Place Hypothesis

In 2002 alone, large state and local law enforcement agencies, those with 100 or more officers, received more than 26,000 citizen complaints about officers’ use of force. Among those complaints only eight percent had sufficient evidence of the allegation to justify disciplinary action against the subject officer (U.S. Department of Justice). These incidents occur frequently but what truly happens is never very clear. Witness reports don’t hold up with evidence, the victim has their recollection of what happened and the police officer has another. There is no concrete way to hold police accountable for their actions unless there is hard evidence to prove them guilty. This allows officers to use excessive force and not face any penalization from their department or in court.

Weitzer and Tuch depicted that “African Americans will see police misconduct as both a general problem and one that is primarily targeted towards blacks” (Weitzer and Tuch 1011). A test was given to a sample group to decide whether minorities believe police in their city treats them worse than whites. Results show that minorities are virtually treated worse than whites. When testing the white sample group, results displayed that police in their city treated whites

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.

For the past few decades, there have been increasing speculation on the problem of excessive force and police brutality. While there are many people that claim that the presence of local police force is beneficial, the Community of Relations Service of the United States Department of Justice claims that in incidents where minority communities often do not have good relations with the police force, a small incident involving the use of force will often result in a violent disturbance (Community, 1). These tensions between the police force and minority communities are then fueled further by many different police cases across the United States in which officers allegedly use excessive force against both minority and majority communities. Many

In the United States, studies have shown that minority citizens, particularly African Americans, are the primary victims of police brutality. This use of excessive force, when utilized by law enforcement officers, encompasses a wide range of abusive practices – racial slurs, profanity, unnecessary searches, physical abuse, and even murder. According to a report by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, 313 African Americans were killed without trial by police, security guards, and vigilantes in 2012. In other words, one extrajudicial execution of a black person occurs every 28 hours. This tension between law enforcers and minorities is hardly new, as evident by the prevalent racial discrimination between blacks and whites throughout history – slavery, Jim Crow, and the civil rights movement. Although many Americans today believe that our nation is progressing into the “age of colorblindness,” blacks are three times more likely than whites to engage in police contact that result in the use of excessive force (Eith & Durose 12). The following pages will analyze how impoverished neighborhoods, negative stereotypes, and mass media contribute to the mutual antagonism between police and African Americans, ultimately setting the stage for violent conflicts. Furthermore, this paper will also investigate real-life examples of Rodney King and Michael Brown, as well as examine how American citizens have resisted against this racial oppression through both violent and peaceful campaigns.

Police brutality, when it occurs may be one of the most significant violations of public trust. Police officers, those individuals taxed with protecting the public from danger, should never be in a situation where they pose a threat to the public. Furthermore, there is no question that police brutality occurs. Moreover, generally when there are allegations of police brutality, there has been some type of underlying violent incident. In addition, while issues of brutality may seem clear-cut to a disinterested observer, it is critical to keep in mind that law enforcement officers are not presented with textbook examples of the appropriate or inappropriate use of force, but real-life scenarios involving quick decisions. There are many arrest and non-arrest scenarios where officers need to use force to protect self or others; and the degree of force required may be greater than what a disinterested observer would assume because a huge percentage of detained criminals are under the influence of drugs at the time of their arrest and detention, which may increase pain resistance, decrease judgment, and enhance strength and/or energy. Another recurrent issue in debates about police brutality is that racial bias appears to be a motive behind police brutality. When one considers that minorities are disproportionately likely to be arrested and convicted of crimes, one would expect to find a disproportionate number of minorities

The media coverage of excessive force has caused outrage among citizens across the nation. The cases in Ferguson and New York have stirred up major debates about excessive police force and the meaning of justice for all within our judicial system. Protests and riots have ensued in cities across the nation and the cases are affecting us all, whether it is protesters blocking major highways during rush hour, or citizens burning down local businesses out of anger and frustration. The issue of excessive force needs to be addressed and the main question people want answered is, what causes police to use excessive force? Research has been conducted on variables such as the race of police officers, preconceived negative

A controversial topic for decades, one issue that has made a noticeable impact in modern day society, especially in the year of 2015, is that of police brutality. Stemming from deep-rooted and institutionalized racism within law enforcement and other surrounding fields, it has sparked a firestorm of opposition, with many American citizens up in arms over the target that’s been seemingly casted on the backs of the black community. Despite the various protocols that have been implemented as a means of placing a more critical eye on law enforcement, we are still seeing more and more cases of excessive police force being committed daily without any sort of justice for these victims. The idea that an officer on duty has more legal protection than that of a normal civilian must have some merit, as a study done by Cato Institute found that “When police officers are charged, they are convicted at a lower rate than people in the general populace.” (Elinson and Palazzolo). By granting these officers more rights and not holding them to same authoritative ruling regular citizens are ordered to follow, it allows for corruption and discrimination in the forces that are expected to help us. Without reprimanding the police for violation of conduct, we will continue to see the same issues arise for many years to come.

Racism and police brutality have been a topic of debate for many years. Pundits on both side of the debate argue their points. However, those who are directly affected, African Americans and other minorities know all too well the harsh reality. They have faced racism and police brutality for many decades. Police brutality remains a major concern today for those in the black community. I will review how African Americans perceive the police and in what ways can their perception be changed as well as effective conflict resolution strategies. I will conduct my research through journal articles, historical cases, books and assigned texts.

The focus of my research is on police brutality, specifically on the various components of excessive force and what aspects of American culture allow it to continue. This topic is multidisciplinary, and fits within the bounds of sociology, African American studies, criminal justice, law, and public policy. There are multiple factors which influence police brutality, including but not limited to, location, segregation, community accountability, demographics, and current events. The research used within this paper all attempt to answer one or more of the aforesaid factors. The ultimate goal of this paper is to determine the overall impacts of all aspects of police brutality.

Most of the time, explanations about police use of force during law enforcement have relied on the racial threat viewpoint. Numerous studies have examined the relationship that exists between race and policing in urban cities. A variety of scholars have argued in the past that use of force is entrenched in the racial and structural composition of urban cities and the organizational climate of local politics and police departments. Structural conditions related to racial threat and social disorganization to some extent contribute to the breakdown in informal social control, resulting in increased rates of police use of force (Holmes & Smith 2008). Additionally, organizational climate of police departments is vulnerable to influence by ecological features of urban cities, creating a connection between residents and the political systems which in turn result in higher rates of police use of force. Studies have linked racial threats to police use of force during law enforcement, death penalty, interracial killings, and other forms of social control over particular races outside the criminal justice system in the US. Poverty and racial discrimination are playing a significant role in disorganization of the social environment in most urban cities. Putting all these factors into consideration, it becomes evident that cities with higher levels of social disorganization are less capable of regulating the behavior and actions of their residents. This to some extent calls for use of

As a consequence police use more force on black kids than white ones”( Craig Debrah). From this study, you can see that officers are not being rational or focus on diagnosing the situation if the suspect is a minority. This is the belief that all officers have certain biases against certain minorities. Which mean they will act differently in certain scenarios. For example, a white officer will be quick to chose lethal force in a situation that involves a minority. However, the belief is they will give a white person the benefit of doubt. Which an officer should never do, they must hold all races on the same pedestal.

The use of excessive force by police officers is a topic that continues to make headlines and a study that needs to be done. Although much research has gone into this topic there still is no consensus on why the use of excessive force occurs. Some studies suggest lack of training and/or problems with organization policy/procedures. Law enforcement officers are authorized to use force when necessary, but when the level of force is excessive, however, the actions of the police come under scrutiny. The resulting effects can include; public outrage, scandal, negative reputation for not only the officer but the law enforcement community, and criminal considerations. Although there’s is no concrete definition of excessive force, police

In the year 2002, there were 26,556 complaints filed by citizens against the large police departments for their police officers use of force. This was a rate of 6.6 per 100 full-time sworn police officers and with 10.9 per 100 full-time sworn police officers responding to calls. The complaints filed showed that 22,238 or 84% of them being received by the larger municipal police departments. The Sheriffs’ offices had 2,815 uses of force complaints which were 11% and the rate of 3.4 per 100 sworn police officers. The county police departments had 763 of the use of force complaints which was about 3% which was a rate of 2.9 per 100. The State law police department had 749 file uses of force complaints which were about 3%. That was the lowest rates of 1.3 per 100 officers.

The purpose of the proposed research is to determine what characteristics exists in a Police Officer that may lead to both the most and least amount of force used in police-citizen interactions where force may be required. In order to come to a logical conclusion, the question asked must be explored from a couple different angles. First, do Police Officer demographics have a general impact on the amount of force used while on duty i.e. characteristics like race and gender? Second, does the exposure or completion of a college degree have an impact on the amount of force used while on duty? As this topic remains relevant to modern day society and exists continuously in various news outlets and other media sources, society has formed its own narrative concerning a relationship between Police Officer characteristics and the use of force. For the purpose of this research, I have developed four hypothesis and three null hypothesis.