How Local Law Enforcement Has Used Grant Dollars

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

When local police departments receive the new military gear, the tendency of them relying on it even in situations that do not have any real threat to the officer or their safety increases. This has been called "the rise of the warrior cop" (Balko). Social psychological research and anecdotal evidence from law enforcement specialists suggest that militarized policing can escalate situations that could have ended peacefully (Singal). There are already a lot of cases of police violence all around the country and not all of the country’s police forces have received military weaponry. There would be more cases like Michael Brown, Laquan McDonald, and Ronald Johnson, where it could have ended peacefully with the person in custody. Instead, they are dead and their deaths have fueled riots and protests all across the nation. These events bring with a lot of negative media for police departments and for the ones in charge of them. If officers were to carry more advanced and deadly weaponry, it will lead to more cases as these. This would be due to the "weapons effect" which states that the presence of weapons fuel more aggressive behavior (Singal). By having the local police carrying these heavy duty weapons, they will be more prone to exhibiting aggressive behavior and lead to more cases like the ones previously mentioned. Bruce Bartholow, a social psychologist at the

For all the people of the US we can easily identify the justice system with our police force. Were currently facing a crisis of widespread police brutality and misconduct, leading us to question where the absence of proper policing practices and morality was lost. Over the course of history we have continually faced this whether it be driven by religion, race, or visual perception. But it leads me to say, in what way is this reflecting our hope of insuring domestic tranquility when we can’t trust the people that we are supposed to depend on for help. Now this doesn’t go to say that every police officer or sheriff is guilty of wrong doing, but it does clearly show a developing problem. With this dilemma becoming more evident in social media and how easily it is for someone to record something and report wrong doings, it forces our federal government to act on the inadequacies. The federal government should play a stronger role in the oversight of each state, while the states oversee the counties within it.

Ever since the case of Trayvon Martin being shot in 2013, dozens and dozens of cases of injustice have been brought up to the eyes of the media and the law. Lately, the majority of those cases have been about police brutality, and it’s taken such a strong effect on the public that movements have been born out of it, such as the BlackLivesMatter movement. The situation has reached a point to where President Obama stepped out and addressed the issue at hand. The central issue here isn’t only the barbaric tactics that law enforcement resorts to, but the fact that the power police officers have as enforcers of the law is and has been abused over and over.

In 2015, the COPS budget was cut by nearly $300 million and as a result, new officers received poor training as programs that were considered highly essential to the learning process of rookie cops were exterminated as the programs could no longer receive funding. This has caused poorly trained officers, with lethal weapons, to make poor decisions such as using violence, being neglectful, and directing derogatory terms at minorities and it all comes right back to the fact that cops are only taught how to use a gun properly and arrest a criminal. The physical, mental, and/or communication skills that an officer lacks shouldn’t determine the fate of an individual’s safety or

Now, to put this in perspective we need to look at the recent events of Ferguson, Missouri. 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot six times and killed by police officer Darren Wilson. The shooting sparked civil unrest in the community and resulted in protests, rioting, vandalism, and other such responses. In reaction to the social outcry and protest response, the police force took to militarized procedure to contain the civilians. On August 11, 2014 the local police stations outfitted

Millions of free citizens around the world have reported misconduct by law enforcement officers. In the United States alone, 8,800 officers have been reported as using excessive force when performing their job (Packman). One of the major causes of excessive use of force by the police is anxiety and rage brought on by low compensation. The police is a force that is meant to protect the people against threats, not to be a threat. Police are not compensated enough for the dangerous job they dedicate themselves to perform each day. The Federal Government should provide a safe environment to properly maintain a lawful country. When police do not perform their job correctly, the environment is not safe. Therefore, the Federal Government needs to

Police officers have been killing and hurting people and getting away with it. In Baton Rouge, a police officer shot a man who “had a gun”. The mad had already been tased and wasn’t a threat but was shot anyway because the officer said he “attempted to reach for the gun”. We don’t know for sure what happened because we weren’t there. We can’t tell what really happened so there’s another man dead because of what a police officer claims happened.

In recent years police actions, especially police abuse remains one of the most serious and estranged human rights violation in the United States. While citizens worry about protecting themselves from criminals, it has now been shown that they must also keep an eye on those who are supposed to protect us. Thousands of individuals that complained about police abuse are reported each year and local authorities pay out millions of dollars to victims in damages after all the lawsuits. Police have beaten, shot at unresisting suspects; they have misused their batons, and also their electroshock weapons. Over the past decade, police officers have acted out in ways that make people wonder, are these officers of the law really doing their job? Severe beatings, unjustified shootings, and rough treatment have all contributed to the problem of police brutality in America. Police officers continue to abuse their given authority by acting in a brutal manner in order to control a detained suspect. The job of a police officer is to maintain public order, prevent, and detect crime. They are engaged in a dangerous and stressful occupation that can absolutely involve violent situations that must be controlled. In many of these confrontations with the public, it may become necessary for the police to administer force to take control of the situation. Sometimes excessive force takes the form of hand-to-hand combat with a suspect who is resisting arrest. At least once every month or two the news

Another law that Cooper has an issue with is the The Posse Comitatus Act. The Posse Comitatus act “made it a felony for the Armed Forces to perform the law enforcement duties of the civilian police” but in 1981 “the military was permitted to give civilian police departments access to military bases, research, and equipment to strengthen these departments’ capacity to wage the War on Drugs”(Balko, 2006; powell & Hershenov, 1990). Police officers were then trained to use military equipment. Reagan declared drugs a national security, lifted the ban on the army’s ability to train the police force, and the police and army began to collaborate. “By 1994, the Department of Defense authorized the large scale transfer of military equipment and technology to police departments”(Balko, 2006; powell & Hershenov, 1990). Between the ‘erosion of the 4th amendment and the Posse Comitatus Act policing had begun to get out of control and poorer neighborhoods had become the targets. “In a single 8-block area of a predominately Black and Latino neighborhood (home to just 14,000 people), the police conducted 52,000 stop and frisks over a four-year period; 94% of

in Ferguson, Missouri (Wolfe & Nix, 2016). While efforts such as those of the PPD and the NYPD are turning the tide, their efforts are hindered by the absence of a national certification program which would ensure that police agency comply with a standard certification and training in the use of force. Some national initiatives towards the deterrence of this challenge do exist. They include the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, the Police Accountability Act of 2015, the Excessive Use of Force Prevention Act of 2015 among other instruments (Thompson II, 2015). While these tools could act as a deterrence to the use of excessive force by the police, their consolidation into a uniform national regulatory program would go a long way in addressing this

Police use of highly armed Swat teams has risen by 1500 percent in the last two decades, and many police departments have cultivated an “us vs. them” mentality toward the public they ostensibly serve” (Kristian, 2014). Although possession of these weapons do not cause misconduct, as the old saying goes, when you have a hammer, everything begins to look like a nail.” In this article shows how police use weapons as powerful as the military and because of this matter many police officers use their weapons to overpower civilians. Police officers go over the limit of what they can and can’t do.

The ACLU report examine the excessive force between the citizen and stated highlighted that there has been an “increase militarization of police departments throughout the US since the war on drugs” (Rucke 2014), they also stated that the police new form of militarizing has increasingly treated the American people like they are the enemy of the state. Furthermore, there are other who agree with the militarization of the police. Past events has cause others to believe that there need to be balance between militarizing and community policing.

One way to limit policy brutality from occurring is to restrict the flow of military equipment to police departments. Many believe that the access police departments have on military guns and personnel carriers creates a militarized culture that promotes violence and unnecessary force. In the past 8 years alone the Defense Department has “distributed more than $1.5 billion worth of surplus equipment”, which many see as unnecessary. The line between the defense department and local enforcement agencies is blurred where it should not be; confiscating high-caliber weapons, grenade launchers, armed drones, and other military equipment may be the solution to repress police violence.

After reading the article, I believe each incident discussed, in the article, did require law enforcement. However, not all the incidents warranted excessive force, to shoot an unarmed or a mentally ill suspect not exhibiting a threat to the police or public. Contrary to popular belief, not all police officers’ break the rules or violate his/her oath of office. The public and society loves to be the judge and jury in cases involving police shooting and excessive force. Even when police officers follow the rules and the use of excessive force is justified, the public still places the blame on the police. We as a society have closed eyes and ears when justification is upheld in the court of law. I believe some communities enjoy convicting law