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The occurrence and familiarity of violence inflicted by members of the police force are connected with mental and emotional suffering and distress dissimilar from trauma triggered by other types of ferocity, establishing a public health crisis for populations greatest disturbed (DeVylder et al., 2020).
According to DeVylder et al. (2022) and Ober (2020), Black, Indigenous, Latino, sexual minority populations, and other marginalized communities stand at greater risk of discrete mental health trials and tribulations, along with the extreme risk of demise inflicted by members of the police community (DeVylder et al., 2020). Young-Drake et al. (n.d.) state that Black people are more susceptible to encountering chronic, tenacious mental health conditions for various reasons. Also, amongst African American youth and adults, mental health specialists have formerly started a causal connection amid racism and an upsurge in anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and suicide Young-Drake et al., (n.d.). Even though African Americans experience mental illness at the same decreased occurrence in America as White Americans, the historical pattern of the experience is very different. African Americans' experience endures to be described by trauma and violence more than White Americans; also, African Americans are influenced emotionally and mentally by youth and adults (Mental Health America, 2022).
The aftereffects of police violence and brutality in American society are a public health matter because police ferocity is not undergone proportionately. On the other hand, it has a lop-sided and unequal influence on the mental health of ethnic, racial, and sexual minorities. The data reveals that Psychologists agree that trauma stimulates biological or psychological vicissitudes that reveal as time advances as psychiatric indicators, mainly when the trauma is physical or sexually brutal (Ober, 2020). The demise of George Floyd in Minnesota (Smith & Rodriguez, 2020) and succeeding nationwide protests such as Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia (Strazewski, 2020) and Dante Wright in Minnesota (BBC News Services, 2022) are spotlighting, afresh, the link flanked by police criminal justice, cruelty, ruthlessness, and public health (Smith & Rodriguez, 2020; Strazewski, 2020). Also, after George Floyd’s death, medical professionals began corroborating assertions from protestors and advocates concerning the injurious and hurtful influences of entrenched bigotry and intolerance. Physicians’ associations denounced police inhumanity, highlighted bigotry and intolerance as a public health concern, and pushed for the universal transformation of police behaviors, training, and associated laws (Smith & Rodriguez, 2020). Medical professionals included but were not limited to the American College of Physicians, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (Howard, 2020). Messages were made public through tweets linked to policy statements, individual tweets, and joint association publicized statements (Howard, 2020).
Even in 2022, the perception of inequity continued to prevail. Meetings to discuss and examine the connection concerning police violence, systemic racism, and health equity during a pandemic persisted, as well as the message that police cruelty and ruthlessness are public health issues (Strazewski, 2020). Police violence and the application of undue force create health issues with victims (DeVylder et al., 2022). The public attention through Black Lives Matter protests and the killing of African American Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, spurred discussions about police brutality as a genuine threat to public health and a health equity issue (Lowery, 2017; Sandoiu, 2020).