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Police Shootings

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Over the past ten years there have been an increasing number of young black male deaths at the hands of white police officers. “For decades the United States has had a history of deadly racially tinged police confrontations, many of them involving unarmed black men.” (Lizette Alvarez, New York Times) The United States police departments have been constantly under review for unjustified shootings within the black community. “ At least seven U.S police departments have been subjects of federal review since the wake of fatal police shootings since 2010.” (Kevin Johnson, USA Today) Are white cops really that scared of young black males to kill them? Or are they just using their race power to kill of black males without getting in trouble? Most …show more content…
The United States has become so accustomed to young black males being killed by white police officers that they adopted the term justifiable homicide to try and give them a break. “According to the FBI's most recent accounts of "justifiable homicide," in the past seven years between 2005 and 2012, a white officer used deadly force against a black person almost two times every week. Of those black persons killed, nearly one in every five was under 21 years of age.” (Earl Graves, black enterprise) There is debate over whether these deaths have resulted from some type of racial threat or racial discrimination, or if these deaths were justified homicide. If these deaths were most likely due to racial threat or racial discrimination, then the issue becomes why have the police officers in many of these cases not been convicted to reflect the crime …show more content…
Honestly, it seems as though that “my life was in danger” card could be played a little too much in some cases. This article specifically indicated how the national debate over the role of race in police killings and arrests is a how this is open question officials are too afraid to answer, and officers may be hiding behind protocols and laws. Why take someone’s life when the justice system will determine his or her fate according to the crime and conviction? I think it’s something worth looking into. There will continue to be crime and violence in the world; just like there’s good and bad. Be that as it may, we should be able to look to our law enforcement officers to protect and maintain public safety. Unfortunately, some of those officers may have hidden tactics of their own, and that’s the scary

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