Excessive Force And Police Brutality Essay

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.

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.

Chapter 4 in The Color of Justice: Race, ethnicity, and crime in America, was about the relations between society and law enforcement officers. This has been a major topic, especially in the United States for a long time. The unfortunate statistic that minorities are more likely to encounter being killed, arrested, and victimized by excessive physical force; has been a real issue even in today’s society. However, police departments are trying to combat the way police officers interact with the community; especially those of color. Although steps have been takes there are still some instances where police aggression happens. With all of the issues that arise between certain minority populated community’s police it is evident that conflict

The history of Police Brutality for minorities; especially people of color has left America wondering have times changed. Police brutality has deemed the opportunity for socioeconomic advancement or access to good and services for many Black/African Americans dating back as far as 1955. The system of Police brutality has affected many realms of society for minorities’ employment and family life. After some scholarly research, police brutality is still prevalent in the Black/African American community; moreover, it comes in many different forms and fashions. Police brutality is the use of excessive and/or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians. Excessive use

There is recent controversy over police use of force, especially in minority communities such as in African American communities, Hispanic communities, and other publics with large populations of minorities. Increased levels of force among these communities have created challenges for police departments. These challenges include a lack of trust from the community towards law enforcement officers and an absence of respect creating situations that lead to police use of force. There are already various programs in place that attempt to decrease this challenge by educating the public, respecting one another, and giving those who were on the wrong track second chances. A combination of these solutions and the implementation of more of them would decrease the number of contacts between police and minorities that lead to the use of force (Roberg & Novak, 2014).

Police-citizen violence and related concerns are prime topics of conversation wherever law enforcement professionals gather to discuss problems. Many police departments have made reviewing their use of force a top priority. And major civil rights organizations have made a priority of responding to police use of deadly force. When a law enforcement agency practices racial profiling, it gives the wrong impression that whites are considered to be law abiding citizens while blacks and Latinos are considered to be criminals. Racial profiling policies set up law enforcement agencies as enemies of communities that they serve. Unlike racial profiling, community policing has consistently been shown to work. The better the relationship between residents and police, the more likely residents are to report crimes, come forward as witnesses, and otherwise cooperate in police

The media coverage of excessive force has caused outrage among citizens across the nation. The cases in Ferguson and New York have stirred up major debates about excessive police force and the meaning of justice for all within our judicial system. Protests and riots have ensued in cities across the nation and the cases are affecting us all, whether it is protesters blocking major highways during rush hour, or citizens burning down local businesses out of anger and frustration. The issue of excessive force needs to be addressed and the main question people want answered is, what causes police to use excessive force? Research has been conducted on variables such as the race of police

and Canada has gradually increased (Walker, p, 580). The very fact that most victims of police brutality are members of poor and minority communities should be the cause for concern, and contributes to the perception that the police are more likely to engage in force when dealing with a minority suspect than when dealing with a non-minority suspect (Walker, p, 580). The negative consequence of racial bias, excessive force and stereotyping of the minority community leads to the mistrust of police by the minority

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 one of multiple forms of racial discrimination which involves unjustifiable violence by police officers. This term was first referred to in the works of the American press as early as 1872 in a report of a policeman beating of a civilian. These targeted civilian groups by police officers typically are those from powerless groups like minorities (Latinos and African-Americans), the youth, as well as the poor. There has been a notable lack of commitment in the criminal justice system or towards holding police accountable for their wrongdoings. Police brutality is an ongoing problematic issue in the U.S. today with police officers using excessive force that needs to be addressed immediately before more lives are lost and

This paper will differentiate between reasonable force and excessive force. I will describe when excessive force turns into police brutality and how the police culture can influence police brutality. I will discuss some of the many negative repercussions that excessive force / police brutality have on the law enforcement officers, agency, city, community and profession.

The duties of law enforcement involve looking after the American people. As the Los Angeles Police Department puts it, it is the police’s duty to “Protect and Serve” the community. As Americans, we should expect to be able to rely on local police to solve our problems and bring peace and stability to society. Yet, as current events have shown, these promises are not always fulfilled. Since the late 1960s, America has begun to grow from a racially segregated nation, into one of unity and equality. Today there is no doubt that immense progress has been made, however events involving our law enforcement and minorities has seemed to halt such progress. Police brutality continues to be a major issue nationwide with the

Police misconduct is the process of committing a crime and/or not following police department policy guidelines and regulations in the course of one’s officer duties. Many believe that police misconduct is in cases few and far apart, and because of the Civil Rights Movement of 1964, there is no reason to question officer’s racial bias. Some argue that excessive police force is justified, or that the murder of unarmed black men is okay because of their “questionable characters.” Other individuals may also argue that police brutality is just a “fact of life” and an “occasional slip-up” without a solution, or even a need for one. Police brutality is a real, persistent problem in the United States. Each year thousands of innocent people, specifically

The study on excessive force found that, even as use of force escalates from grabbing a civilian to striking them with a baton, the "overall probability of such an incident occurring decreases dramatically, but the racial difference remains roughly constant. Even when black civilians are reported compliant and no arrest made, they are 21.3 percent more likely to endure some kind of force” (Correl, 2001). In places where there is a commitment of democratic government, civilian oversight appears to arise in response to a specific crisis confidence in the police. Until such a crisis occurs, society has looked into these issues of police killing civilians and chooses to handle their cases on their own. The beginnings of police brutality that occurred

This study aims to discover the reasons why police officers are using excessive force against minorities more often than they are against Caucasians. Moreover, this project challenges questions such as “whether police officers fear minorities and why?”, “does this affect the African American and Latino population?”, “what can be done to lower the rates of police brutality against minorities?”, and is “racism in the criminal justice system