Police brutality is extremely prevalent in today’s society. Police brutality is a police officer deliberately using excessive force, psychological attacks, and verbal abuse during law enforcement activities with the population. This unjust brutality is fueled from law enforcement taking action based on emotion or abusing the authority that has been given to them from the government. These actions are causing people, primarily minority groups, to rebel against law enforcement, and inexcusably create more violence in communities. Even in my community, Chicagoans have furiously vocalized and in some cases have used violence in hopes that police brutality cease. How is this a social problem? Subjectively, the population is concerned for their kids, and their own well-being while interacting with a police officer. Others are dissatisfied with how police officers are exploiting their authority. From an objective standpoint, the statistics of police brutality is undeniable. According to Dr. Victor Kappler, the Dean of the School of Justice Studies at the University of Eastern Kentucky, he states that “According to the report, between 2003 and 2009 at least 4,813 people died in the process of being arrested by local police”. During his research, Kappler also found that out of 2876 deaths that were classified as “homicides”, 57.1 percent of those people who died were people of color. This violence has affected a mass of people; therefore, police brutality is a social problem that
-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.
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.
To begin with, sociology – is a science that analyzes the society as a whole, its organization, interaction, development and influence on an individual (Crossman, 2016, para.1). From the sociological point of view, police force and the rest of the society represent two distinguished groups divided according to the power and interests they hold. However, certain groups of the society are more often subjected to the police brutality than others. As an illustration, in the United States, police officers tend to appeal to the excessive force more often in encounters with racial minority groups (Holmes & Smith, 2012, p. 345). Specifically, a research conducted by Brunson and Miller (2006) identify that racial minorities such as Black or Hispanics
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 one of the most serious and divisive human rights violations in the United States and it occurs in every community. The job of a police officer is to maintain public order, prevent, and detect crime. They are engaged in a dangerous and stressful occupation that can involve violent situations that must be controlled. In many of these confrontations with the public it may become necessary for the police to administer force to take control of a situation. Sometimes this force takes the form of hand to hand combat with a suspect who resists being arrested. Not all police officers in communities are good cops. At least once a year the news is covering a story about a person
Throughout history, there has been very few careers that require such a high degree of an ethical standard such as the one required for law enforcement. There is, however, a multitude of careers that require the dedication and heart such as required for a police member. Where this dedication and heart differs relies solely on the difference in the job. Officers are required to be aware of their surroundings nearly all the time as if something were to happen they would be required to navigate through the situation successfully. Somebody such as a CEO for a multimillion dollar company would not require this same quality due to the fact it is not part of their job description and the only individual that he/she needs to be worried about is themselves. However, in today’s society, and with media being an ever growing aspect, some police officers have decided on their own personal way to handle justice. So unfortunately, this small percentage of police contract a huge amount of negative eyes to the profession. This small number of individuals bring a negative view to the police department as a whole and for this cause an issue in the public’s eye. Regardless of what many individuals believe, many of the police officers decide on the ethical side of the job and are hardworking professionals who seek out to just serve the public. However, being an African American male myself the main issue I have and want to combat is the punishment officers should face if
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.
The contemporary social problem I would like to conduct sociological research on is the use of excessive force used by members of the police department in recent unconscionable shootings of unarmed civilians. With all the recent attention that the people of Ferguson Missouri and New York City have been able to rise on this issue, making it a media sensation, it seemed like a good topic to discuss. Police brutality is an egregious, ongoing problem in our society that, until just recently, has been accepted as a sad fact of life by the people it affects and is largely ignored by the rest of society, including politicians and the mass media. Police brutality affects the people that society has come to stigmatize such as minorities, the mentally ill and impoverished people, more so than the well off or middle to upper class white people.
Police brutality has been a major issue since slavery. In slavery people, mainly whites, were able to do anything to black people without having to deal without dealing with the consequences. Families were destroyed, people died, babies were killed, and many unknown factors still to this day that will never be known. When slavery was abolished, it did not end right away. It took several years and still is not abolished if you look at in a political way. People of power, mainly white, were not happy that a black person could be seen as equals. This is the main reason why they feel it is okay to lash out at black people. There are several major issues that are causing and epidemic in The United States. However, the main issue that seems to be the most discussed is about police brutality in the black community. “Police brutality is the use of excessive and/or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians. “Excessive use of force” means a force well beyond what would be necessary in order to handle a situation. Police brutality can be present in a number of ways. The most obvious form of police brutality is a physical form. Police officers can use nerve gas, batons, pepper spray, and guns in order to physically intimidate or even intentionally hurt civilians. Police brutality can also take the form of false arrests, verbal abuse, psychological intimidation, sexual abuse, police corruption, racial profiling, political repression and the improper use of Tasers”
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
What is police brutality and why is it important right now? Police brutality is the use of excessive force carried out by a law enforcement official. Lately, various incidents of police brutality have surfaced in the news, but this is nothing new. Past incidents including the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri brought serious social issues to the frontlines. Michael Brown was an unarmed black teenager who was shot and killed by a white male. Other incidents include the death of Eric Garner. A man who was accused of selling individual cigarettes and later on died due to a chokehold, the officer who killed him was also white. These events have even led to vigilantism. One of the most recent incidents of retaliation took place in Dallas, Texas. Micah Johnson, a former soldier, opened fire at a Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest and killed five Dallas police officers. He was quoted saying that he "wanted to kill white people, especially white officers". There is racial reconciliation between law enforcement and the black community. Although these are only a few incidents there a plenty more and there will be even more if something isn’t done about it. Cases such as these shed light on serious social issues we need to combat. This proposal review will discuss the rift between the police and community, how to improve community relations, how to improve departmental practices and procedures as well as how these can’t turn into effective solutions.
Police brutality is a problem in our society mainly because there are police officers that are getting away with not only physically hurting innocent people, but murder as well. In the past year, there have been between 865-939 cases of people being shot and/or killed by cops (Calacal 1). Racial profiling is one of the main factors in this problem. African Americans and Latinos are the people we see being abused by police on the daily. So far this year, 215 African-Americans and 94 Latinos have been killed by police. Data shows that a black person is 3 times more likely to be killed by a police than a white person. Several officers
We live in a world where police brutality is caused by the ignorance’s of people who believe they aren’t colorblind. The numbers of cases of murders and homicides in communities with high levels of poverty have increased. With the number of criminal activity growing, Law enforcement have brutality tried to crack down criminals at no expense. With the following happening young men and women in the Black community who commit minor to no offense have been taken in to detain facilities beaten. In addition to police brutality when arresting a person of color we are now experiencing polices using brutal focused on young black men and women without probable cause of threat.
Police brutality refers to the use of excessive force against a civilian. The controversies that surround the topic of police brutality relate to different definitions and expectations over what is meant by excessive force. Indeed, police officers are expressly authorized to use necessary, reasonable force to perform their duties. As Jerome Skolnick, an influential police scholar in the United States, underscores: “as long as members of society do not comply with the law and resist the police, force will remain an inevitable part of policing.” (Skolnick and Fyfe 1993). Others would quickly point out that there is also a difference between legitimate or legal force and illegitimate or excessive force by the police. However, Minority communities have been subjected for many decades to violence by those in law enforcement in the United States. One could argue that the use of force is not only a question of reacting to citizen violations of the law and resistance, but may also involve an array of actions that do not lawfully conform to the spirit of the law. Black people have endured violence in many different ways. Furthermore, over the last two decades, police brutality has been a major focus within the media towards Minorities. Unjustified fatal shooting of African American, excessive force when being arrested, racial profiling, or being disparate against. Police brutality might include, for example, the unlawful beating of a citizen by an officer under the cover of the
The increase in police brutality reflects negatively on society. Police officers should maintain charges when they abuse their power of authority. Police brutality mostly happens to young, small, and poor kids in the streets that do not live in a home with their biological family (Berezina 2). Police treat young street adults as if they do not know how to act. Police brutality appears to be rampant because of racism, lack of training and a shortage of effective consequences.