Police Violence : The Use Of Police Brutality

-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 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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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?

When you think of the police, your opinion may vary. Let me ask you a question about our police force. But keep this in mind, in October 2015 alone, there was 81 deaths by the police. With that being said, who’s to protect us from whose protecting the block? I don 't care who you are, you have to be able to realize nowadays that the police brutality is getting out of hand, that the power surge is growing and growing. Look around, there 's an increase of civilians death via cops, an increase of reports of police wrongdoing, and an increase of more officers standing trial for a case relating to police brutality.

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.

What is police brutality? Police brutality is an act of misconduct done by a member law enforcement through the use of an extreme amount of force to physically, mentally, or emotionally attack a member of society. Many law enforcement officers, those sworn to protect and serve, have abused their rights and authority to ferociously assault and manipulate citizens, even if they were innocent. Citizens who have been attacked have been left with physical and emotional scars that can never go away; in some cases, it has even caused death. In a report by David Packman, prepared for the Cato Institute in 2011, states that 247 deaths were linked to police misconduct cases.(Packman 2011)

Police brutality has been going on for quite some time now and it has caused many of the violence we see nowadays. A lot of police brutality is heard to be caused by racism. Although it may seem like logical thinking, people need to realize poverty may get a person to be mentally ill. A mentally ill person cannot always control themselves, and they can hurt others with no reason. Police deal with these people and after time working as officers they become paranoid, and respond aggressively in situations that should not be altered so that they cannot escalate into more complicated situations. Now, people are just more cautious at times and have mistrust with cops because of the violence they have seen. The instances in which police have been hurt by mentally ill people cause them to change their behavior, they themselves can become mentally ill after so much disrespect they have been given and can cause them to aggressively attack innocent civilians.

There are two type of police brutality, verbal and physical. The first type of police brutality is verbal abuse which can happen anytime when the police officer is doing a routine traffic stop. Sexual comments is a form of verbal abuse. Another type of police brutality is physical. Police brutality is when law enforcement uses excessive force when dealing with a civilian. Excessive force means well beyond what would be necessary to handle to situation, you don 't want to get yourself hurt or anyone in society. There are many ways law enforcement can intentionally hurt someone by using their baton, pepper spray and gun. In today 's society, there have been many cases of police brutality, for example the Eric Garner case, Ferguson and many more. There were 382 fatalities reported relating to police brutality. It is violating someone 's rights if police brutality is practiced. If police brutality happens, it is violating someone 's eighth amendment Constitutional right regarding cruel and unusual punishment. American citizens are outraged by police misconduct and how police officers handle situations using too much excessive force, which can cause riots.

Police brutality plays a huge role in our society especially during this era in our country. The issue of police brutality has really impacted many individuals and many of them continue to strive and work towards bringing an end towards this nationwide issue and serving justice where it is due. However there have been many circumstances involving police brutality, whose hope of these certain individuals has been crushed and destroyed by humanity. Something has to be done about this issue and for the people who believe and have faith continue to protest and speak against this waiting for justice. For as the ones who have given up on this are questioning why innocent people are being abused and taken advantage of on the daily, how many more people

Police brutality has always been there, and it is something that is still occurs and affects us all over the world, it affects our communities, and us in the way we live, our futures and our upcoming generations. Police brutality is manly a case where police are chosen to protect us from ourselves, and the public, but unfortunately this is ironically lost and diluted in police minds due to being power hungry, controlling, and in most cases disregarding human rights and violating them.

This article is reliable as it is in a peer reviewed journal. The authors are professors at different universities. The article is about all the recent killings of black men by the police and the subsequent social unrest. It gives multiple different views about the situation. It gives a historical view, a view from a legal perspective, and what to do next. This is relevant to my primary source as there is a lot of police violence in the video. While the violence is against both blacks and whites, the police are all white. I can use this article to bring all the recent cases of police brutality to show why the primary source may have been made at this time.