Police Brutality

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.

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?

The use of force is without a doubt an important aspect in policing. The decision to utilize any type of force comes from a multitude of recourses; department policies, training, situational variables and ethical systems. There are three major categories in which an officers use of force is categorized under; justifiable, excessive and deadly; with a thin line between justifiable and excessive. Cases where excessive force has been used, has lead to injuries, deaths, civil damages, officers convicted and sentenced to jail and police chiefs and elected officials being removed from office (Fyfe, 1988). It is an officer`s discretion in determining when the use of force is justifiable.

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.

Police brutality can be defined as a cruel or inhuman treatment by a police officer. Police brutality situations can happen in different ways, for example a person can be stopped by the police for what appears to be a routine traffic stop, for not using a turn signal and the situation can get out of control. The driver can become defensive to the police officer and does not understand why they

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).

The above reasons police have also been known to use excessive force is because they think that they are above the law. Due to the power vested in the police to deal with all types of crimes and to carry weapons, they soon develop the notion that they are above the law and end up misusing their powers instead of protecting the public.

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 the use of excess force way beyond what is necessary in certain situations, whether it be non-threatening or non-violent.

From the perspective of law, excessive physical force most clearly constitutes police brutality, a term often applied loosely to various forms of police misconduct (Holmes, 2000). Over the years, police brutality continues to be an issue of concern all across the world and the need for reducing law enforcement from engaging in this unethical behavior is imperative. Although, police organizations throughout the United States have responded by tightening their "physical force", policies and reminding their officers to use

When debating the issue of police use of force, the issue of what actions constitute too much force must also be addressed. Another concern is the possibility of corruption amount officers. When given such great power, the probability of corruption is high. Officers generally do not start out as corrupt, but years of work on the force can create animosity between officers and suspects and lead them to decide to use force more quickly (McEwen, 1996). Many times, officers patrol the streets alone which creates the opportunity for potential abuse of power (McEwen, 1996). Although police officers need to be permitted to exercise some discretion, they also need limits and guidelines to follow when using their powers of discretion (Manning, 1997). The decision to use force should not be taken lightly in that citizen’s lives are at stake. Police should be allowed discretion in decisions to use force; however, this discretion should be limited. In several cases in Arizona, officers have used deadly means of force. In all cases, the officers

According to Encyclopedia.com, police brutality is the use of any force exceeding that reasonably necessary to accomplish a lawful police purpose. Probably the most notorious example of police brutality is case of Rodney King. On March 2nd, 1991 King was involved in a high-speed chase with California Highway Patrol. Mr. King was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana and was trying to outrun the police because a charge of driving under the influence would of have violated his parole for previous robbery conviction. After 8 miles of high-speed chase King’s car was cornered and moments later he was severely beaten by 8 police officers. Later it was determined in court that Mr. King received 31 hits with PR 24 metal batons, 6 kicks and 2 Taser zaps each carrying 50, 000 volts (Linder). Rodney King sustained severe physical trauma, including 11 fractures. His initial surgery took three doctors working five hours straight to keep him alive. In a CNN interview in 1994 the ophthalmologist who treated King said some bones were so pulverized they were like grains of sand. Fortunately this incident was filmed by George Holliday from his apartment and King’s case viral within hours (CNN).

According to The Law Dictionary, police brutality is defined as “ the use of excessive and/or unnecessary force by police dealing with civilians. When cases of police brutality arise it is often publicized and seen in the media. The video provided for this discussion showed many cases of unethical and horrendous police behavior, but I would like to bring up two more. In 2004, Frank Jude and Lovell Harris were leaving a party when off-duty police officers approached them claiming they had stole an officer's wallet containing their badge. The officers then proceeding to beat the individuals. Harris was able to get away with cut on his face caused by a knife, but Jude was not so lucky. Jude was punched, kicked, had his head stomped on, and was

Allegations of police brutality by the U.S. police departments have been on the rise for the past two decades. The use of excessive force by police officers beyond what is considered necessary is not a new fact to the world. Many of these encounters with civilians have been unjustified because the majority ultimately ends in death. The police involve the use of weapons such as batons, Tasers, pepper spray, or guns. This may also include false arrests, psychological trauma, and verbal abuse. Some individuals will state they are just doing their job, but others argue these cases can be traced back to poor training and policies. Every police officer has the right to protect himself and the community, but they should be able to discern when to use reasonable or excessive force on the civilian depending on the situation at hand.