How responsible will Louisiana’s law enforcement be with their new responsibilities?

George Floyd’s death sparked national outrage and inspired discourse about police reform and the systematic racism in the police force. The relationship between black people and law enforcement has always been trauma. This traces back to history and the stereotype that black men were deemed to be dangerous to the white community especially to white women and white children. These stereotypes enforced such harsh treatment we still see in society from the law enforcement to the black community.

Transformative justice is a series of practices and philosophies designed to create change in social systems. This is usually an alternative way to deal with societal issues to transition away from conflicts or repression. In an attempt to create reform, save lives from being taken by some police officers, and change the historic brutality of police practices, states are reviewing police protocols to ensure safety for both the police and the general public. In this spirit, Louisiana recently enacted Article Number 430, effective on August 1, 2021.

The new law creates responsibilities for law enforcement officers while interacting with the public. This new law ensures police officers use their motor vehicle dash camera, body camera, the use of chokeholds and carotid holds are prohibited, except when an officer reasonably believes he or another person is at risk of great bodily harm or when deadly force is authorized, and no execution of no-knock warrant except in exigent cases.

Moreover, this law does not only affect the police officers and their daily routine but this restorative justice will pave the way for the community to restore their dignity. Through the use of body and dash cameras, there would be fewer chances that police brutality and misuse of justice becoming prevalent in society. Proper usage and screening of these videos will serve adequate justice and prevent horror stories like Ronald Greene’s death that was caused by police brutality and covered up by fabricated stories here in our state. The police will use less harmful tactics when dealing with the public to ensure that whoever they come across is not harmed by certain procedures such as chokeholds when there are other alternatives to calm and address situations.

This reform will bring about change in the community and hopefully dismantle some of the long-standing systematic racism that occurs daily in the justice system that was set up by white supremacy. Systematic racism is a form of racism that is embedded through laws and regulations within society or an organization. This leads to certain issues such as police brutality and discrimination. Systematic racism still has a strong impact on law enforcement because the thought of black people being radicals, harmful and bad members of society formed by stereotypes leads to police officers choking black people when the issue or the event does not require such a response. Officers tend to deal with black people in harsher thus, this law will help dismantle such practices upon black people in the community.

The people of Louisiana will be expecting a more transparent way of policing and also, a policing procedure that is fair to all and not just harsh to a particular group based on systematic racism. The people will also believe and repair their relationship with the law enforcement if these procedures are followed by the law enforcement.

– Gabriella A. McCarthy

This article originally published in the July 19, 2021 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.