United States

Black Police Chiefs Grapple With Officers' Treatment of Young Black Men

Some researchers have found that a significantly higher number of black police officers has the potential to ease tensions between police and black communities

As high-profile police shootings continue to shake the United States, a growing number of black police chiefs are struggling to deal with the way their officers treat young men of color, NBC News reported.

Daniel Hahn, police chief of Sacramento where Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old black man, was killed in March, is among the officers trying to deal with this issue. He said Clark's death was "another piece of evidence that our relationship with the community was not where it needed to be."

American police departments have long struggled with allegations of racism and brutality, but a renewed sense of urgency was sparked in recent years. According to some researchers, a significantly higher number of black police officers has the potential to ease tensions between police and black communities. According to the most recently available government data on local police departments, 12 percent of departments were black and 73 percent were white in 2013.

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