From lack of black representation in both the jury and the police force to the prosecutor’s obvious negligence, there were many disturbing situations to be found in the Michael Brown case; but chief among them was the lack of solid evidence throughout the trial.
There were countless witness testimonies describing Brown’s last moments, some saying that he had his hands up, others saying he had them balled in fists with his body in a running position. Really, the only solid evidence in the case circumstantially backed up Officer Darren Wilson’s testimony.
That being said, the entire trial essentially became one big match of “he-said, she-said.” No one truly knew what happened that day besides Wilson and the people who witnessed the shooting — those who obviously didn’t provide the court with reliable stories.
The shooting could have easily been a case of racism. After all, 67 percent of the Ferguson, Missouri, population is black and only three of the 53 officers making up its police department are black. Additionally, last year Ferguson black residents made up 86 percent of the of the vehicle stops and around 93 percent of arrests coinciding with those stops.
It also could have easily been the other way around. Wilson could, as he testified, have felt his life was threatened and used force accordingly. He could have simply been doing his job, one that requires a great deal of risk and forces officers to think on their feet in situations of life and death.
The problem with this trial, and many trials like it is: We’ll never know.
There was no video evidence or even pictures until after the incident was over. If we learned anything from "12 Angry Men," it’s that no one wants to make rash judgments without sufficient information.
This is why it’s essential for the protection of both the officers and the citizens involved that the current system is reformed, using instruments like body cameras to provide a solid basis for police cases as well as hold officers responsible.
The use of on-the-body camera’s nearly guarantees success. Just last year, the police force in the small city of Rialto, California, decided to test the idea in a randomized controlled study in which they gave officers on the job cameras.
The results were staggering, with citizen complaints dropping by 88 percent and the use of force employed by officers dropping by nearly 60 percent.
Such statistics call into question whether the entire Ferguson case would even be an issue if such cameras were employed earlier on.
The use of camera’s provide an easy fix to a comparatively massive issue that sprouts into many different facets, easing both tensions and violence among communities like Ferguson.
They would provide a source a comfort to outraged protesters, record actual evidence of encounters thus giving citizens and officers alike a safety jacket, and drastically drop brutality and tensions between the two parties.
And for once, officials are finally giving cameras the attention they deserve.
What the case did, if nothing else, is it gave this demand for reform a platform to stand on. The outrage of countless citizens across the U.S. holds promise in that it will fuel the reform that will inevitably come.
While deep seated issues like that lack of representation in police forces and lack of accurate records on police killings still remain prominent, the events in Ferguson actually provided the instruments for police forces and citizens affected by this issue to take a step in the right direction.
In that sense, the lack of indictment of Darren Wilson was the start of a search for transparency.
Reach the columnist at mjanetsk@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @meganjanetsky
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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