Supreme Court Cases Against Police Brutality

Many people of today's society believe that riots and protests initiated by black people in America came about in the early 90's around the time of the 1992 Los Angeles riots stemmed from the acquittal of four white Los Angeles Police Department in the beating of black motorist Rodney King in 1991 (cnn.com). Although that story brought major attention to police brutality in America there were many other significant riots that have taken place in American history. In August of 1965 the essential although easily overlooked Watts Riot took place in Watt, Los Angeles California. After a white police officer pulled over a black man and had him arrested and his car impounded because he assumed he was under the influence, a crowd of angry and confused

“It was unexpected day at home for Tino. After coming home from school, we got him a toy gun as a gift. It was his birthday. He was really happy about it and running outside to brag it with his friends. He was playing it in our front yard, while we were preparing for the party. We heard the bang sound and the sound of the police car loudly in front of our house.......” Many people believe that police brutality is out of control in America. The reasons for it is police are killing many innocent people, they make people doesn’t feel safe and it is unstoppable if we are not doing something.

must start with a brief history of this social issue. The history of police brutality was first documented as early as 1872 in an incident that happened in Chicago and has been a growing issue over the centuries in many major cities throughout the United States (Cosgrove, 2017). Police brutality is one of the products of early immigration in the U.S, in the 1800's when the U.S started receiving large numbers of immigrates it cause deterioration of the cities which cause the original citizens to be prejudice against the new immigrates who brought with them, diverse cultures (Scott, 2015). Afterward, the new cultures who came to the U.S were not looked upon as equals, these cultural differences may as well have caused this behavior to be accepted.

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?

In recent years and in light of recent tragedies, police actions, specifically police brutality, has come into view of a large, public and rather critical eye. The power to take life rests in the final stage of the criminal justice system. However, the controversy lies where due process does not. While the use of deadly force is defined and limited by departmental policies, it remains an act guided chiefly by the judgment of individual officers in pressure situations. (Goldkamp 1976, 169). Many current studies have emphasized the racial disparities in minority deaths, primarily black Americans, killed by police through means of deadly force. The history of occurrences reveals the forlorn truth that police reforms only receive attention in wake of highly publicized episodes of police misconduct. The notorious 1992 Los Angeles riots brought the matter to mass public attention and prompted improved law enforcement policy. Significant local reforms resulted, for instance, ending the policy of lifetime terms for police chiefs. Additionally, on a broader platform, in 1994, Congress approved provisions to the Crime Control Act in effort to tackle police abuse in a more structured way.

Ronald Weitzer “Incidents of police misconduct and public opinion” Department of Sociology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA .

There has always been a common assumption from the police and society that minorities, primarily African Americans, are associated with criminal activity, in turn causing police brutality today. When the news report shows a police officer hitting a black man who was suspected of a crime, there are many people quick to point out police officers as racists. Usually, the police officers would say something along the lines of, “He attacked first and would not comply,” or “I thought he had a gun.” Now in some scenarios, this may be true as the suspect might have tried to fight back but most of the time, it is not. Many police officers in these cases try to make up lies to get out being known as a racist. Thankfully, there are many witnesses and

Police brutality is increasingly prevalent and is constantly being swept under the rug. The dynamic between police officers and citizens is overwhelmingly racist. Cops (white or black) are in the position of power and use that to their advantage the same way any white person would over black man. Chief Justice Taney is a prime example of how white men can make and enforce laws that blatantly disadvantage colored people. In the Dred Scott case, he used his power to ensure that black men could not be considered citizens even though he had no right or authority to do so (“Speech on the Dred Scott Decision at Springfield Illinois” 111-120). The same racist institution that allowed Taney to make that decision decided Timothy Loehmann was not at fault for Tamir Rice’s murder. The justice system is built on and fostered by this racist power

Many things from the past have shaped policing as we know it today. However, I think the most influential part of history that has shaped policing today is the accusations against police officers of police brutality. In the past several years, police officers have been accused on racial profiling and officer brutality. For example, the Rodney King scandal in California spurred a lot of civil unrest between police officers and communities. These actions are sometimes emotionally fueled by things such as race and cultural differences. As a result of these incidents, police are very cautious when making contact with an offender. They are also now required to wear body cameras. Also, their patrol cars are equipped with traffic cameras.

Through the passed years police brutality has been known throughout the Country. Many blacks have been killed by white policeman and still there has been no stop. Our question is in the future, how will things turn out between the differences between color?

Police brutality and the issue of excessive force can be dated back far into history. This issue is relevant in not only American history but also World history. As long as there has been a show of authority, there has been an underdog, and an issue of the powerful verses the powerless. With that said, in American history there have been events, that are greatly recognized today, that date back as early as the late nineteenth century. For example, the New York Police Department, which is one of the first law enforcement agencies in America, has deprived many persons of liberty. Many of the events pertaining to this department back in the late nineteenth century had a lot of relevance to police attacking unemployed citizens that exercised their

In our past white Americans use black African Americans as slave labor, now we see many white citizens still hurting and disrespecting them. A major example is police brutality. Police brutality is the act of police using force to deal with suspects that are beyond what is necessary. Police brutality has led America to a bad reputation with cops that go by the term, “to serve and protect.” Not only that, but it has contributed to racism in the country; many white police officers have been responsible for ending many innocent black lives. To the reader, for whoever you are, let this article inform you the many ways police brutality can be confirmed by story examples, racism, and reminding us why we came to our country. Maybe you haven’t seen it yet, but now you will know. Take note of what you have learned from the past about these events and similar events if you have learned about them. Step in someone else's shoes and see what they are seeing.

Police brutality against African Americans was a huge impact in Los Angeles, California in 1991, and continues to be a problematic situation in America today. On March 3, 1991, a group of white LAPD beat Rodney King. After this incident occurred a lot of negative events started to transpire. A lot of African Americans were angry and demanded justice. The relationship between the LAPD and the Los Angeles community in 1991 were horrific and still continues to be awful today. Police brutality just seems to be increasing more overtime, which means the increase in the community not trusting the police. Police brutality can be a huge disadvantage when it comes to community policing.

These three cases all have a black person as a victim and white officers as the abusers. This factor can be found in many cases that deal with police brutality. Let’s say the one being suspected is indeed in the wrong , which in some cases stands true. Does that automatically possess a criminal with superhuman strengths? Since it seems to take three or more officers to take one person down. After Rodney King was left disabled and the officers were clear of “any threat” they continued to beat on him. Frank Jude had four officers on him , all acted inhumane leading to Jude being stabbed in the ear with a pen. Robert Davis who was suspected of being intoxicated also had four officers assault him. For starters one who is intoxicated has poor

A police officer is a law enforcement official that protect and serve the people, and they are not supposed to abuse the power and violate the rights of the people. Police brutality and racial profile are not issues of the past that are just reemerging today. The beating of Rodney King happened twenty-four years ago on March 3, 1991. Has the police community progressed or regressed? Police brutality is the use of unnecessary or excessive force on an individual. The answer to the first question, “has the police community progressed or regressed?” is regressing. I will discuss two recent cases, Michael brown and Eric Garner. Both cases display the actions of regression within the law enforcement community. Police brutality and racial profiling