Hemisphere Weekly: Second wave

First came COVID-19, then came the murder hornets, now the United States is going through a period of unrest as demonstrations in every state demand justice for George Floyd and protest against police brutality. On March 25, George Floyd, a black man, was murdered on camera by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, as two other officers helped restrain him and one looked on, over Floyd’s alleged use of a forged $20 bill. Floyd’s death—along with the government’s failure to immediately charge Chauvin and the recent deaths of other black Americans like Breonna Taylor—was the last straw in what has been years of impunity over the murders of black people by law enforcement in America. 

As Americans take to the streets to demand police reform, the handling of protests by law enforcement across the country is reigniting old conversations on the militarization of the police force and how that contributes to the deterioration of democracy. A longstanding policy in Latin America—examples include Brazil and El Salvador—at its core, the militarization of local law enforcement is part of an iron fist policy to tackle the problem of crime and violence. But as Orlando J. Pérez notes, evidence shows these plans don’t work, “[policymakers need to] understand that crime can only be tackled effectively by a multidimensional approach…conversely, continued militarization of policing functions will perpetuate a vicious cycle of repression, crime and institutional weakness that together will increase violence and undermine democratic governance.”