Citizens can now report instances of police misconduct by sending instant text messages, emails, or videos by cell phone using National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)’s new Rapid Reporting System (RRS), said a statement by the NAACP.
The goal of the program is to alleviate the many barriers to reporting police brutality. In 2002, there were 26,000 citizen complaints about police misconduct filed to local and state law enforcement agencies, the statement said. However, many instances are not reported due to fear of police departments and a “lack of trust in the integrity of the system,” said President and CEO of NAACP Benjamin Jealous in a statement.
The Rapid Reporting System, which was put into effect on July 6, is used for “statistical reporting services only,” the “Police Use of Force Incident Documentation Form” on the NAACP’s Web site said. The information collected by NAACP will help advance its “criminal justice efforts.”
In his speech at the 100th Annual Convention, President and CEO Benjamin Jealous criticized the “tough on crime” policy started under President Richard Nixon as “stupid.” He explained that, “The logic behind racial profiling is ‘If we focus on finding people who look a certain way instead of what they do, then we will find more people who do bad things.’ No, you’ll just find more people who look a certain way.”
According to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs, in 2008, 4,777 black male inmates per 100,000 black males were incarcerated in federal, state, and local jails, compared to 727 white male inmates per 100,000 white males. The NAACP’s Juvenile Justice Fact Sheet reports that while African Americans were 16 percent of the youth population in the United States, 58 percent of the youths admitted to state adult prison were African American.
The NAACP recognizes issues in the criminal justice system. The key to combating crime, Jealous said, is not to be “tougher” but “smarter and safer.”
Ross Smith, a NAACP officer in the Westchester Branch, explained that police “Go over their authority and profile people of color” because they hail from a different area of New York and do not understand the culture and ethnicity in the areas that they serve. He said that, “Police need more training and more sensitivity programs,” in order to overcome these conflicts.
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