History

The National Black Police Association was organized in November of 1972. This organization started after a meeting in St. Louis, Missouri where there were over thirteen different African American Peace Associations present. The representatives came from areas that have been plagued by discrimination against African Americans not only on personal levels but as well as amongst organizations like Police and Fire Services. The National Black Police Association according to their website was established to: help and improve the relationship between Police Departments and minority communities, help evaluate how effective polices and programs within the Criminal Justice System are to the minority community, help recruit minorities to a career in Police Service, work toward reform in the areas of; Police corruption, brutality and racial discrimination and finally to help educate police officers to work with a sense of professionalism and compassion.

Structure

The structure of the National Black Police Association is set up much like government organizations where they follow the Robert’s Rules of Order to help run and keep their organization organized. The National Black Police Association have in total five regions in the United States which are the: Easter, Southern, Northern, Western and Midwest regions. In each region according to the national website there is an elected President and a appointed Informational Officers which represent their region in the National meetings. At the National meeting the members of the regional departments serve as the Board of Directors. The national meetings are usually help at the organizations office which is in Washington, D.C. and they also monitor national funds, projects and programs of the organization. The national board then votes for one member to serve as the Executive Director of the organization. The National Black Police Association has a national conference every year where they aim to provide a space for fellow officers from around the nation to network with each other.

Membership

Members of the National Black Police Organization become apart of a organization that has been in existence for over 40 years and has a history of altering legislation both in the United States and overseas. To gain membership the interested person is responsible for paying a one-time $100.00 fee and whatever monthly fees are given by the organization. The members of the NBPA gain access to events and conferences that are exclusively offered to members which help them to become better advanced than other officers as far as training etc. The members that are apart of NBPA get a membership card which gets them discounts on air travel and hotels to name a few. They also receive an Official Lapel Pin from the organization and access to a network of other people who have shared interest. For people who are interested in joining you can click on the link below to gain access to the application.

• http://www.blackpolice.org/forms/membershipapplication.pdf

Goals

POSITIONS OF THE NATIONAL BLACK POLICE ASSOCIATION:

COMMUNITY POLICING. The NBPA supports the philosophy of Community Policing that calls for a true, cooperative partnership between the Community and the Police for safer communities.

CONTROL OF NARCOTICS. The NBPA believes that the influx of hard narcotics into this country can only be controlled by a joint effort between the supplying country and the federal government.

CRIME PREVENTION. The NBPA supports the allocation of more national and local crime fighting resources toward the prevention of crime.

DEATH PENALTY. The NBPA protests the application of the Death Penalty in all instances. The NBPA feels the Death Penalty is un-American, unjust, and unconstitutional.

HANDGUN CONTROL. The NBPA supports national handgun legislation prohibiting further manufacturing of handguns and limiting their sales, possession, and use.

POLICE BRUTALITY. Police brutality must be confronted, controlled, and outlawed by all police departments throughout the United States.

POLICE RESIDENCY. Police should be required and have their official residency in the city or municipality in which they are employed.

WOMEN IN POLICE WORK. The NBPA supports women as equal and equitable partners in the field of law enforcement, and believes them capable of performing equally as well as their male counterparts.

• Official website

Major Achievments

The National Black Police Association has recently been cited in the Newspaper for its stand point on the raids that have been taken place in Detroit, Michigan. In one of the raids a 7 year old African American girl was shot and killed by officers who were doing a raid on the house in which the little girl was at. The National Black Police Assoociation criticized the police department for the way they usea different raid tactic in the black community in comparison to the white community. The National Black Police Association came out and said that when police officers in Detroit, Michigan search homes they search black people homes with a military style and treat them like they are some kind of terrorist. Below is a link that will send you to a article that was published about this case.

• {http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/10/aiyana_stanley_jones_indictment.html}