...I. Introduction What is Police brutality? Police brutality is the use of “excessive and/or unnecessary force” by police when dealing with civilians. Police brutality can be present in 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. Nowadays, many countries have laws which address police brutality. Under these laws, police brutality is seen as a very serious offense and investigated by a commission of district attorneys. Unfortunately, even with the law covering police brutality, many complaints made by civilians about excessive use of force are not investigated. Researchers suggest that it happens because the police have the authority to use force when necessary, and, often, it is difficult to prove that police brutality has taken place. More police officers now constantly record all interactions with civilians. Later on the recorded conversations can be reviewed in the case of an investigation. Even though racial profiling still exists, anyone regardless of race, gender or age can become a victim of police brutality. If a person experienced police misconduct, he or she needs to write down the names of all witnesses...
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...The American Dream has evolved many times over the years. From the time it was created to be liberty for all to the present where it is based on individual success. But everyone asks what is the True American Dream, and if it can be attained or is it still just a dream. The True American Dream should be freedom and equality for all. There are many problems facing America today and one of them is Police Brutality. According to “Michael Brown, Police Violence, And Why It’s So Hard For Victims to See Justice” by Nicole Flatow, “But Brown is part of a long and painful trend of a black, unarmed men killed by the cops, including two others that made national headlines in just the past week.” This means that many unarmed black men have been shot...
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...Cody Braud Section 50 English 2000 22 April 2015 Police Brutality: Who’s To Blame? I. Introduction It’s a routine traffic stop, and the police officer is slowly approaching your car. You are asked to step out of the car to speak with the officer, but you are disturbed by the officer’s tone. The two of you begin to talk, and the officer begins to accuse you of violations you think you did not commit. Talking turns into arguing, and arguing turns into something much worse. Now you find yourself in handcuffs, and pinned to the cold, blue hood of the officer’s car even though you are now trying to obey every order. The officer does not care and begins to assault you. Moments later you are lying on the ground defenseless while the officer is calling for back up, and your worse nightmare has come true. Now what if I told you that the scenario you have read could have been avoided? That same officer had complaints filed against him, but nothing was ever done about it. Approximately 33% of officers are convicted of their crimes that commit police brutality meaning a staggering 67% are let back in the streets (Web). With more officers not being convicted of their crimes, there has been a steady rise in police brutality. This tells society that this behavior amongst the police has been accepted by the by the bureaucratic systems that oversee local law enforcement. Too many people around the country are being mistreated and killed by officers because of their misjudgment or their...
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...Megan LiBritz Extra Credit Police abuse remains one of the most serious human rights violations in the United States. Over the past decade, police have acted out in ways that have made people wonder “are our officers of the law really doing their job?” Unjustified shootings, severe beatings, fatal choking’s, and rough treatment have all contributed to the ever-present problem of police brutality in America. One of the major social problems that became more prevalent this year in the U.S. is police brutality. Widespread police brutality also exists in many countries, even those that prosecute it. Police brutality is the deliberate use of excessive force, usually physical, carried out during law enforcement activities with the population. This type of behavior also includes verbal attacks and psychological intimidation by a police officer. Police brutality has existed since the era of slavery but it seems these days, it is getting worse. There have been hundreds of cases of police brutality and the media isn’t shy to expose the stories. Such excessive force by police is particularly disturbing given its disproportionate impact on people of color. This then leads society to blame police brutality merely on racism. One contributing factor has become extremely evident since the 1960’s, that factor is race. Police have subjected minorities to apparently discriminatory treatment and have physically abused minorities while using racial slurs. The most notable racial profiling occurs...
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...Members of the police force are government officials who enforce the laws and maintain order. They are engaged in a dangerous and stressful occupation that can involve violent situations that must be controlled. In many of these confrontations with the public it may become necessary for the police to administer force to take control of a situation. Sometimes this force takes the form of hand-to-hand combat with a suspect who resists being arrested. The police do have strict guidelines to follow when using force. Force should be used in only the minimum amount needed to achieve a legitimate purpose. The New York Police Department has these five stages set through which the use of force can progress. 1) verbal persuasion, 2) unarmed physical force, 3) force using non-lethal weapons, 4) force using impact weapons, 5) deadly force (AIUSAPolice Brutality 1999:2). They also have many tools at their disposal when the need for using force arises. These include the police baton, mace, tasers, handcuffs, police dogs, and firearms. An officer of the law can be properly trained to administer the law in an unbiased way that will not violate a citizen’s rights, however, this is not happening across the United States. According to a recent Amnesty International study, there are thousands of reports each year of assault and ill treatment against officers who use excessive force and violate the human rights of their victims (AIUSA Rights 1999:1). Police officers are injuring and even killing...
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...Fall 2014 Kiara Calhoun-Shearn Dr.Kitenge N’Gambwa September, 30th, 2014 “The Etiquette of Police Brutality (An Autopsy)” What society can do to help stop Police Brutality is to stand up for what they believe in, organize strategies, and gather facts. Police brutality has become very relevant. In our country African Americans have been targeted for merely no reason except for the fact that they are black. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Stated that “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice”. What this means is that if we do not put a stop to actions that should not be acted out in the first place then there will be no solutions to the problem. We as a nation can come together as one and fight for a new law so that innocent people can feel protected. Police brutality will still take place if our nation does not speak up. Organizing strategies such a monitoring the police, educating the public, and building coalitions would be such an advantage towards stopping police brutality. The number of African Americans killed by the police is absolutely outrageous. African Americans are always the first to be looked down upon as a suspect. For instance the shooting of Michael Brown occurred on August, 9th, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Michael Brown, a young black man, was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, a white police officer while his hands were up; he was surrendering. Many believe this was a racial act. The circumstances...
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...Assignment 2 Police Brutality Police abuse continues to be one of the most serious and harsh human rights violations in minority communities. However, it is particularly interesting that such violence and viciousness by police officials has managed to go unnoticed within the justice system and overlooked for so long. Police officers have too much control and power and they sometimes abuse their authority. The excessive use of force used by police officers continues because of barriers of immunity which make it possible for officers who commit such brutal acts to escape punishment and often to repeat their offenses. Police brutality is a serious problem and if this barbarity by police officers is allowed to continue, the citizens in these communities will not only need protection from criminals, but the police that are recruited to protect and serve our communities. In recent months, citizens in urban communities worry about protecting themselves from criminals and now have to keep an attentive focus on those who are there to protect and serve. Police brutality not only affects the officer involved, the victim of the beating and those who witness the incident, but the minority community as a whole. It changes the way communities and the individual citizens view police officers and the authority they uphold. Often these citizens are unsure of the rights they have against such cruel acts of violence which forces them to endure excessive force and the thin line that police officers...
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...Police Brutality When one thinks of a police officer, the first thing that usually comes to mind is a proud person in uniform protecting and serving the people. Policemen are the enforcers of the law whose job in it's simplest form is to protect civilians. So what if a fellow policeman breaks the law and harms innocent civilians? Does the title of Police Officer come with the ability to get away with crime with little to no punishment? Today, many reports of police brutality have been exposed and yet a large number of them do not get punished for it. Although many cases of police brutality are because of corrupt law enforcers who think they are above the law, it is the corrupt government officials that decides to not pass judgment onto the real criminals even when they know who is at fault. Many people often associate police brutality with a corrupt justice system and government because of its history. Throughout history, many dictators including Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin abused their military power in order to get what they wanted. Even in today's world countries like North Korea and Egypt possess corrupt governments that utilize military force on innocent civilians frequently. What makes police brutality such a big deal in America is the fact that unlike other countries, police brutality cannot be justified with uniting the country. It directly violates a set of rights written by the founding fathers that our whole government is based off of known as the Constitution...
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...Reasonable force or police bruait In common with all citizens, the police may use reasonable force where necessary for self-defence, defence of another, defence of property, the prevention of a crime, or during a lawful arrest. Under Section 117 Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), the police are also empowered to use ‘reasonable force’ if necessary when exercising the powers conferred to them under that act (except those which require someone other than a police officer’s consent). What constitutes ‘reasonable force’? There have been several cases involving a member of the public and the police in which the question has been raised as to what constitutes ‘reasonable force’ and what amounts to police brutality. Police brutality generally means that a member of the police force has intentionally used excessive force in order to carry out a lawful police purpose. The brutality is usually physical. PACE says that the police officer using force must honestly believe that it is justified and not excessive. In cases brought against the police involving the question of police brutality, Crown Prosecution Service guidance suggests that the following considerations should be taken into account in assessing the reasonableness of the force used: •whether the force was justified in the circumstances or whether it was excessive; •the nature and degree of the force used; •the seriousness of the offence which the police were trying to prevent, or for which an arrest...
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...Police Brutality on Black People For over twenty years police brutality against blacks has been a widespread and persistent problem in the United States. Use of excessive force by law enforcement officers is very common in poverty-stricken black communities. On March 3, 1991, in Los Angeles, Fernando Valley, Rodney King was a young black man under the influence of alcohol who was in a high speed chase with the Los Angeles Police Department along Interstate 210. This resulted police trapping Kings car and using excessive force, including, beating and the use of a Taser gun twice. King apparently was unarmed, but was injured, suffering lacerations and bruises to the head and a broken right ankle. This mishap could have prevented if only law enforcement...
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...Excessive use of force has always been an issue among various law enforcements agencies. It is a widely debated phenomena and with recent events appearing on the media with stories of deaths of apprehended suspects to be thoroughly studied and researched. What is going on in with these apprehensions that are being resulted in deaths? Is this a racial problem or an officer problem? What lies behind The Blue Wall of Silence? It is this unwritten rule that has led to officers who make a habit of committing crimes and their partners conceal their misconduct. What is it about police brutality that is being seen more now than it did before. During my research I discovered that among the many cases seen today in the media are overblown. There are...
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...any other profession. There are many people eager to stand up and criticize the many fine men and women that work in law enforcement. While it is true that some unruly people do end up in a police uniform, that too can be said about people in every profession. Police officers are in a very dangerous position every day of their lives, on duty and off duty. It is necessary to be fair and open-minded when a police officer is being accused of excessive force or when their use of lethal force is being questioned. People have enough to fear in today's world without being led to believe that the police are the enemy. They are not, and in most cases, the only people that have any reason to fear the police are the people that are breaking the law. “Police brutality” has become an easy scapegoat for many people, but an officer’s use of force in the line of duty is often necessary and justifiable. A police officer’s day is unlike that of any civilian. While most people spend their nights at home with their families, all police officers must have their turn at the graveyard shift, which is usually between the hours of midnight and eight o’clock in the morning. This also happens to be the time period when most serious crimes and drunk driving accidents take place. On an average shift, a police officer is likely to experience things that would devastate most people: child abuse, drug overdoses, suicide, fatal car accidents, and violent crime. On a regular basis, officers have to be...
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...Police Brutality DeVry University Police Brutality Is it fair that law enforcement officers can use brute force to serve and protect the people of the United States? Police officers are here to protect and serve the people of this great country, however in some cases police officers abuse their power and their force and it becomes police brutality. Throughout its history the United States has seen many cases of police brutality against minorities. It is a very controversial topic among communities especially those in which minorities reside. Police Brutality is one of the most serious human rights violations in the United States. Police have to face many dangerous situations every day, they have to expect the worst and hope for the best while making split-second decisions. Being a police officer comes with the power of being able to take any citizens rights away, they also have the power to take someone’s life. We have to rely on those police officers own discretion when it comes to deciding the amount of force or sometimes lethal force when handling suspects. Police Brutality though it may not be a large predicament it should be viewed by both the police and the community. Police brutality is a hypocrisy, we are taught at a young age to believe that police officers are here to protect us from harm and keep us safe, not to harm us and cause us to fear them more than we do the criminals they are supposed to protect us from. We need to make sure police officers are properly...
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...Police Brutality BCOM/275 20 April 2015 Police Brutality The issue with police officers being extreme when dealing with alleged offender, has been widely discussed as of late. With the training the officers receive, they are expected to be prepared to handle situations with precaution, and to be aware of the safety of themselves, the public, and the offender when attempting potential arrests. Somehow, there has been an obvious breakdown in some our police departments around the nation, and with all the media outlets, it’s been widely publicized and scrutinized by the citizens of these communities. The trust and confidence has been lost somewhat in the “Boys in blue”, leaving us to wondering, are the right men and woman selected for the job, or has the stresses of the job gone unattended? Excessive force The use of excessive force has been a very controversial discussion for some time now. When is the authorization of excessive force authorized? Is it a necessary form of policing when dealing with offenders? Police officers are authorized to use force in the commission of an arrest, serving a warrant, or detaining a prisoner. In the Rodney King case 1991 in Los Angeles California, he was pulled over after a high speed chase. Pulled from his care by officers, and brutally beaten by several officers. Understanding the...
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...Challenges police departments face today This paper will examine the challenges police departments face today. Police departments all over the United States are dealing with the issue of excessive force and immigration. These two challenges have made police departments less proactive. Many departments are implementing new policies and procedures to better address these challenges. Excessive Force. For many years numerous police departments have been sued for the use of excessive force against citizens. Many excessive force cases involve police officers using excessive force against African Americans. African Americans are three times more likely than any other race to experience police brutality. Police brutality goes back many decades, such as the case of Rodney King. Police brutality has been a historic problem in...
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