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.

The United States of America has many horrible police officers. This has created a stereotype that all police officers are terrible. One of the main reasons police officers have been target lately is, because many innocent people are harassed by them daily. There are multiple ways to classify these police officers as horrible being, but police brutality, corruption, and how they handle violent protest are three of many classifications.

Recently, our country has undergone tremendous suffering due to police brutality. Some police officers are taking the law into their own hands and intertwining their personal views and stereotypes on the black community. They are committing inhumane crimes on African Americans and our justice system is allowing it to continue. Several police officers are noticing that if they commit this crime out of pure hate it is acceptable and the courts will rule in their favor. It continues to happen because there is no punishment for their wrong doing.

Although I should know by now, I cannot help but think that there has been an overwhelming amount of police brutality in recent years. Police brutality can be defined as, when a police officer uses more force than necessary. This issue has spread throughout the United States of America, and is putting the lives of our citizens in great danger. Police brutality is not only physical, but it can also be verbal attacks; and, in most cases, it is caused by false arrest and racial profiling due to police corruption. Police brutality has been and continues to be a major concern in society and it is used very loosely to any and all forms of police misconduct. Whereas, in reality, excessive force of police misconduct is what defines police brutality. The jobs of a police officer are too calmly resolve public disturbance and disputes. Police officers are supposed to protect citizens; instead they are hurting and using excessive force. It is not right and it is unjust for a police officer to hurt a citizen due to an assumption without any actual proof of criminal activity.

Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, & Conflict defines police brutality as the use of excessive or unnecessary force by police against the public. Excessive force is explained to be any behavior or force beyond what is reasonably necessary in order to control a situation. It is a common misnomer that people believe some police use excessive force more often than not. What’s more concerning is most of the time people believe that this excessive force is usually focused upon the African American men, women, and children. This misnomer is typically found to be found in city settings where the population consists of mostly African Americans. The population make up causes the common belief to seem more true than it may otherwise appear.

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 police force is an organized body of people empowered by the state to enforce the law, protect property, and limit civil disorder. In today’s society, it is often questioned if policeman’s purpose in society is fulfilled. Since 2015, police have killed 964 people in the U.S. Despite being only 13% of the population, black people were 25% (242) of those killed. (MappingPoliceViolence.org) These killings are often identified as police brutality. Police brutality is the use of any force exceeding reasonably necessary to accomplish a lawful police purpose. Police brutality is a rising but yet unsolved issue that remains relevant in today’s society. Differences between African Americans and police officers often affect interaction amongst each other. When police officers aren’t representative of the people they are supposed to protect, they often use cultural differences, racial tensions, and bias to target or view these communities as dangerous.

Whether you are an avid pro football fan or a casual weekend watcher by now we have all heard about the NFL’s protesting players. These high profile football players are generating media attention by kneeling during the National Anthem to protest police brutality. As Americans, we all benefit from the freedom to exercise our Constitutional rights, which are ensured and protected by our military’s service men and women. This single act of both defiance and solidarity has had a negative and a positive ripple effect on our nation.

Police brutality is a growing epidemic. According to Statics, (2015) in the United States, a police officer takes the life of a citizen every 7 hours. In 2015, there were 1,307 people who lost their lives at the hands of a police officer or law enforcement official. In 2016, that number was 1,152. Although lower, both years are still higher than the 1,149 people who were killed by police in 2014. (Fatal Encounters/Mapping Police Violence) Whereas, 69% of the victims of police brutality in the United States who are African-American/Black were suspected of a non-violent crime and were unarmed. (Mapping Police Violence)

It seems as if every day there is something on the news dealing with racial issues. Racism has been around for centuries and it does not seem to be disappearing anytime soon. During the past few months there has been a significant rise in racist acts specifically towards African Americans. From police brutality to white nationalist rallies there have been several acts of racism committed throughout the United States.

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.

A man is in his car and is pulled over for having a suspended license, and for going 60 on a 40 road. The officer walks over to the car to see the man crying. The man claims that he was rushing to get to a relative's funeral. When asked to get out of the car he resists and the police officer grabs his arm. The man yanks his arm back and the officer pulls him out of the car and brutally beats him.

Millions of American citizens are engulfed with the fear of getting pulled over, being searched and experiencing one of the simplest

The protest started with Colin Kaepernick sitting down during the National Anthem for police brutality so just because he did something small for justice means he should be unemployed and lose millions of dollars. So now most of the NFL players kneel during the national anthem. When Trump saw this he said the the players should be fired or the people that go there should walk out.

On February 26, 2012, 17-year-old African American Trayvon Martin was shot and killed. Over the next few years, the media would cover his death, the deaths of Eric Garner, Sandra Bland and countless other African Americans who have died because of police brutality. To protest this and the need for reform in the criminal justice system, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began taking a knee during the national anthem of NFL football games. Since then, other players have followed suit. On September 22, 2017, while at a rally in Huntsville, Alabama, President Trump stated to a crowd of supporters “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, “Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He’s fired. He’s fired!” and later continued his rant on twitter tweeting “If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL, or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect … our Great American Flag (or Country) and should stand for the National Anthem …”. I disagree with President Trump’s argument that NFL players are showing disrespect to our country because they’re protesting to bring awareness to police brutality, protests are protected under the first amendment, and this is a display of what the US flag represents.