The Nature 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.

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)

“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.

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.

As of September 1, 2015, in the United States police officers have killed 776 people and 161 of those people were unarmed at the time of their death (MintPress). There have been too many incidents where police officers have injured or killed someone that could have been prevented. Using maximum force with a suspect has become a routine in many confrontations. Officers have not been given the proper training to deal with individuals and how to handle them without using a weapon. If they were given more training on how to deal with situations resulting in using a weapon to stop an individual during certain scenarios police brutality situations would decrease, lives would be saved, and police would get their good reputation back. However, police departments would have to spend more money on re-training. Some people agree with police brutality and think that a civilian deserved their punishment, which is not right because no one deserves to be beaten or killed. Situations involving police brutality have been increasing throughout the years, which is a problem that must to be solved.

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.

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.

Police abuse is one of the most violated human rights in the United States. Police are portrayed as heroes that stop bank robbers, stop kidnappings and catch murders, but as of recent year’s police actions have come into the public eye. While typically citizens worry about their safety from criminals, it also seems they have to keep an eye out for the people who are supposed to protect them from danger. Thousands of complaints about police brutality is reported each year, and seems to be growing more. China has a population four and a half times bigger than the United States and only twelve killings were reported by law enforcement in 2014, but in the United States ninety two times more people were killed than a country with nearly 1.4 billion people (Fairbanks). Within our police system in America, there are openings and loopholes that give liberty to police officers who either abuse their authority given to them or do not live up to ethical standards in today’s society.

The first article from the New York Times by Eric Lichtblau follows remarks from the director of the FBI who was critiquing the idea of filming police officers for safety. This article stems from a much larger topic that has been in the recent news for the past few years: police brutality against people of color, primarily black men. James Comey, following the recent viral videos outbreak of wrongdoings by police being caught on tape, is stating that these videos are causing police to fear doing their job. The article goes on to critique his claims, pointing out that there is no statistical evidence to support the idea. What the article lacks is any mention of there being a racial undertone to the entire issue, which there is. Overall there has been a lot of coverage on the “Ferguson Effect” (Lichtblau) and race/racism has been the forefront of the news but there is not much historical context to the modern day set up of society that benefits from white power. ‘…the founding moments of U.S. nationalism, well rehearsed in mainstream histories, are foundational to both state and culture. First, the U.S. was “conceived in slavery”…’ (Gilmore, 6) Gilmore goes into detail about the U.S history of government systems being set up in favor of those in control: white

Police departments have been in existence for a long time. Over the period of their existence, the police departments have a history of upholding the law as their main objective. Moreover, they protect the citizens and offer help through preventing and responding to any emergencies (Kesic, Thomas and Ogloff, 2012). With all these responsibilities, therefore, police officers often find themselves with a lot of duties and, as a result, they sometimes find it hard to have appropriate interactions with the citizens whereby some interactions even end up as deadly.

One issue in today’s society is police brutality and people dying police custody without answers. Many people think police are there for one’s safety while other question their purpose in society. In the article I read there was a reported 95 individual’s killed in last October. And for the total year a reported 950 people killed by police according to the police database. During this article I tied police brutality to sociology. The conflict theory involves structural inequality. The conflict theory also is viewed as a “tool” used the law or dominate groups. These dominate groups have social, political, and economic power, to maintain their privileged position over subordinate groups. Police use their privileges over subordinate groups. Police

Out of the many media coverage of Tsang being a victim to the Police brutality, the author Elizabeth from the Time Magazine tends to have the most fairness and bias approach to this event . Even though Elizabeth pointed out in the article that the police brutality and treatment to Tsang is outrageous, however Elizabeth gave an equal treatment for the police force to clarify the issue to the public. At the same time, Elizabeth also gives a sense of explanation for protester to not disrespect the criminal justice system and should not behave in an aggressive manner. For example, “radical protesters involved in the early morning confrontation for behaving in “an aggressive manner,” including kicking officers and attacking them with umbrellas”

Police brutality has been a growing issue in the United States, particularly Baltimore, Maryland. By 1997, ‘police brutality was soaring’(Alexandrov). By mid summer more already more than 77 people have been shot. The population in Baltimore was,” 640,000 people, at the end of the year more than 100,000 arrests were made” (Alexandrov). The African American community was tired of the abuse made by police and violence broke out. Over the year people who suffered head trauma, organ failure, and those who were killed by police won court judgements against the police officers who caused the injuries. People in Baltimore thought that the, ‘police were terrorists’(Alexandrov). Young African American and Latino men were being targeted by police for petty crimes. Police brutality has gone as far as some people are going to stand.

What is police brutality? Some may say it’s not that bad, but in reality is it a very bad thing. Police officers abuse their power and use it to their advantage no matter who you are. The officers don’t care who you are or your race during the arrest that their making. Some already come to the call already prepared with their guns and they make sure that they have back-up with them. You can’t predict what will happen when you have a encounterment with the Police no matter where you are. Some officers don’t always know how to approach the situations so they’ll be kind of skeptic of the process, especially if they’re new on the force. Not all officers approach nervous, some come up and handle business and get on with their business. So how would you approach the situations? Would you be nervous and scared, or brave and prepared? Only one way to find that out for sure, and we all know how to figure out that process.