The Role Of Police Brutality In African Americans

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.

In the year 2014, 1108 people were killed in cases of police brutality. Of those 1108, 23.5% (265) of the victims were African Americans. In a poll conducted in 2009, 54.4% of African Americans said that they or people they knew experienced violence at the hands of police. Only 44.2% of the African Americans taking the poll

As I was conducting research about police brutality I came up with three questions I wanted to find out. I wanted to know what race group is affected by police brutality the most, why they were affected by this the most and what to do to stop police brutality involving shooting civilian. This Paper talk about how police brutality is a major issue in America right now. There’s many different types of police brutality but police officers killing civilians is something that is issue in our nation currently. After doing reaching this topic I was able to find out that African Americans have been affected by this the most out of any race. African Americans are affected by this the most because in some cases African Americans are usually stereotyped and this causes them to be treated different by police. Ways we can help this issue is by supporting these organizations that are against police brutality and encouraging police officers around the nation to always have a body camera on them at all times.

The existence of police brutality affects the mental health of Black youth, in regards to heightened depression and suicidal ideation. Even though people of color in the United States make up less than 38% of the population, "almost half of all people killed by police are minorities" and more than half are unarmed victims (The Guardian 2015). According to Mapping Police Violence, law enforcement has killed at least 263 Black individuals in 2016 including adolescents; 346 Black Americans were killed the previous year (2016). There has also been an increase in capturing these police shootings on film and then posting to social media for users to view soon thereafter. Black youth in the United States are exposed to this violence through a variety of outlets, such as news reports, social media and their personal encounters with police. The never-ending replays of unarmed Black citizens being shot to death by police officers is traumatizing and induces a constant state of fear that renders Black people hopeless for a country that will perceive their lives as equal and deserving of justice as non-minority individuals.

While combating police brutality everyday, what really does matter? Despite, the increased attention and actions to remedy police brutality, police brutality is still a prevalent issue in today’s American society. It has sent critics on both sides of the issue into their corners, as no one really seems to have the answer. Maybe, the reason why police brutality has been so troublesome to alter is because the people trying to alter it are only targeting only the symptoms instead of the infection itself or maybe even the cause or the disease. What if the efforts to destroy the leaves and the branches have only made the root stronger? Police brutality is the excess use of physical force from an officer to a citizen. If there is one thing for

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”

Over the past decade, police brutality has covered major headlines because officers have acted out in ways that have made citizens question their motives. Things such as unjustified shootings, deadly chokings, and rough treatment have all added to the constant problem of police brutality in the black community. Annoyingly, the police officers responsible for the killings and abuse are not held for long before they are discharged to their normal routines. Since many people believe that the issues of police brutality is based on race, officers should be held accountable for their misconduct. Accountability will permit officers to treat all with equality; therefore using the appropriate amount of force on everyone. Often cops are indicted in less than 1% of killings, but the indictment rate for citizens is 90% which is a major problem. If someone does wrong they should suffer the consequence no matter who they are. As a result of misconduct officers tend be mistrusted by their communities. Deaths in the black community often stems from police officers using excessive force such as assaults, beating and shootings.

In today’s society, we see all over the news how police officers had shot, killed black people. Its become common to see police brutality all over the news because of this riots have begun to emerge and more and more protest for black lives matter. Law enforcement has had continuous lawsuits many for excessive force officer’s use when arresting a citizen, especially if he or she is of color. Police brutality is the use of any force exceeding that reasonably necessary to accomplish a lawful police purpose. Because of many police brutality towards the people now the police have to hire independent auditors to conduct an investigation when there have been shootings. An independent auditor is typically used to avoid conflicts of interest and to ensure the integrity of performing an audit.

Over the last few centuries , African Americans have dealt with countless trials and tribulations. We have overcome slavery and segregation but yet will still face racism . African Americans today , face the challenges of not being accepted into society due to the color of our skin and our ethnic background.

This is why I do not think these Police Brutality cases involve racism. In the past year, there have been 4 notable cases where an african american man or woman was treated with excessive force by police. Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, and Walter Scott. Sandra Bland was a woman who failed to signal a lane change and ended up dead in a jail cell. Eric Garner was a man who refused to follow directions from police, was suffocated, and had a heart attack in an ambulance to a hospital where he died. Walter Scott was a man who fled from a policemen during a pull-over. All of these cases do involve police brutality but do not necessarily involve racism and could have been involved had the victims followed directions.

Although written in the late 1980s with the rise of awareness of police brutality towards black males in America, it is clearly evident that black people are treated differently especially in terms of racial profiling. According to analysis by New York Civil Liberties Union, in 2013 83% of the people stopped in New York for a frisk and search were black or Hispanic with only 12% being white and of all the people stopped 81% were completely innocent. Racial profiling causing an uneasiness to those who are victims of it, for Brent Staples it resulted in him changing his behaviour to suit those around him. Selectively picking his attire, the time he walked and places he walked at the specific times. “Even steely New Yorkers hunching toward nighttime destinations seem to relax, and occasionally they even join in the tune. Virtually everybody seems to sense that a mugger wouldn’t be warbling bright, sunny selections from Vivaldi 's Four Seasons.” The writer, Brent Staples, would have to whistle to reassure others of their safety and comfort just because he was a minority, the worst was assumed of him from first impressions. In Brent’s situation the uneasiness from racial profiling lead to him altering his lifestyle and this is a reality for many young people of colour who have to selectively choose what they wear as to not appear “thuggish” while they walk the streets. Racial profiling causes individuals from minorities to change aspects of their life and can also lead to a

instances of violence which directly ravage the lives of African American people still arise on an incessant basis. These extremist mistreatments of faultless human beings can undermine the freedom that individuals are entitled to and cause social anxiety and depression. Furthermore, a recent and significant hate crime incident which ensued in the United States was that:

In the untitled monochrome cartoon image by Samuel Joyner publish in the year 1999/2000 that later won first prize in the the Publisher Association that year carries a valuable decspritive. This image shows a black person being chained and dragged by a police truck as the man holds a sign saying “Guilty only of being Black” which may be explaining why he is being dragged by the police car. The police truck has a print of ‘Police Brutality’ on it. Joyner may have been trying to capture the racial tension between Blacks and Policies.The print on the car says Police Brutality meaning excessive use of force that is which may be giving a hint to the viewers that this man may be going to jail for unnecessary reasons.

Justice has become nothing more than a word in American society. Badges allow militarized police officers to brutalize and kill unarmed citizens. Police brutality is not a new issue, it first appeared in 1872 when the Chicago Tribune reported the beating of a civilian by a police officer. Although police brutality has been present for decades, the severity has tremendously increased in the past twenty years. It is critical for citizens to become aware of the growing statistics and casualties of the epidemic. By educating Americans on the problem, it may lead to preventing further incidents.

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.