Police Brutality And The Law Enforcement

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.

-By definition the term police brutality is “applied in the context of causing physical harm, it may also involve psychological harm through the use of intimidation tactics beyond the scope of officially sanctioned police procedure.” In today’s society we have police known as riot police, who are known throughout the world to use extreme force. Statistics show almost every time the riot police are involved in crowd control, there is at least one fatality and multiple injured. This is why I believe this is one of the most important issues in the World today. Police are there to protect us but from April 2009 to June 2010 in the United States there were 5986 reports of misconduct from police officers. Police brutality has today’s citizens doubting the police department, and how they go about their arrest. Police brutality is an everyday occurrence, especially in cities where there are large communities of Blacks, Latinos and Asians.

Police brutality is defined as “excessive and/or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians,” and this has become more prominent within the United States throughout the years (Danilina). There has many cases where police brutality has been seen via news channels, and it has dismantled the unity of trust between the civilians of the United States and the law enforcement who are supposed to protect the everyday people from harm. The issue is if the law enforcement is actually right within their means of protection, or have they gone too far with using excessive force in any situation that may or may not be harmful to them. There is, also, the question of whether racial profiling is the biggest contributor to police brutality.

Police brutality is the deliberate use by police of more than necessary force, used to accomplish legitimate police missions of subduing violent people, catch criminals and suspects or protecting life and public order.

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.

Police brutality is seen as a real problem in America today. What people do not seem to realize is that the police carry a massive burden each day. The work that officers do has the potential to be very demanding and sometimes involves dangerous situations. In these situations the officers are in the position where they may be required to use force to gain control. The continuum of force dictates the level that is most appropriate for the situation. Most people do not realize that is not the officers job the meet the force. However, it is their job to overcome the force. Police departments have very strict standard operating procedures about officer use force and how force is applied. With this paper, I will attempt to explain the continuum of force, police discretion, and why the police can do some of the things they do.

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.

Police brutality remains one of the most controversial, as well as the most serious human rights’ violations in the United States. In the past year or we have heard, read, or witnessed unjustified shootings, severe beatings, fatal chokings, and rough treatment which have all contributed to the ever-present problem of police brutality in America. Police are the ones that set an image towards the society so that people can actually follow them and think they are doing the right thing, however it is a really disturbing matter knowing that police does racial profiling especially compared to whites and blacks. And therefore, this research paper is about police will most likely be more crucial to blacks compare to whites and this is known as racial profiling. Therefore, this brings fourth the question, are our officers of law really doing their job?

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?

The heated issue of police brutality and police officers violating civil rights has extensively covered media headlines for several years. Hundreds of people are killed every year by police officers, and many of these cases bring up issues of police brutality. More often than not, it is usually a white police officer and an african american offender encounter that sparks media attention. The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri is just one of these cases that has caused a major divide in the United States. Michael Brown was fatally shot by Officer Wilson after an unfriendly encounter in the streets. Those who believe that Officer Wilson made the right decision in shooting Michael Brown, point to the fact that the grand jury chose not to indict him. Although Darren WIlson was not charged after the shooting of unarmed Michael Brown, some people believe that his actions were unlawful and he should have received some sort of punishment for his wrongdoing. Acknowledging all of the facts of the investigation, Officer Wilson did not act properly in the circumstances of the time.

Police brutality has a long history in which citizens and police have been victims and in recent years it has became a major issue. Many people claim that the citizens are the ones to blame and others claim that the police officers are the ones who should take the blame.

Police brutality is abuse of power in the form of excessive force committed by the police. Examples of this range from physical assault to psychological intimidation. Contrary to popular belief, many forms of police brutality include emotional and psychological aspects on top of physical. It can also take the form of false arrests, verbal abuse, and racial profiling. In countless accumulating cases across the country, police brutality has proved lethal (Danalina 1).

Over the recent years, police have been one of the organizations to be associated with the largest cases of misconduct. Police brutality can be termed as the process of misuse and abuse of authority by the police. The rising cases of police brutality are causing more harm to the public, compared to the actions perpetrated by real criminals. Although police claim that it’s sometimes necessary to curb crime, the process is illegal and police officers should be charged just like any other criminal offender. It should be the responsibility of the justice system to establish effective strategies to deal with the rising illegal activities in order to restore public trust in the law

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)

Police brutality is an intentional act of undue force that a law enforcement officer uses to control a situation. This act violates the human rights of civilians and thus is unlawful behavior that exceeds the officer’s governmental power.