Persuasive Essay On Police Brutality

Police brutality is a very widespread topic through all religions, all kinds of different cultures and all races. People believe that police officers use their powers and their badge to hold them to a higher standard then the average civilian. I belief that its all up to interpretation and the many experiences we go through that define a bad cop from a good one. If we judge all police officers from one bad cop how do we expect to change? Its a never ending cycle that has to change and heres some examples on how we can do so.

If the police departments in the United States stay on the same path of police brutality it hard to imagine what could happen in the next decade. It makes some people think will there even be police departments and what will they look like. With these ideas floating around police officers need to be more caution and aware of how to avoid police brutality.

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.

In light of the recent spate of police-involved homicides of suspects who may or may not have put the lives of the police involved in fear for their safety and well-being, this paper seeks to examine the use of deadly force by police officers in the line of duty. The training involved in using one’s service weapon in situations that call for a determination of the use of force will be explored, as will the rules, regulations, and extenuating circumstances that lead to the firing of a service weapon in the line of duty, resulting in the death of a suspect. The Supreme Court cases that have led to and/or upheld laws allowing a broader interpretation of what is considered justifiable use of deadly force will be briefly examined. Additionally, the use of non-lethal weapons, such as Tasers, by police forces and how the availability of these weapons influences the rate of deadly force will be inspected. Finally, an elucidation of the various perceptions of the general public of the police after use of deadly force is used within their communities will be addressed.

In the past, police officers were considered to be peacekeepers. However, this has changed and they are now regarded as law enforcement officers. Most officers do their work diligently but their priority is on making quotas as well as arresting innocent people followed by maintaining peace. Police brutality remains to be the biggest challenge facing police agencies in America. Police work is a dangerous job, and police are more than likely to be put into situations when excessive force is needed. Sometimes police use excessive force for their own personal reasons, such as racism. The issue of police officers using excessive force may or may not be of great concern, but it should be looked into by both the police and the public. Police brutality should be addressed. Despite

In the United States, the murders of innocent, unarmed African Americans have led to the uprising of the Black Lives Matter movement, however, did this endanger the lives of police officers? In my opinion, yes it does endanger the police force but the police were the same ones putting black people in danger in the first place. Americans today are either completely for the movement or against, you never really encounter a between of them. Then, there are some people that believe in the protests but are not for the violence. My whole life i’ve heard, “Treat people equally and fairly.” and when I think about that I wonder… if all people had that mindset, then black lives matter wouldn’t be a thing.

Police brutality has been a hot topic for several years now and is debated throughout the country. The definition of police brutality is is the use of any force exceeding that reasonably necessary to accomplish a lawful police purpose. This topic is said that police officers can use to much force when stopping someone.The opposing views that exist say that police brutality is real and a problem that the country needs to deal with, and the other side is that this topic is blown over proportion and it doesn’t exist in the United States. Police brutality and/or shootings not only increase the likelihood of attacks upon police officers and citizens, but also increase the distrust with the police core.

There have been many debates about police brutality. One argument suggests that the police use appropriate force since they are dealing with criminals, while minorities believe that the police abuse their power. African Americans are portrayed as violent criminals and their criminal backgrounds are used against them, while the police use their position to go around the criminal justice system. We're a nation that heavily believes in the ideals of equality, and by not addressing the issue of police brutality in our government, our government will become disorderly. The 14th Amendment states “...nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” This means that states must apply the law equally to everyone and cannot discriminate against anyone because of their race. The idea of equality, equal protection under the law and equal opportunity, is an ideal solely found in America. However, by having the contradiction of a police force that uses underhanded tactics to suppress another race we don’t live up to our country’s promise.

Police officer's primary responsibility is to protect and serve citizens and communities, not to abuse the power that they were given to hurt innocent people. For personal enjoyment or a personal vendetta. Some states have the “Stand-Your-Ground” laws, which allows innocent citizens the right to use deadly force to defend and protect themselves. But what if they were protecting themselves from police brutality. Police brutality can be has been going on for many years. But recently has become a bigger topic for discussion. On whether the police officers are the ones at fault or not. However, there are many things that factor into police brutality. Police brutality can be caused by certain things such as a psychological problem, hatred

Many people believe police officers do not have the right to use force when apprehending an individual. Therefore, it is critical that officers make sure that they are performing their duty per the departments policy, before using lethal or non-lethal force to apprehend an individual, which may be classified as police brutality by society. An officer makes a pledge to protect and serve the community for which they are employed. Every time an officer is dispatched to a call there is a sense of uncertainty of what they will encounter. With technology at our fingers tips videos surface which may or may not capture the onset of an officers contact with a suspect. Which results in the media portraying police brutality happening more than it actually does. Many people are quick to judge an officers use of force to apprehend an individual who is not complying with the officers orders, as abusing their powers and police brutality. However, there are laws and regulations that grant officers the right to use the amount of force necessary to apprehend an individual. California Penal Code 835(a) states, “Any peace officer who has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a public offense may use reasonable force to effect the arrest, to prevent escape or to overcome resistance. A peace officer who makes or attempts to make an arrest need not retreat or desist from his efforts by reason of the resistance or threatened resistance of the person being arrested; nor shall such officer be deemed an aggressor or lose his right to self defense by the use of reasonable force to effect the arrest or to prevent escape or to overcome resistance.” (penal code book). Police officers are judged and criticized for using deadly force, because it is believed that officers are meant to serve and protect, not cause harm to others. Getting an exact number of individuals who die as a result of deadly force employed by police officers, is difficult. However there are genuine and authentic sources that can help provide an estimate of deaths caused by law enforcement officers. For example, The CDC Mortality Report and The FBI Uniform Crime Report are responsible for keeping a record of the number of individuals

“The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened”, said John F. Kennedy. Police Brutality started in 1872 but is also still happening in today’s world. It involves extreme force and weapons in certain situations that may not be needed. Over the years, it has became worse with injuries and deaths increasing. Hearing excessive stories about different victims getting treated like animals. I understand that if you do the crime, you do the time but that doesn’t mean leave them with marks or not even being able to take their last breath. Officers should be retrained the right way on how to handle a difficult situation and be less forceful.

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.

In the United States there has been an increase in the amount of violence that takes place involving police officers. Marc Fisher and Kimberly Kindy’s (2015) research states that of

Results from this study suggest that when people, such as police officers, are given the authority to use whatever force deemed necessary by an authority such as the police department, they feel justified using their “power” however they feel. David Lester conducted a study in which he found police officers attain an “expectation of harm” through their schooling at police academies (Lester 186). Lester found “shifts in…attitudes during both academy training and the period of working” (Lester 186) to officers being less willing to admit to the existence of police brutality. It seems that the departments do not see the occurrences as brutal, but as self-defense.

According to the law dictionary, police brutality is the use of excessive and/or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians. This definition is extremely simplistic when we look at what is going on in the world today. We have seen children be murdered by a police officer, young men taken from their families because of a misunderstanding, and the worst thing about all of this, is it stems from an abuse of power along with stereotyping and racism. The job of a police officer is to protect and serve, and many people are finding it immensely difficult to trust those who are meant to protect us. This is an issue that I believe needs to be handled more aggressively; there should be grave consequences for any officer who partakes in unnecessary violence towards any person.