Adjustment Case Study

Police brutality and office involved shootings have sparked national debate and created a strain between police officers and citizens. Recently, there have been more home videos that display acts of aggression by police officers. These police officers often use excessive forces or a condescending tone towards people of color which is why there needs to be a better way to mend police and civilian relationship. People should be able to trust the police in their communities rather than fear them.

The brutality of the police force has been a long worldwide problem, but especially between the years of 2012-2016. Black people are being unjustly beaten and shot in plain sight for doing nothing while being unarmed. Journal of African American Studies “Blacks are viewed as deserving of harsh treatment in the criminal justice system” (482). “Black males with more “Afrocentric” features may receive longer sentences than blacks with less Afrocentric features like lighter skin and straighter hair”(482). Nowadays it is important to know about the police force. It’s important to know our rights as citizens and be careful around cops. Not everybody is good, but not everybody is bad also. In The New York Amsterdam News 21 people were killed by Chicago police in 2008. Entire families were being attacked. They believe it’s because of their skin color and how they are different. The year of racism started off with the world seeing the police murder of Oscar Grant. “The media have pushed people away from hearing the issue of police brutality, and it has fallen off of the radar screen.”(2) “You can’t give in. They will try to make an example out of you, try to break your spirit!”(2) African Americans say do not trust the cops with anything. “They will ruin you.”(2)

This is proof that there is racial discrimination in law enforcement that affects police brutality. This also reinforces the culture of people of color being less human than white people, which takes its roots all the way back to slavery in America. When slavery was still prevalent in the United States, white people believed that black people(slaves), did not feel pain like they felt pain. After slavery was abolished, black people were still strongly regarded as inferior to white people and white people still saw them as wild creatures rather than human beings. White people saw themselves superior to every other race of people, so it was common for them to mistreat other races that weren’t white. This mindset is not as strong as it was in the past but, it is still strong enough to affect the choices police officers make during interactions with people of color. As a result of discrimination at the police level, many people have turned to court system’s to reach justice.

All across the nation, in the news the black community has been making their voice heard, in regards to white police brutality, and murder against the unarmed black community. Many of these brutal attacks and flat out murders of unarmed black people haven’t been largely prosecuted, some officers have even been acquitted of any wrong doing or murder. This has led to outrage in the African American community at large. The shooting of an unarmed black teen named Michael Brown caused the racial strain in this country to break.

“Officer Jeronimo Yanez, charged with second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Philando Castile, a 32-year-old black Minneapolis man” (Capecchi). “Brian Encinia, former Texas trooper charged with misdemeanor perjury stemming from his arrest of Sandra Bland, a black woman who was later found dead in a county jail” (Almasy). “Sgt. Kizzy Adonis, charged with failure to supervise in connection with the 2014 death of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old black Staten Island man who died after police to administered a controversial choke hold” (Eversley). These are a few examples of the mistreatment suffered by young black citizens at the hands of police officers that resulted in the death of a suspect. Throughout the nation, the mishandling of the authority given to police officers has increased and is not merely coincidentally occurring.

Over the last two years in the United States the African-American people have been fighting a war within our own backyards. The Washington Post reports that since January 2015, the police have shot and killed over 175 young black men ranging from ages 18-29; 24 of them were unarmed. On the flip side 172 young white men were killed, only 18 being unarmed. With these statistics there are similarities in the numbers but, blacks were killed at rates disproportional to their percentage of U.S population (1.Washington Post). Of all unarmed people shot and killed by police in 2015. With 40% being black men make up just 6% of the nation’s populations. In the wake of the killings of Mike Brown, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling, and many more the world has been made more publicly aware of injustices black people have to handle when dealing with law enforcement. Crime in the black community is nothing new in the black community or should I say black on black crime. There is a bad stereotype that has been put on black people since slavery times that I believe has help fueled the violence between the police and my people.

Police brutality is becoming a trend in America. Tensions among the public and especially the African American community are rising due to the latest cases of police brutality. Many people believe that we have come far in this society but to be honest Racism is still a factor. The use of brutal and lethal force by some police officers leading to unnecessary deaths have African American parents on edge to send their children outside for anything. Law enforcement and people whom we trust with our lives are the very same to take it. Some people may want to argue that these cases such as the shooting of Michael brown and choking of Eric Garner are isolated incidents. Others would argue that the work of a police officer is too difficult and that sometimes an officer needs to use such force in order to enforce the law and protect him/herself while on duty. Law enforcement proclaims to feel threatened however what about the civilians who feel threatened of becoming the next target or victim of prey. The society is well aware that not all police commit these crimes and that we do still have law abiding officers. However, with the effort from everyone we can eradicate the bad apples and create a safer road for the officers and civilians.

The killings of Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and Alton Sterling can undoubtedly be attributed to the systemic racism deeply embedded in police forces across the country. Around the country African American communities are oppressed by this racism every single day. Any officer who makes a racist statement should be immediately fired, yet this is not the reality; systemic racism exists in the police force and warrants and overhaul.

Within the past year, law enforcement officers across the nation have come under intense scrutiny for police encounters that have resulted in the use of force and police involved shootings. Every time a person of color is killed by a police officer, the media broadcasts the shooting nationwide, inciting hate, anger and racism. Nothing productive is achieved when the media focuses on officers killing people of color. Instead, trust, faith and respect is lost from the public, and law enforcement officers are feared. People fear that when they encounter the police, they will be shot because of who they are. Sadly, all officers across the nation deal with the harsh scrutiny that has resulted from the actions of few. Majority of officers are good, hard working individuals who would put their life on the line to save and protect human life. Yet, on a daily basis, officers across the nation are disrespected and hated, simply for the job they do and who they represent. Despite recent events, police brutality is not an issue; law enforcement officers are still deserving of the public’s trust and this trust can be rectified with the understanding of use of force, increased community policing and continued use of force training for officers.

Police shootings are unfortunate events but whenever there is a shooting, the topic of race emerges. Police shootings have always been the highlights on news channels and there is always the racially biased narrative that keeps repeating itself yet no one seems to dispute this narrative. However, did you know that studies show a police officer is eighteen and a half times more likely to be killed by a African American male than an unarmed African American male is to be killed by a police officer? In fact, a recent “deadly force” study by Washington State University researcher Lois James found that police officers were actually less likely to shoot an unarmed black suspect than unarmed Caucasian or Hispanic suspect in simulated threat scenarios. Some would argue that there are still police shootings all over America and they occur when police officers

A young man’s brutal death at the hands of the police is found justified in a court of law due to his “suspicious” appearance: a black hoodie and his hands in his pocket. An elderly woman is fatally shot in her home for her relation to a suspected criminal. A married man with two toddlers is choked to death after a minor traffic stop by an officer who later claimed that his unarmed victim was wielding a gun. These people all have a few commonalities: the color of their skin, their presumed guilt at first sight, and their ultimate unjustified death administered by the law force. These are not uncommon occurrences. Due to the staggeringly disproportionate rate of African-Americans killed by the police, and the underlying rampant racial profiling, police brutality towards blacks in America must be called to light.

It is one that everyone is familiar with due to its high profile coverage. Although this incident occurred in St. Louis, Missouri, it is very relevant to police shootings all over the country. As a short recap, police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed unarmed teen Michael Brown. Ultimately, Darren Wilson was not charged with any crime. Wilson, like many officers before him, argued that he was afraid for his life and therefore used his weapon in self-defense. Unfortunately, this argument has been heard many times after Michael Brown’s death as well. When Laquan McDonald was shot and killed in Chicago in 2014, Jason Van Dyke “feared for his life”; dash-camera footage, though, showed otherwise. Police personnel and city officials even went so far in this cover-up as to pay Laquan’s mother millions of dollars not to speak to the media about what happened. Although video of the shooting was available in 2014, the video itself was not released to the public until late 2015, after Rahm was re-elected to mayoral office. As more details surfaced, it then became clear to the public that not only did the officers and top law enforcement attempt to hide this incident, but the Cook County State’s Attorney was also involved. I argue that had there been more diversity on the force, or in the very least sensitivity training, maybe these officers would have seen a person and been more compassionate, instead of seeing a threat and

Eric Garner. Keith Lamont Scott. Philando Castille. Michael Brown. Do you know who these people are? I am Arianna Dwomoh, a ninth grade at Leesville Road High School in Raleigh, NC. I want to write to you about how racial profiling/ bias is a large part of police shootings and arrests lately as most victims are unarmed people of color. Over the past couple of years, cops have shot and killed unarmed or innocent black men and boys. This shows light upon the worrying racial differences in how police use force. For those who critique the police, the numbers show that it's not just higher rates of gun ownership and violent crime that explain the higher number of police shootings in the US, compared to other countries. Maybe, it's the nonchalant

The professors use hard hitting facts that demonstrates the truth behind African Americans and the way the law enforcement perceives them, giving the reader some distinctive insight. The history of the law enforcement along with the criminal justice system has portrayed that they are disproportionality race-based. Blacks are more likely than whites to be racially profiled (Staples 2011), to be stopped by law enforcement, and receive harsher sentences. Unfortunately, it has been shown time and time again that judges, jurors, and the law enforcement finds it challenging for them to sympathize with African Americans. All in all this body of academic work has highlighted external factors that have shaped the lives of Blacks in America without giving due attention to the words of Rodney King, the man who became the face of racial injustice (Chaney and Robertson 2014). Four themes were unveiled in the analysis King’s quotes: appreciation for the struggles of former Civil Rights Activists, appreciation for the legal system, personal feelings related to police brutality, and the desire for non-violence as a catalyst for positive

According to a Washington Post database of lethal police shootings 24 unarmed black men have been shot and killed by police so far this year. This means one a black man dies every nine days. Three unarmed black men were shot and killed in the month of April alone. All three shootings were either caught on tape or reported on local TV. The 24 unarmed black men that were killed compose a startling small amount of the 585 people shot and killed by police. According to The Post database. Most of those killed were white or Hispanic, and a good number of all races were armed. However, according to Wesley, black men accounted for 40 percent of the 60 unarmed deaths, even though they make up just 6 percent of the U.S. population.