to note how essential police body worn cameras have become in the quest for accountability and transparency during police encounters, especially in incidences of excessive use of force. The body worn cameras have been immeasurably valuable for public awareness with respect to Ms. Massey’s shooting death and many other recent lethal force tragedies.
NASW is an active member of several policing reform coalitions and these groups nearly a decade of ago successfully mobilized to demand that all law enforcement agencies mandate that officers have body cameras. As demonstrated in the Sonia Massey case, they continue to play a crucial role in modern policing.
However, it is problematic that the officer who shot Ms. Massey did not turn on his body camera until after he fired his weapon Ms. Massey. For that reason, NASW recommends that all law enforcement offices be subject to penalties for turning off camera during official encounters with suspects.
Review of hiring practices and Background Checks Standards for police
One of the most concerning things that came out of the reports about the background of the officer who killed Ms. Massey is that he had worked for six different police department over a four-year period. He also had two DUI charges between 2015 and 2016. Lastly, this deputy was discharged from the Army for serious misconduct – the details of which are confidential according to military policy. Such a record is a “red flag” that reflects badly on the police agencies that hired him, and on the integrity of their hiring and background check standards.
According to the Department of Justice, police agencies traditionally have used the hiring process primarily to identify and exclude candidates who do not meet certain agency standards. The emphasis of 21st century policing is for police agencies to use the hiring process to do more than simply disqualify the negative. They should use that process to proactively identify candidates who demonstrate positive attributes.
In the aftermath of this latest use of lethal force incident, it is imperative the Justice Department work with local police and law enforcement agencies on developing national standards for recruiting and hiring law enforcement officers. Such standards must reflect the 21st Century Policing criteria and model for screening out officers who have the deficits shown by the deputy who took Ms. Massey’s life.
Sonia Massey’s shooting death at the hands of a law enforcement officer is more than a personal tragedy – it is a national shame. The national shame is rooted in the fact that, in America, between 2013 and 2019 more than 1,000 unarmed people died as a result of police use-of-force and approximately a third of these victims were people who are Black. However, despite intense advocacy and social actions by the police reform community, there seems to be no end to such killings.
In the absence of national standards and mandatory use-of-force training for all law enforcement officers, America will continue to function with a fragmented pattern and practice system of use-of-force guidelines. Similarly, there is an absence of national standards on employment screening for police officers to identify the “red flags” shown by the deputy who Ms. Massey encountered.
Lastly, but of equal importance, is the need for improved training for all law enforcement officers on implicit and explicit bias when they encounter people of color. Related to the need to address racial disparities in deaths from lethal use-of- force, there is also a need for national standards for disaggregated data collection which tracks incidents excessive use-of-force by race, ethnicity and other similar demographics.
