Police Brutality

Police brutality has been and continues to be of major concern in society. First of all, police brutality is a term used to describe the excessive use of physical force, assault, verbal attacks or slurs, and threats by any law enforcement officer. Efforts to police communities, throughout history, have been tainted by brutality ans abuse of power to some degree. The term police brutality is commonly used very loosely to any and all forms of police misconduct. When in reality, the excessive force element of police misconduct is what clearly defines police brutality and abuse.

Not only has Police Brutality exposed hidden racism, but it has begun to cause separation in our nation. All of these Police Brutality cases such as Alton Sterling, Mike Brown, and Trayvon Martin just to name a few, all have happened within the last 3 years, and they were all documented on camera, exposing the reality to millions around the world. The conflict didn’t stop at the shootings though, many big-name Athletes stood up for the altercations and asked for attention. I am going to go over each individual shooting, the athletes that stood up for them, and political leaders that spoke on it.

The brutality of the police force has been a long worldwide problem, but especially between the years of 2012-2016. Black people are being unjustly beaten and shot in plain sight for doing nothing while being unarmed. Journal of African American Studies “Blacks are viewed as deserving of harsh treatment in the criminal justice system” (482). “Black males with more “Afrocentric” features may receive longer sentences than blacks with less Afrocentric features like lighter skin and straighter hair”(482). Nowadays it is important to know about the police force. It’s important to know our rights as citizens and be careful around cops. Not everybody is good, but not everybody is bad also. In The New York Amsterdam News 21 people were killed by Chicago police in 2008. Entire families were being attacked. They believe it’s because of their skin color and how they are different. The year of racism started off with the world seeing the police murder of Oscar Grant. “The media have pushed people away from hearing the issue of police brutality, and it has fallen off of the radar screen.”(2) “You can’t give in. They will try to make an example out of you, try to break your spirit!”(2) African Americans say do not trust the cops with anything. “They will ruin you.”(2)

Over the past five centuries, black people have endured violence in many different ways. Today, police officers use deadly, excessive force that leads to inexcusable assaults, beatings and shootings. This demonstrates the governmentТs role in initiating and prolonging racial suppression and provides the explanation for police brutality to become a federal crime(Black Radical Congress, 3). In history, racist violence, police brutality, has been used to suppress the racial blacks and to preserve power and privileges for the white race. This was done for five primary purposes. First, it has forced black people into slavery or low wage situations. Secondly, to steal land and other resources. A 3-rd was to maintain social control. A fourth

Police brutality is a growing problem all around the world. Although we may only hear of certain similar situations that go on in the United States, Police brutality is happening all around the world. This problem seems to have been around for a while now. Police brutality has been defined as, “the unwarranted or excessive and often illegal use of force against civilians by U.S. Police Officers.” There are many forms of Police Brutality, such as harassment (false arrest), intimidation, and verbal abuse. Although Police Officers do have to use force to carry out necessary duties, “force can be used only in a manner that meets standards of reasonableness.” In October 15, 1966, a group of African Americans came together to form a group named the Black Panther Party to stop this cruel abuse of power (BBP Britannica).

b) Their silence and ignorance set a bad example to the communities they are meant to protect.

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

In recent years’ police departments have been brought into the public eye based on the public belief that police brutality has become a norm within the police system in recent years. Yet this has occurred for decades in police departments, not only that but there are multiple forms of brutality to take account of in the criminal justice system specifically towards African-Americans. The criminal justice system has become accustomed to creating a system of racial control after the ending of the Jim Crow Era. Causing every level of the system to work in a way that limits the freedom of African-Americans the most common being that of police misusing

Situations which a law enforcement officer is required to use force is extremely rare. So rare, that when an officers calls are looked at over the course of a year; less than 1% of calls were reported with force being necessary. The nature of which a police officer needs to use force usually is the outcome of how a suspect’s behavior is to the officer or situation. Society grants police officers a certain amount of authority within the limits of the constitution to uphold the law and protect the public. However, there have been circumstances over time where an officer or officers have overstepped the limits in which they are bound by law.

There have been adjustments that have been made to change to inner workings of the system regarding the creation of laws and regulations to address crime and to keep citizens safe. However, research demonstrates that often times men of color are treated punitively, which advances the development of negative perceptions held by police officers. The recent shootings that have occurred in the areas of Baton Rouge, Falcon Heights, and Dallas have subjected many people and their families to incidents of police brutality (Anderson, 1995). These types of incidents remind us that, as a society, there is effort that needs to be put into consistently improving the relationship between police and community. Incidents involving police brutality have been

Since its not so humble beginnings in the early 1600s, the country in which we live has had a plethora of incidents regarding the mistreatment of black people and people of color. From slavery, to lynchings, to assassinations, and so forth, the pain and suffering of African-Americans has been very much apart of the “rich” history of the United States of America. Even so, with each new generation, we as a people have continued to face abuse and exploitation. At this point in our ongoing narrative, the premise of our grief has shifted to shed a light on the prominence of brutality in American police force practices.

Police and community relations has always been a work in progress, some communities are more challenging than others. There are various factors that impact the relationship police have with civilians such as geographical location, race, gender, personal experience and in personal ones as well. In the last few years police and the African American community on a national level been more disconnected due to a pattern of unforeseen circumstances of unarmed black men being shot and killed by officers, that end up serving no jail or repercussion besides paid administrative leave. Police brutality is defined by The Law Dictionary as the use of force used unnecessarily. “Force that is used beyond what is necessary to handle the

The mass media, and to a greater extent, social media, has been pumping out more and more reports about the fatalities that officers have caused and the one commonality between all the fatalities, is that predominantly black people are being killed by police officers. Through the increased reporting and increased activism from the Black Lives Matter movement, there has been a perception that the use of force is extreme and a common occurrence. There has been a lack of evidence showing that this is true, but for a fact, black people have been oppressed in the United States and the remnants of the oppression remain evident. Thus police who have a reputation for practicing racial profiling, which is highly debatable, creates a separation between law enforcement and the community. Through the heavily politicized and reported case of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, the line between the community and police have divided the two groups, allowing misinformation to be said of both sides (Wasilewski and Olson, 2014) At the same time, demonizing police officers for their actions and creating a generalization for a group of people who protect and serve, but also wear a badge and a uniform, labeling them as abusive racists. (Cohen,

Police brutality has been part of the United States’ history for many years but was formally recognized in the late 1830’s. Though mainly the victims of police brutality were European immigrants, Blacks tasted the wrath more significantly during the Civil Rights era. Some of the treatment towards the Black community by law enforcements had been and are still being justified by citizens and police departments that refuse to hold their fellow officers accountable for their actions. Even the encyclopedia defines police brutality to be a “necessary force to accomplish lawful police purposes.” In many cases, police brutality is not deemed as necessary. Cases such as Rodney King and Eric Garner, two black men, who died in the hands of police officers are prime example of unnecessary force. Using the words brutality and necessary in the same space is an oxymoron. News outlet come out with new coverages that are no longer shocking about the wrongful killing of an unarmed Black man. Stories such as these are part of the normal that surrounds the United States. With new cases of unarmed Black people being killed by the people that are meant to serve and protect, the Black community believes that the criminal justice system has a secret agenda when it comes to Black people. The Black community have concluded since barely any of the police officers have been punished lawfully for what they’ve done to the innocent Black men, that the U.S. in all but particularly the criminal

Police brutality towards African Americans in the United States has become an issue. However, the continue of police brutality remains difficult. In historical events of society harming African American of police brings back in time into slavery. Now in today's world, we have technology that shows police killing and hurting African Americans and are recorded for showing social media. People record for public investigation and depletion. The ability to these videos has led extraordinary public discussion on what establish brutality. It is current to our lives because it all started an activist movement called, Black Lives Matter. It began as a social movement in 2013 to use a hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after the scene of George Zimmerman shooting a African American teen Trayvon Martin. In addition, Martin was walking back alone to his fiance house after buying some items at a store. The neighborhood had problems of robberies that year. Zimmerman was a community watch, he saw Martin and was suspicious, later Zimmerman shot Martin on the chest. As well in 2017, a protest turned into a violent scene in Virginia. As white supremacist fought against counter demonstrators. White Nationalist holding tiki torches marched through a campus in Virginia ahead the so called “Unite the Right” rally, it is a gathering of white supremacists trying to attack the other protester that are a part to protect for the statue of Lee. White supremacist yelled out “white lives