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Houston Policemen Essay

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Policemen are supposed to “serve and protect.” Lately that motto has lost its significance and meaning. The public and the news media no longer respect the occupation. Policemen nowadays are accused of not doing their jobs properly and instead of serving their communities, outright ignore or harm ordinary civilians. Terms like “police brutality” have become rather popular and there appears to be no shortage of new articles scrutinizing the police. This paper will focus on the soured relation between Houstonians and the Houston Police Department (HPD). Of interest is the reasoning behind why a good chunk of Houston’s denizens despise HPD officers. Thus, this paper will take a closer look at some of the questionable actions committed by HPD’s …show more content…

One event that caused a huge uproar among the Houston populace occurred back in 2014. Writing for the news website Chron, Cindy George and Katherine Driessen (2015) reports “The officer, a 10-year veteran at that time, said Baker reacted uncooperatively when approached and ran into an alley behind the strip mall. Authorities have said the shooting happened behind the stores” (pg. 2). In the defense of the officer, Jordan Baker may very well have acted suspiciously via running away. However, does that justify the use of a gun against an ordinary unarmed civilian? Baker’s family does not think so and George and Driessen (2015) notes “The complaint asserts that Baker was ‘shot and killed without any lawful justification’ and accuses off-duty officer Juventino Castro of considering Baker a suspect because he was a black man in a hoodie” (pg. 2). There are two issues at play here: the use of unnecessary force and race. When it comes to the former, it is very hard to defend the usage of a gun unless Baker pulls one out himself. For the latter, it is also very hard to defend the officer considering HPD’s track record when dealing with racial minorities. Like many other police departments, HPD is no stranger when it comes to the accusation of racially profiling Houstonians. Baker’s family believes that race is in fact a factor contributing to the usage of gun. Judging by the huge uproar, many others appear to share their suspicion in regards to HPD officers being

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