American Police History

According a study conducted by Chaney and Robertson, American’s attitudes about police officers have changed dramatically in the past ten years. Their study, which appeared in The Journal of African American Studies, suggests that instead of feeling safe and protected by police, many citizens actually feel animosity towards police officers, and are mistrustful and suspicious towards them (Chaney and Robertson 480). This situation seems almost impossible to rectify, especially since law enforcement is given the authority and the privilege to use force not only by the law, but also by society. In order to allow law enforcement officers this power, the public must completely trust those who are protecting them, and must believe that police are using force responsibly and ethically. People naturally assume that the police are well-trained to use force appropriately and fairly without prejudices.

Addressing police brutality must be done with empathy for and awareness of the plight of the African-American community. Historically speaking, there has not been a period wherein the African-American community was not inhibited by institutionalized barriers. American enslavement provided the foundation for later oppressive provisions that are especially prevalent within inner-city, predominantly Black communities, which, incidentally, many of the prominent instances of police brutality have taken place. Political regimes like the “war on drugs,” “school to prison pipeline,” and mass incarceration criminalize and dehumanize the African-American community, and thus affect the collective mindset of the population. I believe that an imperative first step that has not been taken is acknowledging the effects these may have on the Black community.

Throughout history, the failure of the government to protect black people from ruthless enforcement officers, forced blacks to act in their own interests. During the 1930s, the National Negro Congress organized massive rallies against police brutality, the Black Panther was created to stem the tide of police abuse, and in the 1970s the Congress of African Peoples sponsored the “Stop Killer Cops” Campaigns (Fitzgerald, 2007). The list goes on and on of groups and campaigns that African Americans formed to protect themselves from white supremacy and most importantly police brutality. Although some observers claim that racial profiling doesn’t exist, there are an abundance of stories and statistics that document the

I will now present the real-life cases of police brutality amongst the minority community in the United States. There were times when brutality cases did not get much, or any media coverage. People were not talking about it as much when it would occur. Most of the police officers would get off without any form of punishment. However, hundreds of brutality cases have gone to court, but today I will go into full detail on the cases that changed the minority citizens’ perspectives on law enforcement.

As police brutality against African Americans is increasing, it is very much reminding us of the civil rights movement. Black leaders risked their lives to ensure that all African Americans would live an equal life as white Americans. The racism and discrimination had been unapparent until recent events such as Donald Trump’s campaign being successful and the police brutality against African Americans. “Every 7 hours cops kill an American citizen”. Many times African Americans are targeted.

Police Brutality in America and the 1990s The legal system in the United States has been broken since it’s inception, disproportionately attacking, and punishing anyone who is not white. As the country grew, improving, growing prosperous, the broken system continued its work. One result of this broken system is police brutality, and overstepping of police power. In fact, according to a 2013 Pew Research Center survey, of the black people questioned, 70% said they felt they were unfairly treated when dealing with police.

In the Criminal Justice System of the United States, there has been a disparity affecting African-American communities and minority groups. Minorities perceive themselves as the main targets of police use of force, racial profiling, and a bias culture within law enforcement. The central argument, is that such actions have an impact on the relationship between police officers and the African American community, causing problems in our society. But does history explain why law enforcement has developed a negative relationship with African-Americans? In our democratic era, police officers are considered a walking symbol of safety and protection.

Police brutality is most often affected by race. But if you stay updated with the news, African Americans seem to be the targets. African Americans make up thirteen percent of the world’s population (“Police Killed At Least 223 Black Americans In The Year After Colin Kaepernick’s

Although we hope our Police force will use their powers for good, but sometimes police misconduct can occur. Often, the police are under great pressure to act as quick as possible, espcially in a murder case and if the murder victime is white, a child, police officer, or prominent. For example, In the 1990’s the case of Rodney King, that not only shows a racist issue within the criminal justice system, but also the issue with abuse from police officers, but changed the country’s views on the LA police force. Twenty- Seven years ago,Rodney King was brutally beaten by Los Angeles police officers.

The author suggests that police records are clear indications of brutality cases. He therefore assumes that since records indicate cases of brutality it means that Negros is unfairly treated. He should support his argument by using valid references. 5.

According to “The Washington Post”, Last year 963 African Americans were shot and killed by police. Ever since the 1960s Africans has been fighting for equality; in the Eric Garner case and Michael Brown, it demonstrated how White police officers abuse and misuse their power towards African Americans. Since the increase of police brutality communities has had marches, rallies, and even the Black Lives Matters movements as a response to show that Polices’ abuse of power is unacceptable. The Black Lives Matter movement was created after radical discrimination it is a political movement to inform and protect Black Lives. (Wesley Lowery.

In the spring of 1991,” In Los Angeles, California, four Los Angeles police officers that had been caught beating an unarmed African-American motorist in an amateur video an acquitted of any wrongdoing in the arrest.” [“1992 Riot in Los Angeles”] We hear and read about police brutality more than we should. Police brutality is a major problem in our country. Many times it is pushed aside or covered up. Sadly we find that a major reason for all this happens, has to do with racism as well.

In recent news we have seen massive riots following the killings of African American men by caucasian police officers. These all follow after one of the most prominent not guilty verdicts of the 21st century on the Rodney King beating. With these riots we see the words of Teju Cole begin to take life.

Racial profiling has had great effects on African American communities all over the US. Victims of racial profiling incidents and people who have witnessed have begun to fear and hate the police when they should be trusting that they are there to keep them safe. Many incidents have occured in the US where unarmed black individuals have been brutally killed by the hands of white police or have been pulled over when driving because they have commited the crime of “driving while black”, which in today's world has become something that African Americans have to fear because of the likeliness of them being pulled over by police, because of their racial bias towards them. “Driving while black” is something that black families tell their kids to be careful of at a young age because of their own experiences with police. In between 2007-2010, people of colored skin accounted for 75 percent of the people stopped by Boston police and 65 percent of them were black in a city whose population was made up of 25 percent African Americans at that time.

An occurrence observed by the population of Los Angeles, California conveys the existence of racism and police brutality. According to The Polls-Trends: Racial Differences in Attitudes Toward the Police, “…three quarters of blacks, but only 38 percent of whites, continued to view police brutality as a common occurrence” (Tuch and Weitzer