Over the years, the United States has faced many cases of police brutality. Officers are faced with many threatening situations everyday forcing them to make split-second decisions expecting the worse, but hoping for the best. Therefore, police brutality severely violates human rights in the United States. Police officers have one of the hardest jobs America has to offer. They have to maintain public order, prevent, and identify crime. Throughout history, the police community has been exposed by violence in some way or another. Police officers have been suspects in dangerous shootings, severe beatings, fatal chokings, and unnecessary killings. The history of police brutality is repeated, going through stages of violence, corruption, and …show more content…
Three years later, 5’5ft 145lb Johnny Gammage was pulled over while driving through a mostly white Pittsburgh neighborhood, and was choked and beaten to death apparently after attacking five white police officers. In 1997, a New York City police officer shoved a stick six inches into the rectum of a guy named Abner Louima cracking his intestines (Troutt 6). To make things even worse the officer stuck the stick into the victim's mouth afterwards. On April 30, 2014 Milwaukee police officer Christopher Manney fatally shoots Dontre Hamilton, an unarmed 31-year-old African American with a history of mental illness, in a downtown park. Manney alleged that Hamilton, who appeared to be homeless, attempted to grab his baton during a pat down. Manney says he shot Hamilton 14 times in self-defense. Manney was fired in October but was not charged in the shooting. On Nov. 22, 2014, Tamir Rice, 12, is fatally shot and killed in a Cleveland park after police responded to a 911 call reporting a person with a gun. The caller warned that the gun may have been fake, but the officers say they didn’t know that. Officer Timothy Loehmann shot Rice within seconds of arriving on the scene. Rice’s gun turned out to have been a toy. A group of political and religious leaders have called for criminal charges to be brought against the officers involved, and a grand jury plans to hear evidence in the case
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.
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.
In 1997, a New York City police officer shoved a stick six inches into the rectum of Abner Louima rupturing his intestines (Troutt 6). To make matters worse the officer stuck the soiled stick into the victim's mouth. Two years later, Amadou Diallo and former pro football player Demetrius DuBose were murdered by New York City and San Diego police respectively. Diallo was shot by four white plain-clothes officers while standing on the porch of his own Bronx apartment building. According to the officers upon approaching the building Diallo stepped back inside to hide. When Diallo reached into his pocket the officers fired a total of 41 shots, striking him 19 times. What the police thought was a gun turned out to be a wallet (Jeffries,2001). That summer, DuBose, previous football players of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets were shot by two white San Diego police officers. The officers were investigating a burglary when that happened upon the multi-millionaire and Notre Dame graduate. An investigation by the family's attorney discovered that DuBose cooperated with the officers' investigation until they began to "harass and intimidate" him (Amnesty International 1999a). The officers claimed that DuBose attacked them with a pair of nunchakus sticks, a martial arts weapon that he allegedly wrestled away from one of them. Several witnesses said DuBose was shot in the back
Police brutality is one of the most serious and divisive human rights violations in the United States and it occurs in every community. 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 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 a situation. Sometimes this force takes the form of hand to hand combat with a suspect who resists being arrested. Not all police officers in communities are good cops. At least once a year the news is covering a story about a person
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.
Recent cases of police brutality have triggered nationwide protests over the past several years. These protests are held in a variety of ways--marches, sit-ins-etc. One recent protest took America by storm: over 100 NFL players refused to stand for the National Anthem on several different occasions. Many people, including President Trump, are pushing for owners of the teams to fire the NFL players that participated. However, doing so would be unorthodox, as Americans have a right to peaceful protest by the First Amendment. At the same time, the First Amendment gives those who make such claims the right to do so.
Police officers once were called peace keepers however now they seem to be nothing more than law enforcing officers. Most still do their jobs but they are more concerned about quotas and making arrests on Innocent people rather than keeping peace. Which as a following result has brought up a lot of apprehensiveness between the police and their citizens. With increasing violence in cities and states, police officers methods have slowly become more aggressive, bringing a rise in unnecessary police brutality. It is a big problem, and it just looks like the abuse of an officer’s power.
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.
The Plan for American JusticeDue to the growing abundance of evidence clearly demonstrating that brutality and racism are prominent issues within the United States police system, coupled with the fact that the majority of officers who commit such crimes are never indicted, the Federal government must adopt certain reforms to remedy this situation. There are countless proposals and ideas aimed at solving this issue of police brutality, but there is one formulation of plans that would seem to be the most effective. The United States Federal Government should make it a law that each and every policeman wear a body-worn camera and mic, therefore recording all actions and interactions. This would create definite lines between what is right
Police Brutality has and will continue to be an ongoing problem that is a 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 not only society grows, but as new and media are covering it. The problem posed by the illegal exercise of police power is an ongoing reality for all individuals not just 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. The public backs the police checkbooks by paying taxes. This means that even the criminals, who are a part of the public, have certain rights. Police brutality causes a major concern in today’s society in America and a resolution needs to present itself soon. Police misconduct can be described as any inappropriate behavior on the part of any law enforcement officer that is either illegal or immoral. Law enforcement agents should behave to a standard that is greater than the average civilian. Police brutality comes from an abuse of power granted to the police. Police brutality is often drawn on by overreaction in certain situations drawn on by panic. Police using excessive force in the United States is a crucial dilemma and must be stopped.
The fear of being killed by the ones who are supposed to protect you just keeps growing in the United States. Yes this essay is about the brushed off topic of police brutality and how it’s got to be stopped before it gets even way more out of hand. It’s just scary to think that the people who are supposed to protect you have a never ending list of just names and ages which they were responsible for killing. The ages of the deaths go to as young as 14 to all the way to 70 the lives of kids and elderly people are even being taken away and yet society and people of the United States are supposed to believe that the police are there to protect. When a mother loses her baby son who is 14 how is she supposed to react or think same as if a young
Over the years United States has witnessed a substantial increase in police brutality, it is one of the most common and serious violation of the human rights and it happens more often than we care to know in our communities, ranging from verbal to physical abuse in which usually an innocent person results injured as police officers lay their called justice upon the alleged criminals.
We are always taught from a young age that if we are in trouble to find a police officer - we can trust them, right? Wrong. Many of these so-called upholders of the law have become the offenders themselves. The very people that are meant to protect society from harm are now the people that are shooting, assaulting, and even killing innocent victims. Imagine not being able to walk out of your front door without fearing for your life, with this threat coming from the so-called “protectors” of society. That is the reality that many people have to face. That is the reality of police brutality.
There is something wrong with the way police are conducting themselves. When you think about police brutality, names like Rodney King, the man beaten by police, Eric Garner,the man put in a chokehold by police telling them, “I can't breathe, and Philando Castile, the man who was shot by police next to a woman and a child. these people were either killed or brutally beaten by police who used excessive force against people who didn't deserve it. In many of these cases, the officers who committed such actions go away on a temporary leave only to be back on the streets in a couple short months, this only leaves the public in anger thinking what they could do to make a difference. In 40% of these cases involve both African Americans and Hispanics. This is becoming more and more of an issue and the longer we keep denying that police brutality exists, the more instances of police violence will ensue. Police brutality is a serious issue and is something that needs to try and be fixed because in multiple instances, police were able to get away with killing an unarmed person, by giving police officers harsher punishments for using excessive force, making it mandatory for police officers to have body cameras, and stopping laws such as “stop and frisk” which only encourage racial profiling by police officers.
In recent years there has been a rise in police brutality against African America men and women across the United States. Well-known incidents include the shootings of Michael Brown and Tamir Rice and the deaths of Sandra Bland and Eric Garner. All of these cases have a variety of accounts of what happened from the police offices and eyewitnesses that were on the scene as it happened. This creates problems because nobody is sure who is telling the truth, though there has been video evidence that helped exposed corruption among the cops. With these troublesome cases, many people are calling for policemen to wear body cameras while they are on duty. Having body cameras would help solidify events that took place that causes a police officer to use force or shoot at a person. However, there are some that are concerned about privacy issues for the officers that have to wear the body cams. People feel that it is wrong to have cameras constantly recording an officer when he or she is not on a call. While this may appear as a problem there are ways for police officers to have body cams that are not recording, or at least not saving data, at all times. There are some body cameras that are constantly recording and deleting footage until an officer activates it and then the camera saves everything from the moment it is activated until it is stopped.