The Problem Of Police Brutality

Police brutality is any unjustified use of excessive violence, abuse, humiliation or racism from a police officer that insults or degrades someone else. Police brutality occurrences range from crude language and harassment to severe beatings and murder. Some believe these incidences are caused because police officers are granted too much power as a result of the badges they carry. Other examples of police misusing their authority include discrimination, partisanship, public humiliation, and defamation. Victims of police brutality have been dehumanized by humiliation, discrimination and physical abuse.

The definition of police brutality is the excessive use of deadly or physical force made by a police officer or officer of the law. By kicking, punching, using weapons, shooting,

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 use of excessive physical or verbal force used by police officers to provide psychological intimidation. The force used by police should only be equal to the minimum amount of force necessary to attain a legitimate purpose. Although it occurs worldwide, it is a phenomenon common in the

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)

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.

What is police brutality? Police brutality is the use of excessive force by police when dealing with civilians “Excessive use of force” means a force well beyond what would be necessary in order to handle a situation. Numerous law enforcement officers, those who promised to protect and serve the people have misused their rights and supremacy to aggressive assault, and control the citizens, even if they were innocent. Citizens who have been assaulted by the police is left with a physical scar as well as pain and burden that can never go away. The police serve an important role in society as it’s protectors. They save lives, detect, and prevent crimes. Although these are the roles of police officers there are some bad ones who aren’t noticed

Killings among young men of color has risen in these past few years during altercations with the police. African-American and Latin-American men are dying for reasons such as rush of judgement and possible acts of racism. These acts that are being committed are considered the term of police brutality. Police officers seem to be shooting unarmed men of color as the ultimate solution when being confronted with these altercations. These three examples I will provide will show how many young minority men are being killed at unprecedented rates across America.

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)

“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.

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).

Police brutality is a major issue in America and has been a hot topic that is the center of controversy. There have been many efforts to stop this abuse of power. Those efforts prove to have little results that will stop it. In some cases, law enforcement officers abuse their power and go too far, but it is not always the police officer who is at fault. Many claims have been proven false and the victim can turns out to be someone merely trying to get away with a crime. Claims can be proven accurate or inaccurate by installing more cameras on police officers, being equipped with a less deadly weapon, mandatory psychological evaluations and even having anger management inserted into the training process or even as an annual requirement. Though claims of this abuse of power may be true or false, there are plenty of proposed solutions that could stop or greatly reduce claims of brutality.

Police brutality is a factual thing and people have been observing ever since, to see if it’s a real problem for society, which it is. There have been lots of shooting happening lately, where the police shoot an unarmed person, for no reason. What if that happened to your loved ones? We haven’t heard the real background as to, why it happens? But as we can see from the research that people have done over the year, that the police targets most of the minority people. For example, when a police over at Florida, decided to shoot an unarmed black teenage man because he was walking at the night with his hoody on. Another similar case, where another black teenage man at Ferguson was shot by the police because he was a black person, walking down the

Although I should know by now, I cannot help but think that there has been an overwhelming amount of police brutality in recent years. Police brutality can be defined as, when a police officer uses more force than necessary. This issue has spread throughout the United States of America, and is putting the lives of our citizens in great danger. Police brutality is not only physical, but it can also be verbal attacks; and, in most cases, it is caused by false arrest and racial profiling due to police corruption. Police brutality has been and continues to be a major concern in society and it is used very loosely to any and all forms of police misconduct. Whereas, in reality, excessive force of police misconduct is what defines police brutality. The jobs of a police officer are too calmly resolve public disturbance and disputes. Police officers are supposed to protect citizens; instead they are hurting and using excessive force. It is not right and it is unjust for a police officer to hurt a citizen due to an assumption without any actual proof of criminal activity.

The contemporary social problem I would like to conduct sociological research on is the use of excessive force used by members of the police department in recent unconscionable shootings of unarmed civilians. With all the recent attention that the people of Ferguson Missouri and New York City have been able to rise on this issue, making it a media sensation, it seemed like a good topic to discuss. Police brutality is an egregious, ongoing problem in our society that, until just recently, has been accepted as a sad fact of life by the people it affects and is largely ignored by the rest of society, including politicians and the mass media. Police brutality affects the people that society has come to stigmatize such as minorities, the mentally ill and impoverished people, more so than the well off or middle to upper class white people.