African American Police Shootings

Excessive force being used by officers has been an ongoing issue since law enforcement was created. During the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, it has been made aware that minorities were a target for the law enforcement of that time. The 1967 murder cases of “Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner against the sheriffs of Neshoba and Lauderdale County” at that time was huge seeing as everyone involved in the case got off without any charges (Wynter). After years have gone by and the 41st anniversary of their deaths has happened, someone was convicted. All this time, no one would speak up against the police of these counties in fear of being brutally murdered just like the three men that was in their care. The injustice of it did not make sense

Over the past decade, police brutality has covered major headlines because officers have acted out in ways that have made citizens question their motives. Things such as unjustified shootings, deadly chokings, and rough treatment have all added to the constant problem of police brutality in the black community. Annoyingly, the police officers responsible for the killings and abuse are not held for long before they are discharged to their normal routines. Since many people believe that the issues of police brutality is based on race, officers should be held accountable for their misconduct. Accountability will permit officers to treat all with equality; therefore using the appropriate amount of force on everyone. Often cops are indicted in less than 1% of killings, but the indictment rate for citizens is 90% which is a major problem. If someone does wrong they should suffer the consequence no matter who they are. As a result of misconduct officers tend be mistrusted by their communities. Deaths in the black community often stems from police officers using excessive force such as assaults, beating and shootings.

The OJ Simpson murder case was an event that transfixed the nation over 20 years ago, with everyone who was around back then having some recollection of the whole ordeal. Today, that same case in entering back into the public consciousness, as a new television series dramatizing the events, entitled “The People vs. OJ Simpson”, just premiered. In an op-ed for the New York Times, John McWhorter pens an argument that the case was symbolic of race relations between the police and the African-American community. McWhorter, an African-American, goes into detail about how he did not understand why his community was cheering back in 1995 about Simpson being acquitted. McWhorter even believed that Simpson was guilty. However, he does now

A problem that has risen over the past decade or so is the criminal justice system being against African Americans, but to be more specific is the criminal justice system being against African American males. There have been numerous amounts of cases that have come to face dealing with African Americans and law enforcement. The types of cases that have caught the eye of the media and the people of the United States are the ones were law enforcement uses excessive force on an African American or killing an African American teen or adult. Any situation dealing with law enforcement and Africans Americans, they believe they will be treated differently than any other race. Numbers have increased over the years of African American men being incarcerated,

During the times of the riots, the Los Angeles Police Department played a significant role in the uprising of the event. After the video went viral of the four police officers brutally beating King, they were found not guilty of their crime. As there was specific evidence displayed for the jury, they still acquitted all four officers. Less than three hours after the verdict was announced, protesting and rebelling occurred. The verdict regarding the four police officers sparked the riots as Los Angeles citizens were not satisfied with the jury’s decision. Citizens were shocked by the response and did not agree with making police brutality seem acceptable. In an interview, Jody David Armour, a criminal justice and law professor at the University of Southern California, said, “there was ocular proof of what happened. It seemed compelling. And yet, we saw a verdict that told us we couldn't trust our lying eyes. That what we thought was open and shut was really “a reasonable expression of police control' toward a black motorist” (Sastry). From Armour’s own experience, he believes the police and the jury did not make the correct decision. The majority of the people who lived in South Central Los Angeles at the time did. People should feel protected by the police, however, no one within the city did. How can they when police officers are getting away with harming their own citizens?

Police shootings of African Americans have become frequent events in the US. This racist justice system poses a threat to all African Americans, but also to our society in general, and it's time we do something about it.

Police officer have recently been criticize for shooting African American and using excessive force on them. Groups like Black lives matter and other organizations have crated organization against police officer, those organization have ask for justice for those people that have been killed by police officers. One of the biggest stories in resent time is Samuel Debose a young African American that was shot and kill by Officer Rey Tensing in Cincinnati. Mr. Debose died instantly and Officer is being charged with murder.

In some of these cases there has been video evidence of the officer performing improperly and in other cases the officer has performed properly and was exonerated. The media loves to report as if the officer is automatically guilty and can skew the facts to make it appear so. One example of skewing the facts is a website I accessed while searching for information on police shootings. The Washington Post website shows a database of police shootings in 2016 and when accessing the website the number 958 is in large letters with lethal force written underneath and it ticks up one digit at a time to reach 963 (Washington Post, n.d.). This makes it appear that shootings are occurring currently even though 2016 has already past. Tactics such as this are those that the media uses to make police look more responsible for issues than they

This indicate a police official might pull over a driver solely because he or she is African American and then they can be interrogation, examine, and/or charged with a silly offense. Additionally, blacks are seven times more likely to be pulled over by 5-0 than Hispanics, and Caucasian. Sadly, these polices are is just one way police officers are insensitive to blacks.

Undoubtedly the most controversial topic in the recent past is police involved shootings. Although not specific to a police officer, the Trayvon Martin case in 2012 gained national media attention surrounding Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law. The case of Michael Brown Jr. sparked the 2014 riots, protests and civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri when shot and killed by Officer Wilson. Areas of the country witnessed the same response by large populations supporting inaccurate facts and circumstances involved with these cases. An instant gratification society coupled the court of public opinion and widespread media coverage yielded disastrous results in many of these cases. Community relations are hugely impacted while investigators attempt to

In the 1900s, the civil rights movement was in full swing, and police brutality and riots were common occurrences. By going back in time, one can see the comparisons between racial tensions then and now to see that America is repeating history. There is a continuous cycle of police brutality, african americans protesting and rioting, which then leads to more police brutality. The Detroit Race Riot of 1967 is an excellent example of this. This riot was “an immediate response to police brutality” (Wang 1). A curfew was placed on Detroit after ongoing violence that day, and “seven minutes into the curfew a 16-year-old African American

Although there aren’t many formal records of such incidents, with the exception of the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, due to the fact that crimes against minorities, back then, were not considered notable, during the 1960s media records of acts committed against African Americans began to rise. Perhaps one of the most famous instances was during the 1965 Selma march where police officers and police dogs were filmed attacking children and people of all ages participating in the peaceful march (Mach). This horrific act, known to the world as Bloody Sunday, being film sparked public outrage throughout the country, and played a major role in the ‘success’ of the Civil Rights Movement (Mach). However, 50 years later the problem of police attacks on minorities has not gone away. Instead these acts became veiled by local, state, and federal forms of government. However, due to advancements in technology people can now to see how colored U.S citizens are still “staggered by the winds of police brutality” (King 601). Unfortunately, there have been many known cases displaying the horrors of

Police should be protecting us and neutralizing situations, not escalating them. We trust our law enforcement to make practical and successful judgments for the sake of our protection, however, the public have build up a stigma towards the police because they are fearful of them. Its safe to say many dislike or do not trust police officers. By the same token, officials have a tendency to shoot unarmed people, which is only making matters worse, and causes hostility between the police and the minority. As stated by Mapping police violence, “Police killed at least 102 unarmed black people in 2015, nearly twice each week. Unarmed black people were killed at 5x the rate of unarmed whites in 2015”. Most police are let off the hook for being charged

During this day and age, police shootings have been occurring more than they should. Police officers here in the US typically receive training for about 19-21 weeks, and in the UK, training can be held for up to three years-- people are also seven times less likely to be shot by a police officer in the UK than in the US. That right there shows that our law enforcement should expand to more extensive training periods. With all of the recent incidents that have come about, the law enforcement and the public is starting to question whether the US’ ability to properly train our public safety units is being maintained correctly. With good cops come bad cops, with bad cops come tragedies, and with tragedies come new and more proper/modern training techniques.

Protest across this country seem to be gaining momentum. These protest seem to be focused on racial disparities, socioeconomic imbalance, and a common dislike for the current political organizations that are in power. Over the weekend, there was a protest in St. Louis over a police officer being found not guilty of first degree murder. Jason Stockley, a white police officer shot and killed Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man in 2011 and like many officers, was acquitted. (Chavez & Almasy, 2017) A major critical issue that has been plaguing the United States for decades is arrest related deaths. This problem creates a slew of other issues ranging on a scale of minor to serious. The expression of color is important as this country is one formed on racial discrimination. There has always been police violence in our country. Now it has become more of a public spectacle. In a time of the modern technology, videotaping is a finger click away. Not only do people have the ability to record on demand, but there is usually a video surveillance system set up on almost every corner. In urban cities, a few times over, throughout entire blocks. In this situation, there was a video that was inconclusive and did not display what the officer described. Chavez & Almasy (2017) quoted Stockley saying he understood the video looked bad but the optics had to be separated from the facts. The undoubtable fact is that the man died. The side of the victim has to go untold on account of his mortality.