Police Brutality In History

-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.

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.

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?

For the past couple years there has been so many incidents involving some sort of police brutality. The mainstream media has shown police misconduct, case after case it has become a routine and making people wonder if our officers of the law really doing their jobs? Unjustified shooting, and fatal choking’s have all contributed to the problem of police brutality in America and also has become very controversial. The police carry an enormous burden each day, which makes their job really hard. Police work is very stressful and involves violent, and split second decision. Nevertheless, cases like the shooting of Samuel DuBose, and Walter Scott and the choking of Eric Garner has raised questions regarding our police system. In many confrontations the police are put in a position in which they have to use force to control the situation, but there are different levels of force and most of the time the situation dictates the level of force that’s necessary. In addition, I will explain different cases of police brutality, the use of excessive force, and the consequences the officers have faced.

Police brutality goes back many decades and actually happens a lot less the it did in the 60’s it is just seems like it occurs more due to the development of social media today. During the Civil Rights Movement that began in 1963 African Americans mostly in the South took the majority of these police brutalities. For example In the 60’s blacks were beaten with batons and cattle prods as they attempted to vote at a court house that was in Selma, Alabama. The subjects that received the beatings were not violent and also unarmed blacks that wanted to vote at a local court house. Attacks by police did not stop there, the police continued to attack unarmed and non-violent blacks as they attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery in the state of Alabama. The rules of deadly force have continued to develop since the introduction of the Constitution. At one point police were even given authority to fire on a fleeing felon even if they were not armed with a weapon. Today 's police officers receive significantly more training so that the violation of civil act’s and excessive uses of force may be prevented, but even with the extra training, police officers still act in this brutal manner. Every police department in America has experienced some type of misconduct, some more than others but not all have experienced a civil rights or police brutality violation. In my opinion, many of these incidents took place because of the lack of training that was provided to these officers. Most

Ronald Weitzer “Incidents of police misconduct and public opinion” Department of Sociology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA .

Police brutality has disturbingly become a trend in America. Cases like Walter Scott and Eric Garner has caused Americans to question the true duties of law enforcement officers. Is it to protect and serve? During the death of Walter Scott brought about questions because Scott was routinely stopped for a missing break light. Video footage shows the two men, Scott and the police officer having a civil conversation. Footage then shows Walter Scott running from the law enforcement officer and the officer shooting him in the back. The case of Eric Garner is slightly different from Walter Scott’s, Eric Garner was choked and killed by a police officer and it was all caught on video. The police officer approached Garner after he was caught illegally selling cigarettes. The acting law enforcement officer put Eric Garner in the chokehold, Garner stated he could not breath but the officer did not loosen his grip resulting in the death of Eric Garner.

The first article from the New York Times by Eric Lichtblau follows remarks from the director of the FBI who was critiquing the idea of filming police officers for safety. This article stems from a much larger topic that has been in the recent news for the past few years: police brutality against people of color, primarily black men. James Comey, following the recent viral videos outbreak of wrongdoings by police being caught on tape, is stating that these videos are causing police to fear doing their job. The article goes on to critique his claims, pointing out that there is no statistical evidence to support the idea. What the article lacks is any mention of there being a racial undertone to the entire issue, which there is. Overall there has been a lot of coverage on the “Ferguson Effect” (Lichtblau) and race/racism has been the forefront of the news but there is not much historical context to the modern day set up of society that benefits from white power. ‘…the founding moments of U.S. nationalism, well rehearsed in mainstream histories, are foundational to both state and culture. First, the U.S. was “conceived in slavery”…’ (Gilmore, 6) Gilmore goes into detail about the U.S history of government systems being set up in favor of those in control: white

Police brutality has affected American citizens since the early days of law enforcement. For instance, during the Lawrence textile strike of 1912 “at the behest of the textile manufacturers police began clubbing a group of women and children at the Lawrence Railroad Station” (Cahn). Police use of excessive force when unnecessary has occurred for several decades, and in the last few years the media has shined a light on this issue more. “In 2015 alone, 1,202 Americans were killed by a police officer” (Blanks). This number only represents deaths that occurred due to instances of

Police brutality comes in different forms from the 1800’s to now. Whether it was lynching, harassment, beatings, shootings, etc. Police brutality has caused major uproars all around causing people to come together to fight for what is right. Many friends and families have been affected from deaths and injuries caused by police. Some people might even believe the victims deserve it. There are good cops out there, but some police throw on their uniforms and abuse the power of being the authority.

Police brutality has been a problem for many years now. Police brutality has always "been perpetrated toward poor people and the socially marginalized." (Sehat). Beginning in "the late nineteenth

Police brutality has been increasing over the years. Many incidents that involve police misconduct are rarely investigated. Officers use lethal weapons to gain control of a situation. Law enforcement should only use excessive force if a suspect poses a serious threat to the officer or another

Police brutality is an often hushed topic within contemporary Canadian society. However, in 2016 police brutality and the lives of black men were forced into the conversation, when police and the actions they partake in became a heavily publicized and recorded issue. In Canada, the death of Abdirahman Abdi set a metaphorical flame under a once dormant and ignored issue. The death of Abdi shed light on a broken system that disadvantages people of colour (Ritchie, 2016). Abdirahman Abdi died in the summer of 2016 after succumbing to the injuries he sustained during a violent arrest by the Ottawa police. Abdirahman Abdi’s case shows the police force’s lack of sensitivity towards mental health, and how police officers can be impulsive and violent

Police brutality is very much alive and relevant in the United States today. Statistics show that excessive force makes up over 23% of all misconduct reports filed against law enforcement. Unfortunately, 9.7% of all the brutality cases end with disciplinary action. That means 91.3% of the time nothing is done about their wrong doing. Even worse, blacks and latino are often the target of the brutality. Reporter Jonathan Capehart from the Washington Post said, “ My mom told me not to run in public, lest I arouse undue suspicion. How I most definitely should not run with anything in my hands, lest anyone think I stole something” (The Christian Century 1). White people definitely do not tell that to their children before they go out to play. Numbers