Commentary
Oberland Agency Offers Guide To Confronting Police Brutality
- by Richard Whitman , Columnist, April 27, 2021
New York-based agency Oberland has issued a comprehensive guide with suggestions about how to confront police brutality at the community level.
The guide was published last week, just a few days after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd in a case that has garnered headlines since the tragedy occurred nearly a year ago.
“We are relieved that a just verdict was delivered on behalf of George Floyd and his family,” agency leaders Bill Oberlander and Drew Train said in a joint statement. “We also recognize that systemic racism and police brutality continue to be a crisis in this country, putting Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in harm's way on a daily basis.”
The verdict in the Floyd case is “just the beginning,” the executives asserted. “Confronting racial injustice requires our continued focus, effort and action.”
The guide reports some disturbing statistics. For example: 7 in 10 Black Americans say they are treated less fairly than Whites in their dealings with police.
In addition to a list of action items, the guide also offers additional resources addressing the issue. See the full guide here.
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Our survey testing of messages on driver response to a police stop included approximately 100 male New Jersey African-Americans and a comparison sample of non-African-Americans. Age 18 to 34, they evaluated PSA scripts delivered by a revered NBA Hall of Fame inductee. We found that A-A’s in particular saw more value in a “Stay calm – know the law” approach than one elaborating on the risks of being uncooperative with the police. Done with Princeton Partners Advertising of Princeton, NJ.