Police Brutality: Black Americans And Black Lives Matter Movement

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.

“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.

The following piece of work will discuss racism within the criminal justice system by viewing the Black Lives Matter movement, the roles of law enforcement and how that effects citizens, and potential solutions to the problems in the system. Within our criminal justice system, it is evident that there is a problem by the ratio of blacks in prison, and the number of police brutality cases in the country.

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

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.

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”

Racial profiling isn’t something new to today’s society. Most recently there were incidents in which the officers were accused of mistreating blacks such as Michael Brown and Freddie Gray. “Racism versus professionalism: claims and counter-claims about racial profiling” written by Vic Satzewich and William Shaffir discusses racism versus professionalism with officers. Their argument is more biased towards the police force and they argue that it’s part of their job. “

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.

“Don’t Shoot”, a young African American male says to the police before they shoot him multiple times killing him. He was eighteen year old Michael Brown, and his death shed light on the ongoing issue of police brutality against African Americans. Police brutality is the use of unnecessary force on individuals by law enforcement. These civilians mostly be minorities especially African Americans. Police brutality toys with human rights and violates the fourteenth amendment. In the Constitution, The Fourteenth Amendment states that “States cannot make or put into effect any laws that restrict the rewards or protections of any citizen of America. No state can remove any citizen’s life, freedom, or belong­ings without right use of the regulation. Everyone is given the equal protec­tion under the law.”(United States Constitution). Police brutality against African Americans is a serious civil problem, but in order to stop police brutality, Americans must diversify police departments, eliminate racial profiling, instill body cameras, and focus the fight of police brutality on local and state levels.

sort of case is not uncommon. You often hear the same scenario: a man refuses

Black Lives Matter should focus on police violence because it can show the incompetence within the criminal justice system. According to MintPress News, it states that in 2015 alone, 161 unarmed African Americans were murdered. This is a prime example of police incompetence. Furthermore, according to the Black Lives Matter website, police have murdered African Americans at a rate that is disproportionate to their total population. The police are so poorly trained in their field of work that black men are nine times more likely to be murdered by them. With that being said, police officers should start wearing body cameras at all times and should take redevelopment classes that teaches them how to act in a situation in which the use of guns

“Police killed at least 102 unarmed black people in 2015, nearly twice each week” (Mapping Police Violence). In support of the Black Lives Matter Movement, Beyoncé, a music artist as well as a mother, released a provocative music video related to police brutality and race discrimination in general. She is a follower of the Black Lives Matter movement through the portrayals of the Black Panther party stance against segregation, as well as the "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" stance, a message that was started in Ferguson. She illustrates these matters through her music video including her lyrics in the hope of creating this vision where blacks are imagining themselves as having power. Ethos and pathos are used to convey the meaning of the importance

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.

Victimization is an interesting concept. Being a victim is entirely subjective depending on who is asked and depending on their individual situation. So, I too have my own subjective definition; a victim is someone who was put in a situation that either took something physically or emotionally away from them. For example: a victim of a robbery, a car jacking, or rape is truly a victim in my eyes. Members of Black Lives Matter enjoy pretending to be victims by using the narrative that black people are dying at the hands of white racist police officers. When facts come into account, we realize that black on black deaths account for the large majority of black murders, whites die at the hands of police officers more often than blacks, and black officers are more likely to kill a black suspect than a white officer. So, are black people victims of police brutality or are Black Lives Matter ignorant of facts? I am no stranger to being a victim, I despise people who play the victim and blame others for their shortcomings because I too