In an on-going trend of police violence against Blacks, BPS decided to ask the Black community its opinion on the relations between Blacks and the police. The purpose is to gather data in various areas of that relationship to gauge a clear understanding of the level of justice Black America perceive they get from police.

The questions below gather a broad range of data from personal experience with police, to the amount of police in Black communities, to how Blacks in that community believe they are being treated, whether fairly or unfairly, in addition to what they believe the boundaries should be.

Out of 166 polled, we asked the following questions:

Have you personally ever or recently experienced injustice when coming in contact with the police?

• I never have - 30.56%
• Yes, maybe once - 25.00%
• Yes, more than once - 44.44%

A yes answer outnumbered a no answer by 38.88%, revealing a large majority of Blacks confess to being treated wrongfully by police or have had suspensions about the way they were treated. Moreover, more Blacks confess to being treated wrong more than once. This makes a strong, definite case against police abuse of Blacks in America.

Do you know someone personally who have had unjust experiences with the police.

• No, I do not - 19.44%
• Yes, I do - 44.44%
• Yes, more than 1 person - 36.11%

Again, when asked about police injustice, more Blacks confess that someone or more than 1 person they know have been treated wrong by police, which also places in question treatment of Blacks by police overall. Questions one and two together show that an overwhelming amount of Blacks have had or know someone in their circle, who have experienced at some time mistreatment by police.

Are the police in your area mostly Black or mostly white?

• Mostly Black - 5.56%
• Mostly white - 47.22%
• A mixture - 47.22%

In an attempt to narrow and capture a specific scope of the racial composition from the first two questions, the above question reveals that the majority of police who patrol Black communities are white officers despite the fact that there are Blacks on the police force in any given city or locality. Therefore, we conclude that when Blacks do encounter harassment, they encounter it most of the time from white officers.

Do you believe that young Black men being killed by police mostly bring it on themselves or are being targeted?

• Bring it on themselves - 11.11%
• Being targeted - 44.44%
• A little of both - 44.44%

Again, when combining the percentages of the highest two answers, more Blacks believe that young Black men we often read about in the news killed by police, are mostly targets of law enforcement as opposed to bringing death by police on themselves. Granted, people will provoke police in many ways however, where it pertains to Blacks, provocation has less to do with murder than the simple injustice of targeting Blacks for death. This reveals that young Black men possibly live in a state of paranoia when confronted by police thus bringing an unexpected reaction that is taken wrongfully by the police.

Do you ever hear of young white men being killed by police?

• Yes, more than Blacks - 8.57%
• No, almost never - 57.14%
• Sometimes, but less than Blacks - 34.29%

More than half of those polled confess to hearing more cases of young Black men being killed by police than young white men. Regardless of how many young whites are killed by police in proportion to Blacks, the news media reports mainly on young Black men thus sending a negative message to society, one that brings on the public a fear for young Black men. This also reveals that the justice system has less tolerance for young Black men than they do young white men.

Should police have the right to shoot a resistant suspect?

• No, never - 54.29%
• Yes, if needed - 17.14%
• On certain occasions - 28.57%

In the case of police having the right to shoot a resistant suspect, more believe that they should not have that right, regardless of what color. Only 17% believe they should, and 28% believe on certain occasions should police have the right to shoot someone who is resisting. However, if it is a question of whether the suspect is white or Black guaranteed that the answers would change. (Black People Speak will research that on its own soon.)

Would you feel safer in your community if law enforcement erected a prison tower in a crime-ridden area of your community?

• Yes, it is a wise deterrent - 13.89%
• No, I would feel like a prisoner - 77.78%
• Makes me no difference - 8.33%

Harlem, New York, recently erected a guard tower in a crime ridden area of the city and reported that the residents said "they like the idea." Black People Speak could not choke this down as a reality and decided to research the issue and according to the results, an overwhelming number of people said that they would feel like prisoners if their city were to do something similar. You can read the article here, and if ever your city did something of this sort, please contact afromerica.com, the ALM to report it and we will challenge this to the end.

Conclusion
According to the poll of Blacks and the Police, we now have an understanding of how Blacks perceive themselves in the eyes of the police. The results show that Blacks feel mistreated, harassed and targeted by a system that protects the white population by either media exposure or judicial means.

More Blacks have had experiences or know someone who has negative run-ins with police and as a result feel threatened by police when approached, not knowing what to expect. They believe that the police should not have the rights they do and obviously something should be done by the justice system to put an end to the one-sided treatment of America's Black citizens.

This report must be mailed to your local television or radio station as a statement from Black America to investigate the police department in your community before something goes wrong and violence is the result. Thank you and Stay Strong.