Police Behavior

The brutality of the police force has been a long worldwide problem, but especially between the years of 2012-2016. Black people are being unjustly beaten and shot in plain sight for doing nothing while being unarmed. Journal of African American Studies “Blacks are viewed as deserving of harsh treatment in the criminal justice system” (482). “Black males with more “Afrocentric” features may receive longer sentences than blacks with less Afrocentric features like lighter skin and straighter hair”(482). Nowadays it is important to know about the police force. It’s important to know our rights as citizens and be careful around cops. Not everybody is good, but not everybody is bad also. In The New York Amsterdam News 21 people were killed by Chicago police in 2008. Entire families were being attacked. They believe it’s because of their skin color and how they are different. The year of racism started off with the world seeing the police murder of Oscar Grant. “The media have pushed people away from hearing the issue of police brutality, and it has fallen off of the radar screen.”(2) “You can’t give in. They will try to make an example out of you, try to break your spirit!”(2) African Americans say do not trust the cops with anything. “They will ruin you.”(2)

In the world we live in today, racism and police brutality are raising concerns that society needs to be aware of. Beginning from the mid 1900s and on, racism was an ongoing problem that many individuals acted on from day to day. Whether it was mainly whites who hated blacks or vice versa, there never seemed as if a solution would ever come about. Based on this article about racism and police brutality, it talks a lot about how brutality following the Rodney King incident has change and is more exposed due to updated technology. Racism is not a thing of the past, it exist in this day and happens everyday in front of our eyes. Another point from this article is how the media portrays black as intimidating and scary which often times is the reason why police officers act the way they do when they are encountering a black male. Today’s society is taught to be afraid of black men because they are dangerous and unpredictable. The media account is a short video of how police brutality is caught on camera and how the police are portrayed because of these videos. Because of the new technology officers are no longer able to get away with brutality and not having to answer for there actions. This media account is more of an awareness video of how if someone sees the police physically abusing someone, they should take there phones out and record everything that is going on. Today’s camera phone as said to be the police’s kryptonite because they capture everything that is done by the

To peep or not to peep, that is the question being asked by many regarding police body cameras in communities. The topic of police brutality is a rising issue in today’s society. Several questions have arose over the use of police body cameras and whether they are a good or bad idea. Police body cameras have has a variety of concern to many communities regarding their potential. Every city has a different trust and relationship for their police force and these concerns vary depending on the community. People have the concern regarding privacy, protection, and impact on the community and more. After researching the problems caused by Police body cameras as well as its background, the current state of the issue, and the potential solutions, it is clear that communities need to bring a solution to this situation.Such as laws, policies, rules, and more to control this new information.

From the disturbing beating of Rodney King to the horrific death of Malice Green to the shooting of Michael Brown shows there is a consistent problem with police brutality and the exertion of force used. Police brutality seems to be a rising issue again with the occurrence of the Michael Brown shooting and the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement making sure that any form of police brutality should not be swept under the rug. Action has been taken in some cities around the country for dealing with police brutality, such as police reform, which requires the retraining of hundreds of officers. There has also been talk and use of police body cameras that would record interactions between officers and the public to clear up any discrepancies in police/witness reports. To look at the effects and causation of police brutality we will be analyzing the media’s role, the sociological and psychological aspects of officers who administer the beating, and the timing of when these beatings/killings occurred.

After reading all the material regarding Jeffery Bell, Darryl Forrest and Dustin Sillings all 3 whom were members of the Kansas City Police special unit known as (SCORE) Selective, Crime, Occurrence, Reduction Enforcement unit. I came up with several unethical behaviors throughout the course of the year from January 2010 to January 2011. One, all 3 officers violated the victims constitutional rights. Rights that were taken away were the freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures and not to have their property taken without due process under the law. (The Criminal Indictment: United States of America v. Jeffrey M. Bell, Darryl M. Forrest, and Dustin Sillings) Each officer took it upon themselves to steal various items including money from

I selected an article about police body cameras. The article cited several studies, as well as the authors’ ideas and thoughts. The article, titled Police Body Cameras, is part of the CATO Institute’s National Police Misconduct Reporting Project, and prepared by Matthew Feeney in 2015. The theme throughout the article is that the use of body cameras will reduce police misconduct. Although we all hope this is the case, we must also look at the other issues involved with the wearing of body cameras. In an effort to gain citizen buy-in and obtain their opinions, they conducted surveys. Interestingly enough, most people did not want the officers to record them, unless it was during an enforcement encounter, such as a traffic stop or arrest situation.

Rialto, California is an example of a city with positive results from the use of body-cameras. In Rialto, police began wearing body-cameras a little less than three years ago. As a result of officers wearing body-cameras, citizens’ complaints against police officers dropped 88 percent and use of force by police officers dropped 60 percent from the previous 12 month period when body-cameras were not in use. Rialto’s police chief said, “When you put a camera on a police officer, they tend to behave a little better, follow the rules a little better. And if the citizen knows the officer is wearing a camera, chances are the citizen will behave a little better” (Lovett).

a few years now, police brutality has become an extremely controversial topic and has raised many debates and questions about law enforcement and civilians. Police brutality has been common for decades. However after the death of African Americans such as Michael Brown, Alton Sterling, and Philando Castile, many other African Americans have rose up in protest and anger. The anger stems from these men dying at the hands of police which the civilians believe they died from situation that should have been handled differently. Cases like these have caused a major divide with African Americans and law enforcement. Many people wonder where the relationship between the two went wrong and how police brutality became such a big issue that seems impossible

Historically there has been conflict between the american police force and members of minority groups. In recent years this conflict has moved into the eye of the public, through the media attention given to events like Ferguson. Outrage and unrest ensued and the backlash from these events were felt all over the US if not internationally. The result of these events lead to politicians and the police pledging reforms to improve the relations between law enforcement and members of minority groups. However many still believe that nothing has changed and that law enforcement is still more likely to use excessive force when dealing with members of those minority groups. Research has started to be conducted on this issue and many try to find solutions. This paper will provide a literary review of the current literature regarding this topic and will further provide some ways in which the relationship between law enforcement and the public can be improved.

This article is explaining how the misconduct of police is different big cities like New York City and Los Angeles. It also brought up when a police shooting happens, what do other races think of the police, with that being said, this is also talking about 2 shootings of Patrick dorismond in New York and Amadou Diall, the author tracks public attitudes toward the police before and after each incident, and they also examine the similarities and the opinions of whites, blacks, and Mexican. For example, they were a few police shootings that happened in the 90s, first was the Rodney King beating which was caught on video tape, but no convictions also numerous police scandal that was reported from 1999 to 2000 in the Los Angeles police department. After each incident the most impactful one was the Rodney King beating of African Americans, which after that the trust in police went down drastically because of that image that was seen worldwide. This article is relevant to my research because it talks about police brutality and cases that has happened over the years, this also gives actual statatics about how many African Americans and Mexicans are more likely to be encountered a police brutality.

Several studies, such as those done by Barak Ariel, et al. have demonstrated a very strong connection between the use of body-worn cameras and reduction of complaints (Ariel et al., “The Effect”) (Ariel, et al., “Contagious...”). There is also an argument to be made for the relationship between the police and their communities. If the departments invest in things that make the public feel safer, such as body-worn cameras, then they will in turn be safer, as their communities will not feel threatened by their presence, but protected.

At the beginning of the study, police commanders were apprehensive, they felt that body-worn cameras might cause officers to center their time on dispatched calls, instead of networking with citizens. This was found not to be the case, suggesting that body-worn cameras allow officers to record suspicious events on the street before starting contact with a suspect. This could give more explanation and confidence to initiate encounters. Overall, officers are actually more active when wearing cameras, without aggregating their use of aggressive strategies that threatened the validity of the organization, like unwarranted stop and frisks and misdemeanor arrests (Stanley, 2015). Monitoring police behavior and demonstrating accountability are in the community’s interest as well as police departments’. Achieving this will require great attention to the transmission of recorded information honestly, as conflicting stories may come into play regarding how the content of officer recordings are conveyed to the

The police involved shooting of Michael Brown has changed the way society views law enforcement, and the method of how law enforcement officers have to interact with this same society. With the deaths of individuals like Brown, Freddie Gray, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice, and with the assistance of social media and bias news reporting, as well as high level officials within our social structure, who’s speech and words can carry a large impact on our behaviors, there has been a picture painted that police are murdering people of different ethnicities without regard for justifiable force. Politicians, celebrities and the media alike, have been a major contributor to the anti-police sentiment and the violent interactions that police

The impression of public in the U.S of the police using excessive forces, such as brutality, in today's modern policing continues to be a sensitive issue across the country. Many police agencies around the nation are under the pressure for alleged abuse of force from the view of the media perspective. Justified or not, the image of the police use of force continues to strike a nerve with the American public. However, an attempt to use force is often misunderstood by the community because of the media frenzy using false declarations and propaganda techniques. These techniques weaken the power of the police and reduce the trust that the community has in the police force.

A common issue presented in today’s national media is police brutality. Police brutality is the use of unnecessary force on civilians by police. The concept of having police officers is to ensure safety and protection of citizens. Police should only use force necessary to accomplish their lawful purpose. The common occurrence of police brutality has sparked responses nationwide in the form of protests, riots, and movements to end the excessive and sometimes fatal force of police officers. The public rallies are also in response to lack of conviction or repercussions of many of the cops who demonstrate unjust police brutality. These incidents are also commonly associated with racial disparity. The headline news stories of the shooting and killing of unarmed African Americans, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and twelve year old Tamir Rice, all in the same year, prompted citizens nationwide that change in the law enforcement system is necessary. While a majority of police abide to their oaths and stand for justice, a noticeable amount have historically misused their power. If a community cannot trust police officers, it will be detrimental for society as a whole.