Police Brutality: Use of Excessive Force Essay

Police brutality is the deliberate use by police of more than necessary force, used to accomplish legitimate police missions of subduing violent people, catch criminals and suspects or protecting life and public order.

Police brutality is the lavish physical assault or verbal assault during police procedures which can involve interrogating or apprehending a suspect. Police brutality originated from the labor worker strikes in the 1800’s through the 1900’s. The violent brutal act of these officers usually formed around the lower socioeconomic class. Since then police brutality has hit an all-time high in the 21st century. In New York alone there has been reportedly over 72 police brutality reports some reports even ended in the deaf of a citizen. There’s been claim of police officers violently choking citizens at traffics stops and beating citizen up in public. There’s been new technology such as body cameras which are used by most police but not all.

The shooting occurred at the Fruitvale train station on January 1st, 2009. At the station, a fight broke out in one of the trains and when the train stopped the fight started again outside of the train at one of the stops. While they were fighting on the train the BART officers were called. The officers came and arrested everyone that was in the fight. A guy named Oscar Grant was in the fight and was also arrested (Meyer). While Grant was being arrested by Officer Mehserle, he resisted the officer’s attempts. Since Grant was resisting he was pushed onto the ground on his stomach to be handcuffed. Johannes Mehserle was having trouble handcuffing Grant so the other BART officers helped him. When Grant was on the ground Mehserle was going to tase him since he would not stop resisting. When Mehserle thought he pulled out his TASER, he instead pulled out his gun. Mehserle accidentally shot Grant with his gun since he thought he pulled out his TASER (Bulwa).

This paper will discuss issues related to the use of excessive force by the police. In doing this the paper will look at the concepts such as the need for police officers to use force, the definition of excessive force and causes that contribute to the use of excessive force. The paper identifies inadequate training, adrenalin overload, accidental application and retribution as the major causes of the use of excessive force. In order to reduce the use of excessive force as a result of these circumstances, the paper argues that it is instrumental to provide adequate training as well as regular training to police officers in order to improve their relations with the community and reduces occurrences involving the use of excessive force.

Police brutality is abuse of power in the form of excessive force committed by the police. Examples of this range from physical assault to psychological intimidation. Contrary to popular belief, many forms of police brutality include emotional and psychological aspects on top of physical. It can also take the form of false arrests, verbal abuse, and racial profiling. In countless accumulating cases across the country, police brutality has proved lethal (Danalina 1).

On Sunday September 18th. 2016. at approximately 8:30 PM an off-duty officer fatally shot a would be robber. The incident took place on the corner of Liberty Avenue and Merrick Boulevard. The off duty office was in route to his job for Allied Security dressed in his uniform when he was approached by the attempted robber. The attempted robber demanded that the officer hand over his gun and cash at gunpoint. After which the officer removed his weapon and shot the attempted robber. The injured man was taken to Queens General Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

A black man within military training skills stalks law enforcement officers and ignored the people around him as he shot anyone wearing a badge or showing representation that they were a cop. Louisiana State Police Colonel Mike Edmond said, “These officers were intentionally targeted and assassinated. It was a calculated act.” Three of the officers that were killed was 32-year-old Montrell Jackson, 41-year-old Matthew Gerald, and 45-year-old Brad Garafola. Long carried two rifles and a pistol as he parked his car parked at a gas station and store nearby. Before Long can get any nearer to the police, a SWAT unit took down the gunman with a different tactic in which Dabadie called it, “a helluva shot.” Dabadie pointed at the map saying, “After

armed but later a 9mm was recovered as the weapon he shot. The officer shot off 17 rounds at

The officers did show good critical thinking in deciding to hold back on the amount of firing to prevent any harm coming to those who lived in the houses that they would be firing towards. It was only after the arrival of Officer Colson who was wearing plain clothes happened upon the scene and was able to distract Michael long enough for his fellow officers (who sadly weren't sure who he was) to get into a better firing position which did allow them to finally stop Michael. Here we can see that once the shooting stopped and officers could clearly see that Michael was distracted they moved into a better position to bring an end to the shootout as quickly as possible. Colson in particular knew that he was going into a dangerous situation and probably had used critical thinking as he approached the scene but knew that the best thing for him to do even if it was risky was to face the shooter head on.

FACTS: On October 3, 1974, two officers were dispatched to a burglary call. Upon arrival, one officer witnessed a person, Edward Garner, running from the scene. One officer concluded Garner was unarmed and ordered him to stop. Instead of stopping, Garner began climbing a fence. The officer fired shots at Garner, striking him in the back of the head. Garner was pronounced deceased at the hospital. The District Court held that the officer’s actions were in fact constitutional; however, the Court of Appeals reversed.

What is police brutality? It is the use of excessive and or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians. Excessive force means a force well beyond what is needed to handle the situation. According to Deborah C. England, “Police brutality affects not only its immediate victims, but can undermine the community trust in its police force”. (England). Police brutality is not only just use of force, it also includes forcing civilians to perform sexual favors in order to avoid a ticket or jail time for various infractions of law.

Most people and researchers will agree that the use of excessive force by law enforcement causes a threat to the relationship between the police and the community they serve, but there are few who might argue differently. The few individuals who argue differently claim that our awareness of police brutality is on the rise because of more media coverage and more cellphones and cameras which captures the use of force by police by posting them on the internet. Others might argue police brutality is not just a black or minority issue but an issue for all races including Caucasians. However, it is to be noted that those who are minorities mistrust law enforcement because they treat them differently. There are thousands and thousands of facts, statistics, and evidence which prove that it exists and it ruins the relationship with minority communities across Canada and the United States. How are people supposed to trust the police when they are harassed, intimidated or killed by law enforcement because of how they look? The majority of the people in low income areas are fearful of law enforcement because they do not know what will happen to them if they are stopped because they have this mindset that if the encounter goes wrong they might get killed.

Police Officer, Michael T. Slager, age 33, fired his gun eight times, April 4, 2015, as Mr. Scott ran away. Mr. Slager indicated that he feared for his life because during a scuffle Mr. Scott had allegedly taken his stun gun after a traffic stop involving a broken taillight. Local news reports had downplayed the incident until the video which was taken by a bystander presented a different account of the shooting than was originally provided by police reports and covered by media outlets days earlier. The local newspaper, The Post and Courier’s coverage by Andrew Knapp (April 6, 2015) indicated that Mr. Slager had "served honorably in the military" before joining the North Charleston Police Department. Slager, 33, is a former U.S. Coast Guardsman and a five-year veteran of the North Charleston Police Department." Also, citing his attorney at the time that he “he has never been disciplined during his time on the force.” Further, the Post and Courier, in the same article characterized Mr. Scott:

Police brutality is one of multiple forms of racial discrimination which involves unjustifiable violence by police officers. This term was first referred to in the works of the American press as early as 1872 in a report of a policeman beating of a civilian. These targeted civilian groups by police officers typically are those from powerless groups like minorities (Latinos and African-Americans), the youth, as well as the poor. There has been a notable lack of commitment in the criminal justice system or towards holding police accountable for their wrongdoings. Police brutality is an ongoing problematic issue in the U.S. today with police officers using excessive force that needs to be addressed immediately before more lives are lost and

Police brutality is an intentional act of undue force that a law enforcement officer uses to control a situation. This act violates the human rights of civilians and thus is unlawful behavior that exceeds the officer’s governmental power.