Black Lives Matter, Police Lives Matter

Abstract

Throughout 2020 there have been numerous protests bringing attention to police brutality against minorities. Most of these demonstrations associated with the Black Lives Matter movement have been peaceful, yet news media has focused mainly on those that have been hostile. The police response of countering aggression with aggression often makes these situations more violent and increases the probability of similar protests in the future. This chapter will examine the history of policing as it relates to race relations while exploring several high-profile cases of police brutality against minorities over the past 30 years. The chapter will also discuss how police training, rhetoric, and increased militarization has fractured the police relationship with minorities in their communities. Since it is more realistic to change the police approach to these violent encounters than it is to change the actions of civilians, the chapter calls for reform while providing potential solutions from the field of conflict resolution to help police mitigate these hostile situations.