How Police Departments Handle Brutality Allegations

Police brutality is defined as “excessive and/or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians,” and this has become more prominent within the United States throughout the years (Danilina). There has many cases where police brutality has been seen via news channels, and it has dismantled the unity of trust between the civilians of the United States and the law enforcement who are supposed to protect the everyday people from harm. The issue is if the law enforcement is actually right within their means of protection, or have they gone too far with using excessive force in any situation that may or may not be harmful to them. There is, also, the question of whether racial profiling is the biggest contributor to police brutality.

A great deal of society views law enforcement officers as heroic and honorable individuals, whose main purpose is to protect and serve the community. For many officers, this description is accurate, however for others; violence and brutality against innocent citizens is the key to getting the job done. For years, minorities have fallen victim to police brutality based on racial profiling, stereotypes and other unjustifiable reasons that has cost several innocent lives. The involvement of officers in police brutality against minority social groups causes tainted and negative views on policing and their overall duty to protect, when they are ultimately the aggressors in this case. Police brutality is a violent incident involving an officer and a victim, usually including excessive force, unnecessary violence and sometimes resulting in a senseless fatality. Minority groups such as African Americans and Hispanics have often been the victims of this form of abuse by officers, however little justice has been done in order to protect these individuals from this form of cruelty by the hands of those with the most power.

While the term “police brutality” is usually applied in the context of causing physical harm, it may also involve psychological harm by the use of intimidation tactics beyond the scope of officially sanctioned police procedure. In the past those who engaged in police brutality may have acted with the implicit approval of the local legal system similar to what existed during segregation. However, in the modern era, individuals who engage in cases of police brutality may do so with the approval of their supervisors. They may execute their actions under color of law, and more often than not, engage in a cover-up for their illegal activity.

For the past couple years there has been so many incidents involving some sort of police brutality. The mainstream media has shown police misconduct, case after case it has become a routine and making people wonder if our officers of the law really doing their jobs? Unjustified shooting, and fatal choking’s have all contributed to the problem of police brutality in America and also has become very controversial. The police carry an enormous burden each day, which makes their job really hard. Police work is very stressful and involves violent, and split second decision. Nevertheless, cases like the shooting of Samuel DuBose, and Walter Scott and the choking of Eric Garner has raised questions regarding our police system. In many confrontations the police are put in a position in which they have to use force to control the situation, but there are different levels of force and most of the time the situation dictates the level of force that’s necessary. In addition, I will explain different cases of police brutality, the use of excessive force, and the consequences the officers have faced.

Police brutality is a controversial issue that has recently been in the news, but seems to have always been an issue in America. Police brutality refers to the intentional use of verbal or physical attacks directed towards individuals by the police force that result in false arrests, sexual abuse, or death. (Dudley, William 13.) Most of these actions are linked to racial profiling: the targeting of individuals for suspicion of crime based solely on the individual’s race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin. (Dudley, William 13.) Statistics about how often racial profiling and police brutality occurs, movements such as Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter, and police reform efforts are just a few points as to why this topic is so controversial today.

A great deal of society views law enforcement officers as heroic and honorable individuals, whose main purpose is to protect and serve the community. For many officers, this description is accurate, however for others; violence and brutality against innocent citizens is part of getting the job done. For years, minorities have fallen victim to police brutality based on racial profiling, stereotypes and other

Police brutality is the use of any force exceeding that reasonably necessary to accomplish a lawful police purpose. (Gregory Umbach) There is a very thin line as to what is acceptable and excessive use of force for police officers. Many police departments try their best to outline what is appropriate use of force to weed out these unacceptable practices. However, some evidence and scenarios point to race being a possible factor in police brutality. There exist two sides to this argument on the bias of race in police brutality. One side believes that race does play a role in the polices overuse of force, while the other side disagrees and states that other circumstances lead to the propensity of most police abused victims to be of the minority ethnic group. In this literature review, sources that directly relate race with police brutality and their excessive use of force shall be analyzed along with sources that state the opposite and find the police brutality coincidental to the race of the victim or officer. It is in my opinion that race clearly does lead to the increase in police brutality, as the police put themselves in confrontations more often with the minority groups, through the use of racial profiling in terms of stop and frisks.

Police brutality continues to be one of the most serious and contentious violations of human rights in the United States. The unreasonable amount of force used by police officers prevails because of a lack of accountability. This makes it feasible for officers who do violate human rights to get off clean and recommit the violation. A sad fact is that police and/or public officials deny time after time any claims of human rights violations, claiming it was an abnormality, when they should be taking action and holding officers responsible for their actions. (Williams 1998, 45)

Police Brutality is an ongoing problem and existent concern in the United States and should be resolved immediately. Law enforcement must function as an element that consists of organized and civilized officers. The presence of police brutality is becoming more of an issue as society grows. The problem posed by the illegal exercise of police power is an ongoing reality for individuals of a disfavored race, class, or sexual orientation. Police brutality must be stopped so that police do not forget who they are serving – not themselves, but the public. This means that even the criminals, who are a part of the public, have certain rights, particularly, civil rights. Police brutality causes a major concern in today’s society in America and

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

Being a minority in the United States has never been easy and does not seem to be getting any better. Minorities have been exposed to violence by law enforcement for many decades. Law enforcement 's are tasked with protecting and serving its citizens, not to harass and assault them. Police brutality is a continuous problem in the United States and officers need to be accountable for their actions. This research project will examine how police brutality often leads to death because of some officers ' unnecessary physical aggression and poor judgment, some incidents leads to unjust shootings, and finally, the misconduct of police officers. By understanding how police brutality is increasing and the violence that comes with it, police officers can then receive better training and learn how to gauge certain situations to avoid use of violence and abuse their power.

The police cannot do everything expected of them by everyone. Unequal treatment on the basis of race have been an ongoing issue for police since the 1960’s civil rights movement. It became apparent that through the course of the past 40 years, many critics, scholars, and policy makers would begin to question discretionary powers of law enforcement officers in regards to brutality. As citizens we put our trust in law enforcement officers to do the right thing by upholding and abiding by the same laws they enforce to maintain order and keep peace within our society. Public servants, especially law enforcement officers, are obligated to live up to a higher ethical and intellectual standard than those expected of the general public, which is why there is growing concern about brutality, excessive use of force, discrimination, and racial profiling by those who are sworn to serve and

The two common opposing views towards police officers is a supper cop who saves the day and a violent officer who harms civilians. As a society we tend to zoom in on every blemish and mistake law enforcement makes and the media often encourages these views. In news outlets when police positively contribute to the community it usually only makes headlines for a day or two, but when a crisis occurs it receives high media coverage for weeks at a time. Recently there have been controversial cases surrounding police brutality which have fed the belief that police using excessive and deadly force is a the most common reflex. In reality it’s not as common as portrayed. In 2010 the New York Police Department received over 206,000 calls involving weapons and of those calls only 33 ended in officers firing their weapons (Anthony, 294). Home videos and pictures showing confrontation between law enforcement and offenders are causing wide spread misconception about police brutality.

Police brutality is an old problem that has been around in this country for many years. Unfortunately, civilians have experienced it in their thousands, suffering varying degrees of damages, ranging from injuries or even loss of their lives at the hands of the brutal police. Even more disheartening is the fact that numerous officers in the American police force believe that their brutal and hostile tactics are contributing and giving justice to society, which is their basic role in the world (Vila and Morris 29). However, the

Keeping order in any society depends fundamentally on a police force to enforce laws and punish transgressors. However, a constant problem cities face has been not only ensuring that policemen do not abuse the power and authority they are given, but that no personal bias enters into their work. Police brutality against citizens involves the use of excessive force when physical action is unnecessary, and it springs from factors such as the race, religion, and socioeconomic status of civilians. Misconduct and violence by the police can occur during protests and demonstrations, or everyday encounters with citizens. Much of the police brutality in the last few decades of American history can be identified to be dependent on racial factors,