Police brutality is the use of excessive force when dealing with civilians. Police abuse is one of the most serious human rights violations in the United States. It has been around for decades, which leads us to the thought “Are they keeping us safe from danger or are they the danger?” There are many cases of police using excessive force. Unjustified shootings, severe beatings, tasings, and rough treatment have all contributed to the problem of police brutality in America. According to “MINTpress News”, seven hundred and seventy-six people were killed by the police in 2015. One hundred and sixty-one of the people were unarmed at the time of their death. The leading causes of police brutality are minorities being unfairly targeted, excessive force, police being increasingly militarized, and many departments not providing adequate training in nonviolent solutions. Nowadays, it is not unusual to see police brutality on the news. Everyday we hear about the innocent people being choked, tear gassed, or out right shot to death by the police. There are many well known incidents circulating the media. In July 2014 the death of Eric Garner was very well publicized. Eric, who was in a “chokehold” by an officer, sparked outrage. A month later in Missouri, the fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown by a police officer started protests, and last but certainly not least Rodney King was nearly beaten to death in 1991. What do all these men have in common? All of these men are innocent
-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.
A great deal of society views law enforcement officers as heroic and honorable individuals, whose main purpose is to protect and serve the community. For many officers, this description is accurate, however for others; violence and brutality against innocent citizens is the key to getting the job done. For years, minorities have fallen victim to police brutality based on racial profiling, stereotypes and other unjustifiable reasons that has cost several innocent lives. The involvement of officers in police brutality against minority social groups causes tainted and negative views on policing and their overall duty to protect, when they are ultimately the aggressors in this case. Police brutality is a violent incident involving an officer and a victim, usually including excessive force, unnecessary violence and sometimes resulting in a senseless fatality. Minority groups such as African Americans and Hispanics have often been the victims of this form of abuse by officers, however little justice has been done in order to protect these individuals from this form of cruelty by the hands of those with the most power.
First, it is crucial to note that police brutality is not synonymous to racism against a particular group. However, there is a stigma that police often racially profile a specific African Americans. In February 2015, two cases of police brutality did not involve African Americans; instead the two victims were a Hispanic shot and killed in Washington State and an Indian-American severely paralyzed in Alabama. Even with this considered, of late, a majority of police brutality cases have involved minorities and specifically African American males. Cases such as Michael Brown and Freddie Gray have sparked a cultural uprising. These trigger event inspired the protests and riots against police brutality demonstrating collective action and physical violence, but the idea of police brutality is much larger than these individual cases, since it is a reoccurring cycle.
“I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!” These were the last words of Eric Garner, a middle-aged African American man. Garner died at the hands of multiple police officers who were trying to restrain him for selling cigarettes. These sorts of images are showcased on television way too often. To the point that some people feel helpless, they know that they alone do not have the power to overthrow the superiority of an officer. So they have really no choice but watch the tragedy unfold. Also fear that if they interfere, that they may be the next victim. “I am most struck by the behavior of the EMTs, who stood along with the police and did nothing as they watched Eric Garner die” (Williams 10). Although some people deny that police brutality is a problem, recent studies and events (such as the one listed above) prove that ultra-aggressive police officers, militarization of police agencies, and the effects of racism have increased police brutality.
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.
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?
A young man’s brutal death at the hands of the police is found justified in a court of law due to his “suspicious” appearance: a black hoodie and his hands in his pocket. An elderly woman is fatally shot in her home for her relation to a suspected criminal. A married man with two toddlers is choked to death after a minor traffic stop by an officer who later claimed that his unarmed victim was wielding a gun. These people all have a few commonalities: the color of their skin, their presumed guilt at first sight, and their ultimate unjustified death administered by the law force. These are not uncommon occurrences. Due to the staggeringly disproportionate rate of African-Americans killed by the police, and the underlying rampant racial profiling, police brutality towards blacks in America must be called to light.
Police brutality is a topic that everybody confers to emphasize the burgeoning fear of the police. This comes in the form of excessive force which becomes a controversial topic for citizens and police alike. The nation has it’s own definition of what excessive force may be, as some believe using a Taser has the same intention as using a nightstick to apprehend scoundrels. Others may ascribe excessive force as a race crime; “In March 2015, the DOJ also issued a report detailing a pattern of clear racial disparities and discriminatory intent on the part of the Ferguson, Mo., police department”(Excessive or Reasonable Force by Police) resulting in uneasiness between the multiple groups regardless of their age; interestingly officers are also affected by the disparity of the community. The judgement they receive can actually affect how an officer decides to act because they
A topic that is very prominent at this time in social media and mainstream media is the presence of police brutality in the United States. Two instances in the news recently are the disputes that resulted in the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown.
The Police Department was established to control order and promote good conduct for the civilians in their community. Since the beginning, the police department has been scrutinizing for taking the law into their own hand to restore order. In most cases the individuals affected by brutality is the minorities. Even though the people are happy with the police present in their community, one incident can change the way the community feels towards the Police. Consequently, the higher the crime rate in your community, the likely hood you will suffer from police brutality. Studies have shown that police brutality is and will be a part of your community. In some cases, the officer or officers will be acquitted of
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
Justice has become nothing more than a word in American society. Badges allow militarized police officers to brutalize and kill unarmed citizens. Police brutality is not a new issue, it first appeared in 1872 when the Chicago Tribune reported the beating of a civilian by a police officer. Although police brutality has been present for decades, the severity has tremendously increased in the past twenty years. It is critical for citizens to become aware of the growing statistics and casualties of the epidemic. By educating Americans on the problem, it may lead to preventing further incidents.
Police brutality is an old problem that has been around in this country for many years. Unfortunately, civilians have experienced it in their thousands, suffering varying degrees of damages, ranging from injuries or even loss of their lives at the hands of the brutal police. Even more disheartening is the fact that numerous officers in the American police force believe that their brutal and hostile tactics are contributing and giving justice to society, which is their basic role in the world (Vila and Morris 29). However, the