On Monday, WSU will host a public discussion about how racial bias, fatigue and distracted driving factor into police misconduct.

Police brutality has become one of the major problems facing American society in the last decade, and although national measures have been taken to try and prevent police misconduct, the problem persists and the number of police brutality victims continues to grow.

The fact that our university is taking the initiative to confront national issues in our community is a sign of responsible leadership.

This year’s common reading book is“Just Mercy” by author Bryan Stevenson. This event is part of the common reading lecture series.

The discussion will feature speakers Stephen James and Lois James – both researchers at the WSU Sleep and Performance Research Center in Spokane, Washington.

“The effects of fatigue, distracted driving and racial bias will be examined across a range of policing tasks – from deadly force judgement and decision making to patrol driving and tactical social interaction,” according to WSU News.

The topic of police brutality resonates especially well with students, possibly because victims of police brutality are often college-aged citizens.

Victims in 21.5 percent of arrest-related deaths between 2003 and 2009 were under the age of 24, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

A key aspect to solving global and national problems is spreading awareness of the causes of issues. This public discussion is doing exactly that, at just the right time.

“Eighty-four percent surveyed have witnessed other officers use more force than necessary to make an arrest,” according to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service.

The issue gained more attention when Michael Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer in August 2014, and riots broke out in Missouri as well as protests around the country. Interest in this issue continues to grow, and it is the responsibility of universities and other institutions to inform citizens of the forensics of the problem.

A large amount of information is available concerning police brutality, including the public site policebrutality.info, which hosts dozens of videos of incidents of police brutality.

The fact that WSU is already taking steps to ensure information is available is hopeful, but the fight cannot end there.

The upcoming discussion should also be prioritized by faculty members at WSU.

In an ever-changing society where new problems arise at every corner, it is vital that information is available for citizens to ensure a globally-sensitive and informed nation.

As a university, WSU is held responsible to make such information readily available, and as students, it is our responsibility to be informed of problems within America and their causes.

Our generation is the future workforce and leadership of the country, and it is necessary that we understand global and national problems, and learn how to solve them.