Chauvin guilty verdict 'sets a precedent.' But can it change justice in America?

A knee on his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, a jury ruled this week. But through Floyd's death, and through guilty verdicts on all three counts, experts say that the United States may have finally reached a turning point in acknowledging how Black Americans are too often mistreated by police. It represents a step forward in racial justice and perhaps better policing. "Basically, I do believe we are at an inflection point," said the Rev. Rodney E. Williams, president of the Kansas City branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, "in which America is tired and sickened by seeing Black death committed by racist police officers. "In the case of George Floyd, when America watched Officer Chauvin pose with his hands in his pockets and acted as if the execution of George Floyd was some kind of Kodak moment, that showed many Americans that immoral actions and treatments by those called to protect and serve take place not just in Minnesota but all over the country. "I also think that we are at an inflection moment because the national news has shown, through its unbiased coverage, that equal protection under the law is not a reality for Black men and Black women. ... Since the George Floyd state-sponsored execution, it has prompted a wave of protests across America for racial equality and justice like we have not seen in recent memory." It was the teenager's video of Floyd's murder that galvanized a nation, said Kansas filmmaker Kevin Willmott, whose movies include "The BlacKkKlansman" and, recently, "Da 5 Bloods." "We've never really seen in a major major public crime like this, a white policeman really go to jail for killing a Black victim," said Willmott, who teaches film studies at the University of Kansas. "I think the George Floyd murder is so, the visual of it was so disturbing that I think that has changed everything. ... There were a lot of white people who really did not fully understand that police could do this to Black people. I think the video changed that. And I think that's what moved the meter to acknowledge Black Lives Matter. I think a lot of people knew it, but I think the video is so devastating that they will never kind of question it again." Williams' prime caution, however, is for the U.S. not to be pacified or lulled into thinking that such acts are those of just racist or violent individuals and not also the consequence of racist policies. "What I'm hoping," he said, "is that we can work harder at changing policy, because America has a track record of doing good for a little while. We need policies that are righteous. We need policies that are moral. Unless we have that, I don't see why we're going to be victorious." Changes in America A campaign, #8cantwait, has been keeping track of changes in police tactics. Since Floyd's death on May 25 last year, 21 more cities now require officers to intervene should another be using excessive force. Sixteen states now restrict the use of neck restraint like that used on Floyd. Brandon Davis, a KU assistant professor of public affairs who has studied criminal justice and politics, said a guilty verdict in Floyd's murder is significant simply as precedent. "Well, I think first, we have to look at what it's been like, the status quo," Davis said. "The status quo is usually no indictment. The status quo is usually we never get this far. ... Cops usually do not get indicted for these things." He cited data kept by the Police Integrity Research Group at Bowling Green State University showing that each year, police in the U.S. shoot and kill about 1,000 people. But in the last 16 years, since 2005, only 140 police officers, sheriff's deputies or state troopers have been arrested for murder or manslaughter. Of those, 44 were convicted of any crime. Thirty were convicted of murder or some form of manslaughter. "A guilty verdict like this," he said of the Chauvin case, "sets a precedent. It is a big brick in starting to build a wall in protecting people from police violence or state violence." The names of dozens of high-profile victims, Black men, women and even children, killed by police have resounded from Black Lives Matter and other protesters who demand that people say and remember them and how they died: Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, Daunte Wright. But the nationwide protests after Floyd's death placed white privilege, police violence and systemic racism at the top of the national agenda. Whereas in 2016, NFL quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick was lambasted for kneeling during the national anthem in protest of police brutality against Black people, after Floyd's death, corporate America signed on in support of the mission. "I do think that we are in a moment," Davis said. "I think we are in a moment of reckoning with not all racial inequality happening in America, but I do think this is a moment that people will talk about in the future." But Davis, too, is cautious. Although the Chauvin trial ended with a conviction, he notes that the cause of death was not a police shooting. Such shootings often still remain contentious, even in the face of body camera footage, which is frequently challenged. Look at the data Philip Stinson, a professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green who keeps a database on deaths at the hands of police, is also less optimistic. "No matter what the outcome of this trial, there is still going to be widespread civil unrest in many places across the country," he said. "We need to rethink policing. It's broken in many regards. We have to change the culture of policing." He said some people take heart in data that show that between 2005 and 2015, the annual number of police indicted for murder or manslaughter remained in the single digits. In 2018, the numbers jumped to 10, then 12, 16. So far, in 2021, the number is 12. But Stinson notes that those numbers, though rising, are still minuscule given that an average of 1,000 people each year are shot and killed by police. "If you look at what I call the police culture, one of the common features that we see with many officers at many of these thousands of agencies is that many police officers exhibit a fear of Black men and Black boys," Stinson said. "As long as as that's a core element of the police subculture, I think it's very difficult to legislate police reforms." Hans Menos, vice president of law enforcement initiatives at the Center for Policing Equity, sees progress. "In many ways, things have already changed," he said. "When we talk about, like, mainstream issues. If you watch a television show, a typically white American television show, ABC, NBC, shows, you will find a direct reference to the murder of George Floyd and to the concept that Black lives have been devalued. You'll find characters owning that and trying to help folks digest that. "So, what I find interesting about that is that we haven't necessarily seen that, the idea that Black lives matter, that Black lives have been terrorized and devalued, pushed into the mainstream in that way." He speaks of other "cultural touchstones." "How many statues went down this summer?" Menos said of monuments to Confederate leaders and slave owners. "Those statues are not going back up." Discussions on policing have intensified, he said, as have discussions of racism in the workplace. "It's why George Floyd's nine-minute video meant so much to this country," he said. "Because Black people telling people about their experiences has never been enough. "We needed to see it to believe it." ___ (c)2021 The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.) Visit The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.) at www.kansascity.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.