Police Brutality: An Inhumane Incident

Police brutality and office involved shootings have sparked national debate and created a strain between police officers and citizens. Recently, there have been more home videos that display acts of aggression by police officers. These police officers often use excessive forces or a condescending tone towards people of color which is why there needs to be a better way to mend police and civilian relationship. People should be able to trust the police in their communities rather than fear them.

There is various forms of human rights violation currently in the United States, however; Police abuse remains the most serious of them all. Police brutality is, therefore, the use of excessive force or even unnecessary force by the police while they are dealing with civilians. People are left wondering if the police are doing the jobs they were appointed to do under the law. They act in ways such as the use of guns and pepper sprays to intimidate civilians, racial profiling, false arrests, severe beatings, unjustified shootings, police corruption and even sexual abuse among others (King). The truth of the matter is that such incidents usually go un-noticed and worse of unreported. Police brutality is an issue of contention given that they have the authority to apply force when necessary. Hence, when do we say that police brutality has occurred, what causes it and how do we end it.

What does the term ‘police brutality’ mean to you? ‘Police’ are the men and women dressed in uniform that are supposed to protect us from any danger at any time. They’re who you call when someone is breaking into your house in the middle of night, or even when someone strange is following you home. The word ‘brutality’ is physical violence towards someone. How do those two words sound next to each other?

As of September 1, 2015, in the United States police officers have killed 776 people and 161 of those people were unarmed at the time of their death (MintPress). There have been too many incidents where police officers have injured or killed someone that could have been prevented. Using maximum force with a suspect has become a routine in many confrontations. Officers have not been given the proper training to deal with individuals and how to handle them without using a weapon. If they were given more training on how to deal with situations resulting in using a weapon to stop an individual during certain scenarios police brutality situations would decrease, lives would be saved, and police would get their good reputation back. However, police departments would have to spend more money on re-training. Some people agree with police brutality and think that a civilian deserved their punishment, which is not right because no one deserves to be beaten or killed. Situations involving police brutality have been increasing throughout the years, which is a problem that must to be solved.

Recently police have come under fire for the deaths of many unarmed African American males. This has broken the trust between civilians and police and torn our country apart. People are frustrated about the killings of unarmed citizens and how it seems every officer can get away with killing an unarmed suspect. Back in 1994 a law was passed that required the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to record date on police involved shooting and deaths by police officers. Except where are the numbers that would show there is an increase in unarmed African American deaths from police officers?

In recent years and in light of recent tragedies, police actions, specifically police brutality, has come into view of a large, public and rather critical eye. The power to take life rests in the final stage of the criminal justice system. However, the controversy lies where due process does not. While the use of deadly force is defined and limited by departmental policies, it remains an act guided chiefly by the judgment of individual officers in pressure situations. (Goldkamp 1976, 169). Many current studies have emphasized the racial disparities in minority deaths, primarily black Americans, killed by police through means of deadly force. The history of occurrences reveals the forlorn truth that police reforms only receive attention in wake of highly publicized episodes of police misconduct. The notorious 1992 Los Angeles riots brought the matter to mass public attention and prompted improved law enforcement policy. Significant local reforms resulted, for instance, ending the policy of lifetime terms for police chiefs. Additionally, on a broader platform, in 1994, Congress approved provisions to the Crime Control Act in effort to tackle police abuse in a more structured way.

Every person should have equal rights and opportunities not based on their ethnicity, race, or culture. There are countrywide issues that have lead to racial injustice. In recent discussions on racial injustice, one major issue has been the many cases of police brutality and hate crimes against minorities. Many falsely accused people are being incarcerated simply based on the color of their skin or how they look. Racism has been a huge part of Americas past and will continue to be a part of our history as time progresses. It is our history itself that keeps racism in America regrettably alive. It is what has shaped our society today. The actions of unlawful police officers have been presented through media. By revealing the problems with our law enforcement this has allowed the public to see the roots of this issue. There are many factors that contribute to the issue of police brutality, they are all derived from the roots of the tree of our history. It is time that people take a stand against hate crimes such as police brutality.

Police brutality is a very controversial topic in America. Some people think that the police are protecting their community and are doing whatever it takes to keep them safe. On the other hand, a lot of Americans feel that the police are choosy, prejudice, and overall just unfair. Personally, I think it depends on the situation at hand. I have read up on some cases that I felt that the police took advantage of their powers. I have also read a couple of situations where I felt that their actions of brutality were justified.

For the past couple years there has been so many incidents involving some sort of police brutality. The mainstream media has shown police misconduct, case after case it has become a routine and making people wonder if our officers of the law really doing their jobs? Unjustified shooting, and fatal choking’s have all contributed to the problem of police brutality in America and also has become very controversial. The police carry an enormous burden each day, which makes their job really hard. Police work is very stressful and involves violent, and split second decision. Nevertheless, cases like the shooting of Samuel DuBose, and Walter Scott and the choking of Eric Garner has raised questions regarding our police system. In many confrontations the police are put in a position in which they have to use force to control the situation, but there are different levels of force and most of the time the situation dictates the level of force that’s necessary. In addition, I will explain different cases of police brutality, the use of excessive force, and the consequences the officers have faced.

What is police brutality? Police brutality is an act of misconduct done by a member law enforcement through the use of an extreme amount of force to physically, mentally, or emotionally attack a member of society. Many law enforcement officers, those sworn to protect and serve, have abused their rights and authority to ferociously assault and manipulate citizens, even if they were innocent. Citizens who have been attacked have been left with physical and emotional scars that can never go away; in some cases, it has even caused death. In a report by David Packman, prepared for the Cato Institute in 2011, states that 247 deaths were linked to police misconduct cases.(Packman 2011)

With the current Spring Valley, South Carolina situation, this is perhaps a great time to address that police brutality does not, in any circumstance, exist. A few days ago, a video had surfaced the internet, showing a 15-year-old African American female being forcefully pulled out of a desk at school. After seeing this video, many concluded that the police officer was wrong for his actions, without listening to the facts first. As more videos arise, we begin to see the actual circumstances. In the full length videos, you are able to hear the teacher of the classroom asking the female student to leave after being disruptive in class. After refusing to leave, the teacher calls down to the office, requesting someone to come and escort the female from class. A police officer, who happens to be at the school as a resource officer at the time, enters the classroom and requests the female to leave class with him. After refusing, she is told that she will be forcefully removed if she does not comply. She once again refuses, which results in the forceful removal of the young woman.

Police brutality and the issue of excessive force can be dated back far into history. This issue is relevant in not only American history but also World history. As long as there has been a show of authority, there has been an underdog, and an issue of the powerful verses the powerless. With that said, in American history there have been events, that are greatly recognized today, that date back as early as the late nineteenth century. For example, the New York Police Department, which is one of the first law enforcement agencies in America, has deprived many persons of liberty. Many of the events pertaining to this department back in the late nineteenth century had a lot of relevance to police attacking unemployed citizens that exercised their

Last year, there were 1,207 criminals killed by police officers alone, as in 2013, there were only 461 criminals killed by officers, this is a 261% increase in only two years. Many of these cases has been very controversial to if the criminal was rightly killed or if this is a case of police brutality. Some of the more well known cases include what happened at Ferguson or in Baltimore with Freddie Gray. These cases have not been videotaped and therefore was hard to collect evidence for a case when it went to trial, this limits the amount of trials that incorrectly sentenced. The only judicious resolution is to have body cameras on the officers, this could solve many controversial occurrences. This can also go beyond just police brutality, but with the high appearance of police officers ' everywhere, they could be available to see other incidents, that would also be seen by the cameras that the police officer may be wearing. Police officers should have body cameras attached to them to aid in preventing the grievous issue of police brutality.

One of the biggest problems that plague America is police brutality. The job of the police is to protect the community they’re assigned to work in, from any illegal activity that occurs. However, there are officers who believe they are above the law. Police brutality has been a political oppression that has been occurring more many years. There’s been many cases of excessive force towards innocent civilians by an officer that has sparked a national outrage. Stephan Lendman of Media with Conscience said in his article regarding the matter that “Police brutality occurs multiple times daily across America.” “In big cities. In small ones. In urban areas. In rural ones.” John Wihbey and Leighton Walter Kille from JournalistsResourch.org reported that “Research has definitively established that “racial profiling” by law enforcement exists — that persons of color are more likely to be stopped by police.” However, it does not mean that Caucasians are subject to be victims of police misconduct. Most recently there’s been an increase of police brutality among the transgender community particularly black trans women. Police brutality will come to end if the law set in place against it is enforced more with the lawbreakers to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law as well as the requirement of body cameras for officers on duty.

Who are we supposed to go to when the police and law enforcement abuse their power and because of that they end up abusing people in a violent way leaving them in critical damage. Law Enforcement duty is to make sure communities are safe, and for people within those communities be able to go out of their house without feeling that their life is in danger or they are being threatened. Police Brutality is becoming a bigger issue as each day pass. Police officers are abusing their power and doing whatever they want because they feel that they can do anything because of the badge they have on their uniform. The reason why I selected this policy is that it is something that happens every day and they let it happen and due to that, the police officers are averaging of killing 3 people nationwide. The media has an important role influencing public opinions on police brutality because what happens most of the time is that news does not show the full story of a scenario of a police abusing their power hurting people with their uniform on. Now in days, everyone is on social media and when a case happens people record and upload them to their social media and from there, everyone else will see it. After seeing the videos of people being attacked by the police there will be more than one person who is going to do something about it until police brutality comes to an end. This policy has to be talked about until they stop police brutality and that is why I choose to talk about this policy. It is forbidden for police officers to be abusing their power against the community violently and committing a crime when they are sworn officers who are suppose to protect the community from all danger. Due to the media, I was able to see what is happening in our communities and how police officers are abusing their power and it made me talk about because we can not allow being abused violently by the police when they are supposed to keep us safe.