This week on Vice:
Policing and race in America.
Let me see your hands!
Was talking to some officers, and they said,
"Black people are genetically predisposed to be criminals."
It says "Missouri Highway Patrol" on it?
- It's a cop's gun? - Yep.
And then, life-changing innovation in bionic technology.
I'm here in Zurich, Switzerland, for the Cybathlon,
which is the first-ever bionic Olympics.
I'm here in Zurich, Switzerland, for the Cybathlon,
and be the first person to move my hand
with my own brain.
Sync & corrections by honeybunny www.addic7ed.com
Go! Go! Go!
We are not animals!
With President Obama in the White House
for the past eight years,
a lot of people had hope
that racial relations in America would continue to improve.
No justice! Today, however, tensions between the black community
and police are higher than they've been in decades,
because over the last few years,
a string of high-profile killings of unarmed black men
has led to public outcry across the country,
and in extreme cases violent retaliation
and even murder of police officers themselves.
So we sent Cord Jefferson to Washington, D.C.,
to report on the chaotic state of the civil rights movement in America.
Black lives matter! Black lives matter!
We're hearing a ton of "Black lives matter" chants
as we walk toward the White House.
It seems like under President Trump,
that the Black Lives Matter issue is gonna be
only more important to these people.
Clashing between police and protesters
over the issue of race has become a common occurrence,
one which seems to be reaching its tipping point.
Brittany Packnett, one of the most prominent leaders
of the Black Lives Matter movement,
explained to us why so many people
came out to the White House.
Chaos aside, what do you think brought people out tonight?
People being clear that you can't sit on the sidelines anymore.
We are not confused that this isn't the America that we've always been in.
This is confirmation for us, but for some people, it is a wake-up call.
So, this was a conversation, very clearly, about a choice
that was made at the federal level.
Lots of the protests that happened here, though,
happened because of the work of local organizers,
because of issues of local police violence, right,
local issues of poverty, local issues of what's happening
with young people in juvenile justice.
The Black Lives Matter movement itself
gained attention after a local shooting
rocked the town of Ferguson,
a suburb of St. Louis.
The shooting of unarmed teen Mike Brown
was just the first of what would become
a series of police killings
caught on camera and shared on social media.
All appeared to have common themes
of excessive force on black victims
and little accountability for the officers involved.
Damn, man.
No justice, no peace!
Aah!
He's going for a gun!
No justice, no peace!
I told him not to reach for it! I told him to get his hand off it!
Move back now!
Shit! Fuck!
But while the Black Lives Matter movement
is most known for its protests,
behind the scenes, Brittany Packnett and other leaders
of the movement have been developing
a comprehensive plan for action
known as Campaign Zero.
What's the difference between Campaign Zero
and the Black Lives Matter movement?
So, it's a comprehensive policy platform
to end police violence in the United States.
It is a platform that articulates
what the solutions can look like,
so that we're able to get to a place
where police violence is a thing of the past.
One of Campaign Zero's biggest efforts
is pulling statistics on police killings
from local news, social media,
and national databases.
They analyze the data
to compare police departments
in cities across the country.
What we do is actually use the data
to answer important questions about what's going on.
There are some police departments
that are not killing anybody,
and there are police departments that are killing people
at extraordinary rates.
Depending on the month,
St. Louis is either the number one or number two highest police department
in terms of police-involved killings.
And almost everybody killed by St. Louis Police Department
is black. Almost everybody.
It's like about 90%.
Campaign Zero calls for simple reforms,
like increased training on De-escalation,
community oversight, and the ability
to independently investigate and prosecute
cases of extreme negligence or bias.
But to date, St. Louis has only adopted two laws
that apply to those proposed policies.
We met up with the police chief
of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department
to find out why reforms are so slow.
One of the outgrowths of the Ferguson protests
was this group called Campaign Zero.
And we looked at some of the--
it's a 10-point policy platform--
independent investigations into police shootings, body cams.
Why is it so difficult to get these policy solutions
actually utilized by police forces?
Here's the balance. That group doesn't represent the entire community.
There are people that want us to do more aggressive-style policing.
There are people that want us to...
do more stop-and-frisk, if you will, just as an example.
And it's law enforcement's job, it's the police chief's job,
to find the balance in their community between those.
We've done a lot of the things that are there,
but law enforcement doesn't get any credit for it.
At the moment, 97% of police will never face jail time for killing someone.
A lot of people say that contributes to the erosion of trust
between the community and police officers.
So, I think we have to look at every case individually.
The question is, "Did they violate a law?"
Because in that case, what you just told me,
is 97% of the officers followed the law, only 3% didn't.
I don't know, because I haven't looked at every one of those cases.
But that's really where we have to start.
A common argument against many basic reforms
is that places with higher crime rates call
for a more aggressive style of policing.
We wanted to look at the relationship between police and community,
and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department
granted us access to the first ride-along since Ferguson.
Roll down the window! Show me some hands!
Do you have a driver's license on you?
You're good to go. Have a good night.
Don't run over my toe or anything.
With car stops, it's just-- you know,
you can't just walk up to a car anymore
and expect to just talk to someone and say,
"Hey, this is what you did wrong."
Now, you gotta worry about walking up to a car
and somebody pulling out a gun and shooting you.
Post-Ferguson and stuff, I wanna show people
that we're not all bad.
You know, kind of a goal
of mine is to get a thank you from somebody.
While the police could not confirm how this gun was acquired,
arrests like this are a common occurrence on the streets of St. Louis.
What was shocking, however, was how quickly the bystanders turned on the police.
Has it made your job harder?
The, uh, the sort of tension between the black community of St. Louis and the police?
I'm the traitor, because I don't put down
my gun and badge, as they all say,
and come join them in protest.
I'm the traitor, the Uncle Tom.
Um, I get that one a lot.
Yup. Good to go.
Over the course of one night, police made two arrests
and seized two illegal guns,
in what appeared to us to be standard police work.
But Chief Williams of the neighboring suburb of Kinlock
formerly spent 10 years on the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department,
witnessing firsthand both the good and the bad side of policing.
Can you talk a little bit about what it's like to be,
in our current climate, a black man
and a police officer?
Most police officers out here
are handling their business, 24/7,
with dignity and honesty.
You know, one thing you have to always keep in mind about policemen and police work
is that policemen risk their lives...
to help people they don't even know.
But you have to always look at that "one apple can spoil the bunch" philosophy, too.
It was shocking. One time I was talking to some officers,
and they said, "You know, black people are genetically predisposed to be criminals."
You had officers say that to you?
To my face. If you're telling me
that people of color or black people
are genetically predisposed to be criminals...
...that pretty much says volumes to me.
And that's really gonna color how you go out there
and police that community, right, if that's what you believe.
Can't do anything but that, because you've automatically pre-judged.
I can count at least four times in my life
when the police-- before I became a policeman--
were prepared to kill me, had weapons on me,
and I was in fear of my life,
only because I existed.
We have to figure out a way for those few
to either change their behavior,
get back onboard as honest, just officers,
or leave the profession.
One of the main issues in fixing this
is that there is no unified policing policy, making it difficult
for the 18,000 police departments across the country
to move together on reforms.
In St. Louis,
things are so fractured that they actually have two separate police unions,
one which is predominantly white
and one which is, by its own metrics, 99% black.
We are a group of officers and civilians
who are about trying to be a voice for our community
and our officers.
We watched officer after officer
share their concerns.
It's 2016.
That's 50 years of black officers being on these streets,
in service, on patrol, seven days a week,
30 or 31 days a month, 365 days a year
continuously, to this very moment.
And I can't think of-- and if you can, sir,
or any other officer in this room--
can think of a black officer that has ever shot
at an unarmed white person, please tell me.
Restraint is possible.
Here in St. Louis, there's a white police association
and there's a black police association.
What does that say about how police--
how the policing is done here in St. Louis?
Well, again, it says that race impacts everything,
including policing in America.
We have to have a black police officers' association
because the other association is not taking our interests seriously.
It's not taking us seriously when we say
that we want policing in our communities to be done differently.
This racial division is nothing new.
This police association was formed
during the Civil Rights Movement,
and nearly 50 years later, it released a 112-page report
outlining racial bias within the department.
If we have to take the lead in some areas, we will,
because our department has created a lot of issues
with our leadership or lack thereof.
Heather Taylor, a sergeant for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police
and president of the Ethical Society,
says they are a necessary voice
for minorities within the department.
There is a need for us to have an association,
because we haven't been represented
within the St. Louis Police Officers Association fairly.
So, of course there is
a separate police officers' association here.
There's a need for it. Since Mike Brown was shot and killed,
we've had one course. So, you're talking about eight hours
- Mmm. - Since the civil unrest
of St. Louis city and Ferguson,
to address implicit bias.
That's it. We are so divided, that it's just--
You know, sometimes, when I think about our police department,
I'm embarrassed.
I love other officers of all races on this department,
because they're my friends. I tell you what.
When I'm pulled over, my hands are on that steering wheel,
I'm looking forward. I turn on my light, you know.
It's-- it's real.
If even black police officers are fearful
during interactions with other police,
it's no wonder average black citizens
around America are also scared.
But when you get down here in the city,
it's a whole other monster. You talking about
kids their age getting off the school bus,
getting pushed up against brick walls by detectives.
White people can see Sasquatch,
they can see the Abominable Snowman,
they can see the Loch Ness Monster,
but these motherfuckers can't see racism.
I don't understand it.
You gotta remember, a couple of weeks after Ferguson,
Kajieme Powell got killed down the street.
Come on, bro! Drop it, bro!
Oh! They just killed this man!
Come on! Oh my God.
I'm scared for him. The police look at him,
and they don't see a 10-year-old little boy.
They don't know that he on the honor roll.
He a terror to them.
Fear, though, is not only felt
by the community but by police as well.
The recent calculated attacks on officers
have sent shock waves through precincts nationwide.
Police across the country
on high alert right now,
after four police officers were shot in four separate cities.
We've lost 12 officers. I don't care what race they are.
They were shot and killed in 30 days.
This officer was driving down the road and was ambushed.
Shots fired! Officer down!
The St. Louis Police Wives' Association
shared their fears about the escalating violence.
We call it a crisis,
because law enforcement has become
disenfranchised with the community, or disconnected,
seeing protest just because they're wearing a uniform.
Are you concerned that it's gotten more unsafe?
We know it. Just sitting at this table here,
you have two women whose husbands have almost been killed--
myself and her husband.
- And your husbands have been shot at? Uh-huh.
- Shot. - Oh, shot? And they've--
- They've all been shot at. - They've all been shot at.
All of your husbands have been shot at.
Mine-- mine particularly, was ambushed.
We had protesters show up in front of the hospital, protesting...
Yes, they did.
...with signs that said, "Well, how does it feel?"
Yes, they did.
We're also sitting at home, now,
watching our communities implode. Mm-hmm.
But now, we can at least all admit
that we have a problem.
That's-- that's the first thing, okay?
So, revolution, problem, now let's seek some solutions.
I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear...
As the new administration prepares to pull back
federal oversight on police,
one thing is clear...
...policing needs to change if lives are to be saved.
And ultimately, reform is in the hands of local police departments.
I don't know how to fix poverty.
I don't know how to deal with education systems that are failing.
What I do know is how to do police work,
and when those things don't happen,
we're left with communities that have greater demands on their law enforcement.
Well, we have to solve them,
or we're going to continue to do this over and over and over again.
People don't understand what we deal with.
You know, until you're actually put in those shoes
and you have to try to defend yourself or someone else.
We're to the point where you have so much division.
Both sides need to get it together.
You'll notice around the country
more and more officers are beginning to speak out.
We have to be the change that needs to be.
More than 36 million American adults
live with physical disabilities,
but rapid advancements in bio-engineering
and robotics have brought about a revolution
in bionic technology that is realizing possibilities
that, up until now, would have been considered science fiction.
Wilbert Cooper has been following this story.
I'm here in Zurich, Switzerland,
for the Cybathlon,
which is the first-ever bionic Olympics,
to see the state-of-the-art in assistive technology.
The Cybathlon is the first competition of its kind,
featuring teams from around the world,
showcasing the most advanced technologies
for people with disabilities.
Can you tell me about your hand?
It has five motors,
and I control those motors
by electro-impulses from my muscle.
And the wicked one is... 360.
That's cool.
Where is it gonna go from here? I don't know.
How good's your imagination?
With the exoskeleton that we brought today,
I can actually take a normal walk now,
and, you know, step-by-step,
there is no hesitation.
It's one, two, three, four.
It just gives me the ability to do the simple things
in life that you don't really think about.
For me, it-- it means freedom.
New developments in scientific research
and practical engineering are pushing boundaries,
making that freedom possible.
It's phenomenal to be in this place and see the way
that technology is transforming and changing people's lives.
And some of the most advanced developments
are actually happening inside the human body.
A team from Cleveland, Ohio,
is using an implanted device that restores movement
to those with severe spinal cord injuries
by electrically stimulating their paralyzed muscles.
I have implants in both sides of my belly
to which these wires are attached.
Little box here tells where my legs are
and when to fire which muscles.
So, below my arms, without the system,
the only thing I can do is wiggle my big toe.
How did you become paralyzed?
It was a skiing accident on a family trip
in Lake Tahoe, California.
And we were on, of course, the last run of the day,
I had an accident where my skis were caught under a branch,
and I flew out of the skis
and hit a big granite boulder head-first
and fractured a bone in my neck.
It left me paralyzed immediately.
And with the system,
obviously, this is over the top.
Now, for the first time since his accident,
Mark is competing athletically.
Pioneering this technology is Dr. Ronald Triolo,
a professor at Case Western Reserve University
and the executive director
of the VA's Advanced Platform Technology Center.
We're at the verge of an era where robotic technology
can make a real impact in people's lives.
Our long-term goal is to make the technology
as invisible as possible.
That means that we have some sort of man-machine interface
that is completely internal and indistinguishable.
It's just stretching what it means to be human.
This technology has helped you win this race,
and do something really incredible.
What can you say about the way technology
is sort of integrating itself into our lives right now?
What do you think that holds for the future?
Getting deep into the human body,
getting technology into the human body is
one of the last frontiers,
and I think that we've tapped into it.
There's some great things-- not just what you've seen today,
but there's some great things being done medically
through technology as well.
And the technologies on display in Zurich
are only the beginning.
Researchers around the world have begun experimenting
with implanting electronic devices directly into the human brain.
In Columbus, Ohio, we met with one
of the world's foremost neurosurgeons,
Dr. Ali Rezai.
Now, in the past decade especially,
we've learned so much about the human brain,
the human nervous system, that's now allowing us
to use technology to help patients with nervous system disorders.
So, it's a very active area of technology that evolving.
Today, Dr. Rezai is performing a procedure
called deep brain stimulation
on a patient suffering from Parkinson's disease.
Deep brain stimulation, or DBS,
involves a tiny stimulator that we implant
in a part of the brain to shut down the tremor
and to reduce the excessive movements
that are caused by Parkinson's.
As the electrode enters the brain,
Dr. Rezai is able to listen to the neural activity
in order to locate the area causing the tremors.
- The left arm. - Good.
Yeah.
The operation is nearly instantaneous.
80% improvement displays the power of deep brain stimulation.
The procedure can be used for conditions from epilepsy to chronic pain,
and scientists are exploring its use to treat severe depression.
In Dublin, Ohio, we saw an even more advanced brain implant system.
Ian Burkhart, a quadriplegic,
is another patient of Dr. Rezai's.
After suffering a traumatic injury, he was implanted
with one of the most cutting-edge neurotechnologies.
Just a few days after finishing
my freshman year at college,
I went on vacation with some friends
and dove into a wave in the ocean,
and I didn't know where I was diving was actually only a few feet deep.
So, I initially hit my head extremely hard
and that caused me to break my neck.
I lost all function from about my elbows down
and all feeling from the middle of my chest down.
I can't move any of my individual fingers or open and close my hand.
So, after I had my accident, I was always looking towards
what type of technology could help me in my everyday life.
And one thing led to another, and I decided to get...
brain surgery and be the first person to move my hand
with my own brain.
Ian is the only human being
who's had this technology applied that allows him
to move his hands using his thoughts.
A small port on Ian's head opens a direct channel
between his brain and a computer.
The computer interprets Ian's brain signals,
his thoughts, and then links those thoughts
to a external wearable garment,
so, basically, the sleeve that Ian wears that allows him to move,
and this is called brain-computer interface.
When Ian thinks about moving,
the computer delivers electrical impulses
to his high-tech sleeve, allowing him to use his hands
in ways that haven't been possible since his accident.
All right, I'm starting in three, two, one.
After four years of not moving a flicker,
he started moving a little bit two years ago,
and now he's able to perform more sophisticated movements.
and right now he's able to do those movements
much faster than he did before.
That's amazing. That was awesome.
That went really well. That was your best time.
That went really well. That was good.
Restoring functionality through brain-computer interfaces
has the potential to dramatically improve
the lives of those with disabilities
and could even open up entirely new avenues of human experience.
Right now, there's a convergence of so many elements
in terms of technological innovation.
This is really opening up a whole new window into possibilities,
so you're able to record brain activity
and link it within milliseconds
to result in purposeful movements,
that can be potentially a means by which we can be able
to detect other elements beyond movements.
For example, sensations.
Index.
Pinkie.
Right now is a fantastic time for us,
because we're learning so much more,
more than ever before, about the human brain.
One of the final frontiers.
Sync & corrections by honeybunny www.addic7ed.com