Deadly force by US police compounds global disdain

In a report citing the kind of troubling figures that, had they applied to most other countries, might have prompted warnings of necessary foreign intervention, the Washington Post notes at least 385 people – ranging in age from 16 to 83 – have died at the hands of police across the United States this year. One in six of those victims was unarmed, it said, and most were black or Hispanic. And less than 1 per cent of the police officers involved in the cases were charged with any criminal offence.

The United States is a populous country, so fatality rates in upholding the law are apt to be relatively high. Regardless, a growing number of Americans are alarmed at the statistics piling up this year. The Washington Post reported that police have been directly or indirectly involved in the deaths of a daily average of 2.6 people thus far in 2015. 

The FBI, however, says the figure is actually 1.1 deaths a day, based on statistics over the past decade showing 400 fatal police shootings a year.

However the fatalities are tallied, the only “good news” is that American democracy prevents such numbers from being swept under the carpet. 

On the contrary, the rising body count is routinely reported, and police killings of unarmed citizens have sparked demonstrations – and riots – in several towns and cities. Excessive use of force by the police, especially against minorities, has tarnished the American justice system. 

High-profile figures have gone on record as saying there is a major flaw and it needs to be addressed.

At the same time there is growing suspicion that we have yet to understand the true magnitude of the problem. 

African Americans are attempting to address the issue by various means, including a global 

online campaign that carries 

the social-media hashtag “#BlackLivesMatter”. The racist undertones of the killings are clear enough: two-thirds of the unarmed citizens who have died by police hands were either African American or Hispanic, even though it should be noted that the overall count for both armed and unarmed victims is virtually equally divided between Caucasians and minority groups.

For the moment we are left with the troubling spectacle of American diplomats around the world promoting the right to vote, when in their own country citizens are being denied the presumption of innocence unless found guilty in court, a fundamental right of the US Constitution. 

The world is prepared to admire “the American dream” and appreciates the many benefits and opportunities shared by the US, but we are also seeing a country that has never truly embraced the equality espoused by its founding fathers. 

True democracy protects the innocent, regardless of race or creed, and doesn’t presume guilt. It ensures that everyone has the same chances in life. 

The family and friends of the innocents killed by police will care little now for American military or technological might. 

The system has let them down in a way that could have been easily avoided had genuine democratic principles been securely in place. 

The cracks in American democracy will hopefully grow no bigger, but attempts to paper them over – for example by diverting public attention to imagined or perceived threats from overseas – threaten the country’s future in a far direr manner than any jihadists or military rivals. 

Dissent will only fester and an explosion will be inevitable. Beyond America’s borders, its innate hypocrisy is already the subject of disdain and ridicule. These internal and external forces must not be allowed to combine and undermine all the good that the US claims to stand for and stand up for.