The Racialization Of Racism In Law Enforcement

In looking at Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) history with using excessive force, there needs to be a way that hold these police officers accountable to prevent citizen-police tension and create transparency for the public. During the 1990s, 61% of police officers from the LAPD were white and considered aggressive with African American communities which suggest racial tension among the two groups (Suburbanstats, 2017). Eula Love and Rodney King are two victims of

Police brutality is defined as “excessive and/or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians,” and this has become more prominent within the United States throughout the years (Danilina). There has many cases where police brutality has been seen via news channels, and it has dismantled the unity of trust between the civilians of the United States and the law enforcement who are supposed to protect the everyday people from harm. The issue is if the law enforcement is actually right within their means of protection, or have they gone too far with using excessive force in any situation that may or may not be harmful to them. There is, also, the question of whether racial profiling is the biggest contributor to police brutality.

African Americans are oppressed by the Jim Crow laws which ultimately separated White Americans and Black Americans by creating Black only restaurants or White only bathrooms. And if a person of African heritage did not comply with these laws? They were likely to be brutalized by police. In this day and age many would like to believe that African Americans no longer have problems when it comes to policing or unjust treatment from society. Unfortunately, this is not the case. With several unjustified killings or beatings of African American people from police over the span of many decades, is there an abnormally high rate of incidents with negative outcomes between police officers and

Our society shows how racism and police officers are a focal point within our country. In the United States, many police officers demonstrate racist qualities. Research states that many police officers are only patrolling around predominately African American neighborhoods. People agree that police officers are just sitting in areas where African Americans live instead of just sitting anywhere and waiting for any crimes. (Martin, Trayvon. Racial Profiling). Polices are just waiting for African Americans to make a mistake. Most Police Officers haven’t changed their ways on racism. “Diallo was gunned down by NYPD officers while trying to enter his apartment building. The officers had mistaken Diallo for a suspected rapist—who was also black’’ (Martin, Trayvon. Racial Profiling). NYPD killed an innocent man because he was African American and he looked like the guy they were looking for. Therefore, this just proves police officers have not changed their racist

Police brutality has been a major issue since slavery. In slavery people, mainly whites, were able to do anything to black people without having to deal without dealing with the consequences. Families were destroyed, people died, babies were killed, and many unknown factors still to this day that will never be known. When slavery was abolished, it did not end right away. It took several years and still is not abolished if you look at in a political way. People of power, mainly white, were not happy that a black person could be seen as equals. This is the main reason why they feel it is okay to lash out at black people. There are several major issues that are causing and epidemic in The United States. However, the main issue that seems to be the most discussed is about police brutality in the black community. “Police brutality is the use of excessive and/or unnecessary 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. Police brutality can be present in a number of ways. The most obvious form of police brutality is a physical form. Police officers can use nerve gas, batons, pepper spray, and guns in order to physically intimidate or even intentionally hurt civilians. Police brutality can also take the form of false arrests, verbal abuse, psychological intimidation, sexual abuse, police corruption, racial profiling, political repression and the improper use of Tasers”

Police officers, who were once referred to as peace keepers, are now more law enforcement officers. Police agencies around the United States seem to be stuck more on quotas and creating revenue for their county or city. Making many officers strive for many unnecessary arrests. Which as a following result has brought up a lot of tension between the police and their citizens. With increasing violence in cities and states; police officers methods have slowly become more aggressive, bringing a rise in unnecessary police brutality related incidents within the last 10 years. This relationship is substantially disproportionate considering that there are five times as many whites as there are blacks in America. I find this incredibly concerning and it has definitely impacted my view of American law enforcement. Recently, I have tried to become more knowledgeable about racism and prejudice in the United States as issues such as police brutality are becoming more and more prevalent. Although there is still much more for me to learn about the complicated system of racism and white privilege, I do feel that I know enough to recognize unjust and unlawful behavior of police officers. Police brutality has a longstanding history in our country and will be very difficult to overcome. However, I think it is possible if we, as a nation, are willing to recognize the cause and attack the issue at its source. I believe that police brutality can be attributed to an immoral police force, a corrupt

Police brutality is a controversial issue that has recently been in the news, but seems to have always been an issue in America. Police brutality refers to the intentional use of verbal or physical attacks directed towards individuals by the police force that result in false arrests, sexual abuse, or death. (Dudley, William 13.) Most of these actions are linked to racial profiling: the targeting of individuals for suspicion of crime based solely on the individual’s race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin. (Dudley, William 13.) Statistics about how often racial profiling and police brutality occurs, movements such as Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter, and police reform efforts are just a few points as to why this topic is so controversial today.

America has been built on inequality and evolving forms of racism for generations. Our criminal justice system is a reflection of the structural racism that has and is permeating our country. The criminal justice system of the United States is not explicitly racist, however there are many internal and unspoken policies that enact a structural racism through policing and the courts, however, our criminal justice system shows more racial disparities than racism. The lenses of two individuals who have in some way experienced the criminal justice system show the internal issues revolving around race, In Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleeve’s work Crook County and Wilbert Rideau’s In the Place of Justice, we see how the structural racism and more so the racial disparities play huge roles in shaping the life outcomes for people of color.

A study conducted by The Police Foundation surveyed 80 police officers regarding their power of authority. The survey revealed that the majority of police officers disapprove the use of excessive force. However, when situations escalate to a certain point that requires excessive force, police were asked a series of questions. They were asked questions about their attitudes regarding excessive force and their perceptions of behavior with their fellow officers. The results showed that, “Almost 25 percent felt that it is sometimes acceptable to use more force than legally allowable to control a person who physically assaults an officer (Weisburd, 24).” The survey asked police officers a question that dealt with The Code of Silence, when a police officer sees misconduct from another officer and does not report it. The response of the survery revealed that “80 percent of American police do not accept that the code of silence is an essential part of the mutual trust necessary to achieve good policing (Weisburd, 26).” When asked about the attidues of civilians of a different race, the survey results came back as, “Almost 2 in 10 police officers in the U.S. believe that whites are treated better than African Americans and other minorities (Weisburd, 30).” Is there an issue of racism or targeting certain races when it comes to police and their authortity?

The perception of excessive force has been fiercely debated for the last two to three decades. With continuous civil disobedience, increasing cases of police brutality are growing at an exponential rate. Often cases of police brutality are brought to our attention through public media showcasing very disturbing and sometimes unlawful situations. Some may say that prejudice toward certain ethnicities may be the root cause of this recent influx. However, some may say that resulting social inequalities towards certain ethnicities may bring about frustration thus causing police officers to use more force more often. This then pops up to this preliminary question, Is excessive force in police brutality race related? My personal beliefs lead me

"There were two cops. One said 'You niggers have to learn to respect police officers.' The other one said, 'If you yell or make any noise, I will kill you.' Then one held me and the other shoved the plunger up my behind. He pulled it out, shoved it in my mouth, broke my teeth and said, 'That's your *censored*, nigger.'"(Abner Louima) The police officers that allegedly performed this act of racial violence on August 9, 1997 had no reason to brutally beat and sodomize Abner Louima. They beat him for the fact that he was an African-American. I will show how I researched a poem by Maya Angelou and how racism occurred in "The Bluest Eye". First, we need to understand what racism is.

Racism in police treatment of minorities has created great disparities in incarceration amongst the races. Blatant cases of racist law enforcement that are covered in the news are a testament to the fact that racism within police departments exists from coast to coast. However, these are only the cases that people find out about; there are countless other cases of police racism and brutality that are not reported.

Police brutality is a problem in our society mainly because there are police officers that are getting away with not only physically hurting innocent people, but murder as well. In the past year, there have been between 865-939 cases of people being shot and/or killed by cops (Calacal 1). Racial profiling is one of the main factors in this problem. African Americans and Latinos are the people we see being abused by police on the daily. So far this year, 215 African-Americans and 94 Latinos have been killed by police. Data shows that a black person is 3 times more likely to be killed by a police than a white person. Several officers

cops” and “white supremacy.” The protestors refused to allow whites to travel through roads and walk on sidewalks as they held their demonstration. The movement formed under this umbrella of social and political context regarding the American Justice System and supposed racism of White police. The movement was not originally an economic movement however; it has grown to encompass an array of economic reform movements that have not grown much traction in American society such as the “village system.”

The United States of America is a country with a history built on diversity and promise of opportunity. Striving to blend multiple cultures and sectors of individuals into a melting pot. However, some state that it has failed citizens, as even after a century of attempting to not see colour African Americans continue to struggle to be viewed as equal and not be discriminated against. In our modern day, "racially open" societies, racial profiling towards African American men can be witnessed frequently in their everyday life. American citizens have witnessed countless cases of police brutality and in recent unlawful murders of black lives, it has become a controversial topic among communities that have seen police brutality take place on their local newsrooms or in front of their homes. Over the past decade police abuse remains one of the most serious human rights violation in the United States. Police officers are trusted and expected to respect society as a whole and enforce the law, yet a great amount of the population feels unsafe because of the colour of their skin. Racism is a global issue that is widely conversed, yet it is still a growing concern amongst the nations of the world. Racial discrimination and/or can be defined as any action, whether intentional or not, based on a person’s race, which has the effect of imposing hate towards an individual or group. As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity