The Violence 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 media are bias mainly because news sources all have their own political agendas they’re trying to push. There are Republican news sources and Democratic news sources that people watch to gather information they want to hear. Although the information given out can be true, it can be one-sided as well and not show all viewpoints to a story. The media have been bias for a while and will continue to be biased because the media wants the audience to have the same beliefs as them. In a video from Stossel in the Classroom, Are You A Biased TV Viewer?, Bernie Goldberg, a CBS insider, explains that there is biased in the media and it is mostly liberal. Bernie Goldberg came out with a book named “Bias” in 1996 explaining that there is bias in the media and being a CBS insider, he obviously knows something the people don’t. Goldberg lost many friends during the release of his book because his colleagues knew the truth, but do not want to admit that the media shows

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.

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.

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?

Police brutality is becoming a trend in America. Tensions among the public and especially the African American community are rising due to the latest cases of police brutality. Many people believe that we have come far in this society but to be honest Racism is still a factor. The use of brutal and lethal force by some police officers leading to unnecessary deaths have African American parents on edge to send their children outside for anything. Law enforcement and people whom we trust with our lives are the very same to take it. Some people may want to argue that these cases such as the shooting of Michael brown and choking of Eric Garner are isolated incidents. Others would argue that the work of a police officer is too difficult and that sometimes an officer needs to use such force in order to enforce the law and protect him/herself while on duty. Law enforcement proclaims to feel threatened however what about the civilians who feel threatened of becoming the next target or victim of prey. The society is well aware that not all police commit these crimes and that we do still have law abiding officers. However, with the effort from everyone we can eradicate the bad apples and create a safer road for the officers and civilians.

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.

It is ironic that standing up for human rights is now being done by kneeling to the ground. More football players have joined Colin Kaepernick in taking a knee to protest injustices such as police brutality and systematic racism. The continuous silent protest has been deemed as unpatriotic, seeing as how politics should be kept out of the workplace. Though the two sides are widely contrasted, understanding different perspectives and reasonings may influence a change, not only with the topic at hand, but also within our society. The act of kneeling as protest has become so watered down from its original purpose that no one knows what it really means now.

News media today has traded in their hats from informing the citizens to telling the people what they want to hear. It seems whatever news channel you watch or article you read, there is always a biased political agenda the journalists are pushing onto you. Media is a business, their main concern is their profit margins and viewership not in telling the cold hard facts. Not all news journalists and reporters are biased but the unbiased one are few and far between.

Media is not inherently bias, however different viewpoints, goals and opinions cause media sources to be biased. Even though the press is supposed to be impartial and provide truthful information to the people, emotions, and opinions cause journalists to manipulate the content the press produces. This leads to a multitude of alternate biases. For example, some media sources are biased in the favor of Republicans and others in the favor of Democrats. Many are also independent and have a set of views and beliefs all their own. Media biases also vary in intensity. Some sources may attempt to seem neutral, but possess an underlying bias to a certain side. Others, on the other hand, may thrive on criticizing and denouncing an opposing side.

The term bias is relevant by critics in news outlets because people wonder why the shooting of 17 year old teenager airs by the means of showing a picture of the victim at age twelve. Bias occurs from these types of actions. This type of action carries into political markets by looking at the way major media outlets can be measured by their types of broadcasts. Some may be more liberal and others conservative. More specifically, the leading liberal outlets are Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and CBS evening news; the leading conservatives are Washington Times, Fox’s News special report, and ABC good morning America (Dubner). From a peoples perspective if they want to find a media outlet agreeing with their favorite political personality like President Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton they can look into the more liberal outlets; as for republicans they seek out conservative outlets (Dubner). News bias is prevalent in organizations with the use of dramatic and personalized aspects of events by focusing on individual actors (Bennett 42). In my opinion mainstream media has become bias to agree with the narrative that is more attractive to the audience or headlines that divides the two major political parties.