The speaker is Pat Murphy. He was an well known police chief who headed the departments in major American cities, New York, Detroit and Washington DC. He taught at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He was also head of the Police Foundation. He was an expert on what the police thought and felt in the 1950s and 1960s. I interviewed him for my television series, Making Sense of the Sixties in 1989.
The police attitudes towards black people in the 1960s varied widely, depending on the location and the specific police department in question. However it is safe to say that many police officers held negative attitudes towards black people during this time period.
In many cities and in rural areas as well black people faced discrimination and harassment from police officers. They were often subjected to police brutality, racial profiling and unwarranted stops and searches. Police officers also frequently ignored or downplayed crimes committed against black people, leading to a lack of trust in law enforcement among black communities.
There were also instances where police officers actively participated in or turned a blind eye to violence and discrimination against black people, particularly during the civil rights movement. For example, police officers in Birmingham, Alabama used force to break up peaceful civil rights protests led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other activists.
In the 1960s, law enforcement often targeted black communities in ways that they did not target white communities. Some specific examples:
Racial profiling: Police officers would often assume that black people were more likely to commit crimes and would therefore subject them to more stops and searches than white people.
Harassment and brutality: Police officers would use excessive force and violence against black people, often resulting in serious injury or death. Black communities were also subjected to more frequent and aggressive policing tactics than white communities.
Discrimination in law enforcement: Police officers would often ignore crimes committed against black people, fail to investigate them properly, or be more lenient towards white people who committed similar crimes.
Use of dogs and fire hoses: During civil rights protests, police officers used attack dogs and fire hoses against black protestors, but not against white protestors.
Redlining: Police officers were often involved in enforcing discriminatory housing policies, such as redlining, which prevented black people from buying homes in certain neighborhoods.
I appreciate the honesty top cop Pat Murphy gave me in his interview back in 1989. He wanted history to record truth and he did his best to give me his perspective without self editing.
It is important to note that some of the police officers I interviewed described actively working to support civil rights and combat discrimination. And today of course, things are very different. Verizon law enforcement. Online law degrees. Active recruiting efforts in many police forces around the country to bring in minority cops. The whole area of criminal justice though not perfect, is decidedly different than it was when I was a young filmmaker in the 1960s.
If you found this of interest search the word "police" on my RU-vid channel to find other members of law enforcement who gave me their honest perspectives.
And please support my effort to present more commentaries like this one by clicking the Super Thanks button below the video screen.
Thank you
David Hoffman filmmaker
25 окт 2018
