Police Brutality Research Paper

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

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)

Police brutality and police militarization have become a hot topic in the United States of America. There are many cases where police officers motives are being questioned, leading the public into an uproar. Just to name a few of these cases, we have Micheal Brown from Fegurson, Missouri, that started it all, which took place on Augest 19th, 2014. We also have Eric Garner from New York, taking place July of 2014. July of 2016, Alton Sterling of Baton Rouge and Walter Scott from South Carolina in April of 2015.

The League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, states in its website that it “is the oldest and most widely respected Hispanic civil rights organization in the United States of America.” Established in 1929 by three virtually unheard of Mexican-American civil rights groups, it has served its Latino population for over 85 years. It was founded at a time when Mexican Americans needed a voice and, upon its arrival, sparked the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement. LULAC was able to transform itself through constant re-assessment of its goals and accomplishments, as it established itself as a Mexican-American champion and leader, while creating a legacy for coming generations to follow.

One day a boy named Tyrone and his father were on there way to Six Flags when they were pulled over by a police officer. The cop walked up to the vehicle and Tyrone’s dad asked the officer why he was pulled over. Then the cop asked Blue, Tyrone 's dad, to step out the car so he stepped out the car and the officer searched him. After that Blue tried to take off his jacket but the officer thought he had a gun and pulled out his weapon and shot Blue in his face in front of his 10 year old son. Blue was rushed to the hospital he was in critical condition, Blue died later that night. Police shouldn’t be able to get away with police brutality because officers are responsible

It is crazy how much police brutality goes on in the United States. Some names of popular cases are Philando Castile, Rekia Boyd, and Tamir Rice (Lopez, Johnson 6). Is it a coincidence that all three people that were just listed are African American, or that the majority of police brutality cases involve people who are not white? Racial corruption exists in the judicial system as shown by unlawful shootings, stereotypes, and stand-your-ground laws. Somebody has to stand up and do something; everybody has to stand up and do something. But how can anything be accomplished if citizens are just shut down, laughed at and problems only get recognized for about a week or even a couple months and then forgotten about? This is a clear, known issue throughout

Recent Surveys have shown that police brutality typically occurs in areas that are predominately African American and that have police departments that are composed of non-minority Officer. For Example in Ferguson Missouri there is a population of approximately blank. Minorities account for only about 5.6% of the population. White American citizens only made up blank percent. The demographics of Ferguson’s Police Department show that white Officer outnumbered African American officers 51 to 3.

involved. This creates a predator to prey relationship where the police is the predator and attacks

Over the past few years police brutality and the use of deadly force on their part has risen very rapidly. It has always been around but the death of Michael Brown back in August of 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri was one of the very first cases that started the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. Here in the U.S. the use of deadly force by a sworn police officer is only lawful when the officer has reason to believe that the subject he/she is pursuing poses a threat of serious bodily injury or death to themselves or others. The New York times posted an analysis of F.B.I. data from 2010-2012 concluded that the police killed African American men ages 15 to 19 at a rate 21 times greater than the statistic for white men the same age. The department of Justice Numbers indicates that a black man or woman is about four times more likely to die in custody or while being arrested than a white person.

The topic that I am proposing is police brutality. Are police officers committing police brutality or are they just doing their job? We as a community are hearing more and more about police brutality in the United States. It is really common to see on the news or social media videos of police brutally beating individuals that seem not to resist arrest or even with their hands up in the air as a sign of surrender. My intended audiences are, communities, and police departments. Communities need to understand why this is happening and if there is going to be any change. On the other hand, police departments need to not more a blind eye any more when these situations occur and start disciplining the officers. I am a true believer of

Police brutality against black men in America is thought to be something that does not exist anymore due to the civil rights movement in 1955-1968. Unfortunately, a statistic shows a black suspect is killed by a white police officer twice a week. (McKay) “While African-Americans constitute 13.1% of the nation’s population, they make up nearly 40% of the prison’s population. Even though African-Americans use or sell drugs about the same rate as whites, they are 2.8 to 5.5 times more likely to be arrested for drugs than whites.” (Hudson) These statistics confirm that not only are black people more like to be victims of fatal police brutality, they are also more likely to be convicted for a crime as well.

The police was arresting a overweight African American. While they were arresting him he had a asthma attack but while the man was trying to grab for his inhaler while he was trying to show the officers that he couldn’t threw him on the ground and forced him to put his hands behind his back, and in the mix of all that he died of a asthma attack. In America today there is a problem with police brutality, there are a lot of cases were the police beats or either kills the victim in minor events, also.

Most people in the United States of America do not realize the harmful effects of police brutality. Police brutality is the use of any excessive force exceeding the reasonably necessary force to accomplish a lawful purpose. Not only are these effects physical, but they are psychological and even moral. The police victimize innocent people based on their ethnicity. The reason this scenario is being stated is to show how police are harming the very own citizens they have sworn to protect.

Criminal justice and police brutality, are very important current event topics. The actions of police are finally starting to come into notice. Police are rapidly starting to abuse their rights and authorities by killing, accusing, and wrong doing the citizens in America. Finally people are starting to speak up and take action on what the police are doing, and the law is also starting to do something about it. For years police could do pretty much whatever they wanted to, to citizens and were able to get away with it, but now people are actually starting to speak up. Recent situations starting from 2012 up until now, mainly had to do with a police killing an innocent citizen. It is clear to see that people are not dealing with this anymore

Allegations of police brutality by the U.S. police departments have been on the rise for the past two decades. The use of excessive force by police officers beyond what is considered necessary is not a new fact to the world. Many of these encounters with civilians have been unjustified because the majority ultimately ends in death. The police involve the use of weapons such as batons, Tasers, pepper spray, or guns. This may also include false arrests, psychological trauma, and verbal abuse. Some individuals will state they are just doing their job, but others argue these cases can be traced back to poor training and policies. Every police officer has the right to protect himself and the community, but they should be able to discern when to use reasonable or excessive force on the civilian depending on the situation at hand.