America’s Problem

As Baltimore erupted this week after the death of yet another person of color at the hands of police, it has become ever more clear that the ill treatment of minorities by police, particularly young black men, is not limited to any one city or town.

Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Akai Gurley, Freddie Gray — the names of the dead have become too familiar, and the carnage too widespread for their deaths to be considered anything less than a national crisis. Localized responses will continue to be inadequate; what must follow now is a top-to-bottom rethinking about law enforcement with serious attention given to the hiring and promotion practices of police departments, as well as how they are organized and overseen.

Officers’ rage, and perhaps fear, seems to play a big part in these confrontations turned deadly. A common thread running through many of them is that they initially involved the victim’s running from police or resisting arrest. Activists have begun to frame this as “running while black.” And this seems to be what brought on Mr. Gray’s death, as well as that of Walter Scott, who was shot eight times in the back in South Carolina.

In March, President Obama spoke about a White House task force that recommended changes, including independent investigations of the use of force by police and an overhaul of the criminal justice system. That did not go far enough, however, failing, for example, to call for the widespread use of police body cameras and other measures to assure police accountability.

Make no mistake, this is a state of emergency that goes far beyond Baltimore. The strongest possible national leadership is needed at this point, from Mr. Obama and Congress alike. Baltimore’s problem is America’s problem, no matter how removed some of us may feel.