Police Force Research Paper

Police brutality and office involved shootings have sparked national debate and created a strain between police officers and citizens. Recently, there have been more home videos that display acts of aggression by police officers. These police officers often use excessive forces or a condescending tone towards people of color which is why there needs to be a better way to mend police and civilian relationship. People should be able to trust the police in their communities rather than fear them.

There is no question that police brutality, when it occurs, is one of the most egregious violations of public trust that a public servant can commit. Police officers, those individuals taxed with protecting the public from danger, should never be in a situation where they pose a threat to the public. Furthermore, there is no question that police brutality occurs. Moreover, generally when there are allegations of police brutality, there has been some type of underlying violent incident. In addition, while issues of brutality may seem clear-cut to a disinterested observer, it is critical to keep in mind that law enforcement officers are not presented with textbook examples of the appropriate or inappropriate use of force, but real-life scenarios involving quick decisions. There are many arrest and non-arrest scenarios where officers need to use force to protect self or others; and the degree of force required may be greater than what a disinterested observer would assume. Another recurrent issue in debates about police brutality is that racial bias appears to be a motive behind police brutality. When one considers that minorities are disproportionately likely to be arrested and convicted of crimes, one would expect to find a disproportionate number of minorities among those alleging police brutality. Therefore, while acknowledging that police brutality, when it occurs, is a serious problem, the reality is that most

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)

Chapter 4 in The Color of Justice: Race, ethnicity, and crime in America, was about the relations between society and law enforcement officers. This has been a major topic, especially in the United States for a long time. The unfortunate statistic that minorities are more likely to encounter being killed, arrested, and victimized by excessive physical force; has been a real issue even in today’s society. However, police departments are trying to combat the way police officers interact with the community; especially those of color. Although steps have been takes there are still some instances where police aggression happens. With all of the issues that arise between certain minority populated community’s police it is evident that conflict

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.

The police involved shooting of Michael Brown has changed the way society views law enforcement, and the method of how law enforcement officers have to interact with this same society. With the deaths of individuals like Brown, Freddie Gray, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice, and with the assistance of social media and bias news reporting, as well as high level officials within our social structure, who’s speech and words can carry a large impact on our behaviors, there has been a picture painted that police are murdering people of different ethnicities without regard for justifiable force. Politicians, celebrities and the media alike, have been a major contributor to the anti-police sentiment and the violent interactions that police

Police use of deadly force in America has become a largely talked about issue and seen more and more every day. In 2012, 602 people were killing by police, 326 of the ones killed were white Caucasians, and 123 were black. The reason I point this out is because a lot of people try to make it a race issue. Which in some cases may be true, but believe that it is more than just race it’s about the police being corrupt all round. The police officers power needs to be limited and these killings need to be stopped.

Cases involving police brutality has become a significant issue between African American victims and Caucasian officers. While there has been many cases where brutality has been reflected, four well- known cases that resulted in the death of innocent people includes Michael Brown Jr., Alton Sterling, Eric Garner, and Sandra Bland. Each of these cases are similar to one another because they involved an unarmed individual and an officer who used an unnecessary amount of force when arresting them. Although many people speculate that police officers duties are to protect people and property, a careful analysis of the evidence of the Sandra Bland case, shows that racial tensions between police and civilians interfere with their responsibility in the work force.

For the past few decades, there have been increasing speculation on the problem of excessive force and police brutality. While there are many people that claim that the presence of local police force is beneficial, the Community of Relations Service of the United States Department of Justice claims that in incidents where minority communities often do not have good relations with the police force, a small incident involving the use of force will often result in a violent disturbance (Community, 1). These tensions between the police force and minority communities are then fueled further by many different police cases across the United States in which officers allegedly use excessive force against both minority and majority communities. Many

In the United States, studies have shown that minority citizens, particularly African Americans, are the primary victims of police brutality. This use of excessive force, when utilized by law enforcement officers, encompasses a wide range of abusive practices – racial slurs, profanity, unnecessary searches, physical abuse, and even murder. According to a report by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, 313 African Americans were killed without trial by police, security guards, and vigilantes in 2012. In other words, one extrajudicial execution of a black person occurs every 28 hours. This tension between law enforcers and minorities is hardly new, as evident by the prevalent racial discrimination between blacks and whites throughout history – slavery, Jim Crow, and the civil rights movement. Although many Americans today believe that our nation is progressing into the “age of colorblindness,” blacks are three times more likely than whites to engage in police contact that result in the use of excessive force (Eith & Durose 12). The following pages will analyze how impoverished neighborhoods, negative stereotypes, and mass media contribute to the mutual antagonism between police and African Americans, ultimately setting the stage for violent conflicts. Furthermore, this paper will also investigate real-life examples of Rodney King and Michael Brown, as well as examine how American citizens have resisted against this racial oppression through both violent and peaceful campaigns.

Officers are trained to use certain measures to prevent an incident from escalating to brutal or deadly force and due to the environment of most minority communities, officers frequently have to resort to use-of-force. In a study by the Center for Policing Equity, which took three years to conduct, reviewed 19,000 cases of use-of-force by officers representing 11 cities between 2010 and 2015. They found that officers only employ use-of-force in 2 percent of all the police-citizen interactions, however African Americans were subjected to use-of-force 3 times the number of Caucasians, showing a disproportionality high difference (Williams, 2016). When interviewing police officer James, I asked, “When you have to pull your gun on a subject, what race is the individual, most

Throughout the recent years many incidents have occurred between citizens and law enforcement agents that has brought light to police brutality. The media has played the biggest role by focusing mainly on negative actions that law enforcement agents take rather than the positive ones. Law enforcement agents across the country have received a bad name and continue to receive negative backlash for the many incidents that have occurred. No not every officer is perfect and yes there are bad apples, however because the media has focused on the negativity, people across our country are quick to jump to conclusion when they see or hear what is in the media. Although most incidents may seem similar in the media, in light of the fact that they involve officers shooting “innocent victims”, every incident and case is different and the media does not always show or tell both sides of the story. In this paper I will be investigating two incidents that have occurred in the past year regarding black suspects being shot and killed by white police officers. One case happened in South Carolina and the other in Illinois. After investigating and finding facts I will then compare both cases to the Supreme Court case: Tennessee v. Garner 1985, and determine what case is the most alike to it and why.

A controversial topic for decades, one issue that has made a noticeable impact in modern day society, especially in the year of 2015, is that of police brutality. Stemming from deep-rooted and institutionalized racism within law enforcement and other surrounding fields, it has sparked a firestorm of opposition, with many American citizens up in arms over the target that’s been seemingly casted on the backs of the black community. Despite the various protocols that have been implemented as a means of placing a more critical eye on law enforcement, we are still seeing more and more cases of excessive police force being committed daily without any sort of justice for these victims. The idea that an officer on duty has more legal protection than that of a normal civilian must have some merit, as a study done by Cato Institute found that “When police officers are charged, they are convicted at a lower rate than people in the general populace.” (Elinson and Palazzolo). By granting these officers more rights and not holding them to same authoritative ruling regular citizens are ordered to follow, it allows for corruption and discrimination in the forces that are expected to help us. Without reprimanding the police for violation of conduct, we will continue to see the same issues arise for many years to come.

As a consequence police use more force on black kids than white ones”( Craig Debrah). From this study, you can see that officers are not being rational or focus on diagnosing the situation if the suspect is a minority. This is the belief that all officers have certain biases against certain minorities. Which mean they will act differently in certain scenarios. For example, a white officer will be quick to chose lethal force in a situation that involves a minority. However, the belief is they will give a white person the benefit of doubt. Which an officer should never do, they must hold all races on the same pedestal.

Police officers have a responsibility of serving and protecting the city that they serve and work for. In some of the calls officers get dispatched to they might be required to use some type of deadly force in order to apprehend the suspect and handle a call. However, deadly use of force doesn’t occur as often as the media says it does. Unfortunately, in the event that police officers use a type of force to subdue a suspect, the officer will be judged and the suspect might claim police brutality. In addition, there are many myths that have been created when it comes to police officers using deadly force. The first is that police officers only use deadly force when coming in to contact with African-Americans. The second is that police officers