Police Brutality Against African Americans

“The African American community is not making this up. It’s not something that’s being politicized. It’s real”

As I was conducting research about police brutality I came up with three questions I wanted to find out. I wanted to know what race group is affected by police brutality the most, why they were affected by this the most and what to do to stop police brutality involving shooting civilian. This Paper talk about how police brutality is a major issue in America right now. There’s many different types of police brutality but police officers killing civilians is something that is issue in our nation currently. After doing reaching this topic I was able to find out that African Americans have been affected by this the most out of any race. African Americans are affected by this the most because in some cases African Americans are usually stereotyped and this causes them to be treated different by police. Ways we can help this issue is by supporting these organizations that are against police brutality and encouraging police officers around the nation to always have a body camera on them at all times.

While combating police brutality everyday, what really does matter? Despite, the increased attention and actions to remedy police brutality, police brutality is still a prevalent issue in today’s American society. It has sent critics on both sides of the issue into their corners, as no one really seems to have the answer. Maybe, the reason why police brutality has been so troublesome to alter is because the people trying to alter it are only targeting only the symptoms instead of the infection itself or maybe even the cause or the disease. What if the efforts to destroy the leaves and the branches have only made the root stronger? Police brutality is the excess use of physical force from an officer to a citizen. If there is one thing for

All across the nation, in the news the black community has been making their voice heard, in regards to white police brutality, and murder against the unarmed black community. Many of these brutal attacks and flat out murders of unarmed black people haven’t been largely prosecuted, some officers have even been acquitted of any wrong doing or murder. This has led to outrage in the African American community at large. The shooting of an unarmed black teen named Michael Brown caused the racial strain in this country to break.

Living in the information age, the prevalence and awareness towards social problems are able to receive more access than ever before. We always hear the term Social Problems being thrown around habitually in the 21st century, but the term Social problem is defined as “A general cause that motivates activists and social movement organizations to address a particular troubling condition”. (CITE). The current world has too many social problems to name off in under 5 pages so for this paper I would like to focus on perhaps the most prevalent one that we are seeing way too often these days. Police Brutality and racial profiling. As a white male, someone who is a criminal justice major in hopes of eventually becoming some type of law enforcement for my career later in life, you may ask why I even care about this issue since it isn’t necessarily affecting my life directly. My response is simple, I am tired of seeing the hashtags behind these deaths and one death from police brutality is already too many.

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.

Since the first state-sponsored police forces in the U.S. racial discrimination in police forces has been a characteristic of the American landscape. Racial profiling and police brutality have their roots in enforcement of slave codes, black codes, and Jim Crow Segregation laws. We Charge Genocide, a petition submitted to the UN by the Civil Rights Congress in 1951, documented thousands of incidents of police violence against African Americans alone. Police brutality against Native Americans has also been a regular of colonial culture in the U.S. as well. Official studies have consistently found that people and communities of color are disproportionately subjected to human

Police brutality has been a major issue since slavery. In slavery people, mainly whites, were able to do anything to black people without having to deal without dealing with the consequences. Families were destroyed, people died, babies were killed, and many unknown factors still to this day that will never be known. When slavery was abolished, it did not end right away. It took several years and still is not abolished if you look at in a political way. People of power, mainly white, were not happy that a black person could be seen as equals. This is the main reason why they feel it is okay to lash out at black people. There are several major issues that are causing and epidemic in The United States. However, the main issue that seems to be the most discussed is about police brutality in the black community. “Police brutality is the use of excessive and/or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians. “Excessive use of force” means a force well beyond what would be necessary in order to handle a situation. Police brutality can be present in a number of ways. The most obvious form of police brutality is a physical form. Police officers can use nerve gas, batons, pepper spray, and guns in order to physically intimidate or even intentionally hurt civilians. Police brutality can also take the form of false arrests, verbal abuse, psychological intimidation, sexual abuse, police corruption, racial profiling, political repression and the improper use of Tasers”

Over the past decade, police brutality has covered major headlines because officers have acted out in ways that have made citizens question their motives. Things such as unjustified shootings, deadly chokings, and rough treatment have all added to the constant problem of police brutality in the black community. Annoyingly, the police officers responsible for the killings and abuse are not held for long before they are discharged to their normal routines. Since many people believe that the issues of police brutality is based on race, officers should be held accountable for their misconduct. Accountability will permit officers to treat all with equality; therefore using the appropriate amount of force on everyone. Often cops are indicted in less than 1% of killings, but the indictment rate for citizens is 90% which is a major problem. If someone does wrong they should suffer the consequence no matter who they are. As a result of misconduct officers tend be mistrusted by their communities. Deaths in the black community often stems from police officers using excessive force such as assaults, beating and shootings.

On June 17, 2015 in Charleston, North Carolina, Dylann Roof walked into the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church during bible study and proceeded to opened fire, taking the lives of 9 African American church members. Roof, with no regrets about the massacre he committed, believes he had no other choice than to take the lives of innocent men and women. Roof, who believed himself to be a white supremacist, designed his own logo with his initials, a swastika, and the number 88, an abbreviation for the Natzi salute.

Police brutality against minorities has been a severe issue America has faced for almost a century, with the problem originating with the National Prohibition Act in 1919. Crime grew as the demand for illegal alcohol did as well, causing many law enforcement agencies to increase the use of unlawful practices. The motives for authorities to brutalize citizens is usually racial profiling, but can also occur with differences in religion, politics, or socioeconomic class. Police officers use of excessive force is most commonly associated with minorities, African-Americans specifically. Notable victims such as Rodney King and Frank Jude were fortunate enough to live another day to tell their story, however, Sean Bell and Timothy Thomas, both gunned

I stand here today to present you with the issue that needs to be addressed immediately: racial injustice and police brutality. America is base on the fundamental principle of equality and freedom to be individual. However, this cannot happen due to the unjust to we, the blacks. Our ancestors helped through the civil revolution, many great people- such as Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, President Obama that try to create equality for people. America is a place where people of different color love and accept each other despite their differences. Throughout history, black people being treated brutality that led to the death of many innocent blacks who were killed by police officers, and we need to put a stop to this. People will always hear that their black male or female were killed by a higher authority figure; however, they still face no consequences. Most of the time the police officers that are not held accountable for the killing of unarmed black males because no criminal charges are pressed against them. There are still police officers on the street, discriminating blacks because they do not believe that blacks are equal to them. Many police officers that will kill even a young black male or female and then get a away with it. Yes, all human lives are valuable, but today I am specifically addressing the black lives matter movement. Blacks lives matter movement is important because we are addressing the white supremacy in our nation. It is an cry out for help

A problem that has risen over the past decade or so is the criminal justice system being against African Americans, but to be more specific is the criminal justice system being against African American males. There have been numerous amounts of cases that have come to face dealing with African Americans and law enforcement. The types of cases that have caught the eye of the media and the people of the United States are the ones were law enforcement uses excessive force on an African American or killing an African American teen or adult. Any situation dealing with law enforcement and Africans Americans, they believe they will be treated differently than any other race. Numbers have increased over the years of African American men being incarcerated,

Police abuse is one of the most violated human rights in the United States. Police are portrayed as heroes that stop bank robbers, stop kidnappings and catch murders, but as of recent year’s police actions have come into the public eye. While typically citizens worry about their safety from criminals, it also seems they have to keep an eye out for the people who are supposed to protect them from danger. Thousands of complaints about police brutality is reported each year, and seems to be growing more. China has a population four and a half times bigger than the United States and only twelve killings were reported by law enforcement in 2014, but in the United States ninety two times more people were killed than a country with nearly 1.4 billion people (Fairbanks). Within our police system in America, there are openings and loopholes that give liberty to police officers who either abuse their authority given to them or do not live up to ethical standards in today’s society.

Police brutality against African Americans was a huge impact in Los Angeles, California in 1991, and continues to be a problematic situation in America today. On March 3, 1991, a group of white LAPD beat Rodney King. After this incident occurred a lot of negative events started to transpire. A lot of African Americans were angry and demanded justice. The relationship between the LAPD and the Los Angeles community in 1991 were horrific and still continues to be awful today. Police brutality just seems to be increasing more overtime, which means the increase in the community not trusting the police. Police brutality can be a huge disadvantage when it comes to community policing.