Introduction The New Orleans Police Department is an organization that struggled long before Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August of 2005. Many residents feared the department and some would say that “the department was infected by a culture of discrimination, abuse, and lawlessness” (Ramsey, 2015). Beginning in the 1980’s, police brutality became a major issue in the city, which still continues now, almost 12 years later. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it seemed that the situation was only worse. Residents of New Orleans were experiencing even higher levels of police brutality and with not much control over the city, there appeared to be no form of relief coming any time soon. However, in May of 2010, the Department of Justice …show more content…
Pam Metzger, a criminal law professor said “New Orleans was a city where the general population had a fair degree of skepticism coupled with outright fear of the police department. It was quite justified. That made this a place where one’s view of the police depended largely on one’s race and socioeconomic background” (Ramsey, 2015). Many accounts of the violence were targeted towards the black community and became nationally known. Another issue that surfaced with the police department was the criminal behavior that surfaced including unjustified shootings, involvement in the drug epidemic, and various other criminal activities. A civil rights lawyer, Mary Howell, included her input by saying, “We had police officers involved in kidnappings, rape, murders, drugs, bank robberies. There was a guy who used to do, like, bank robberies on his lunch hour. It was just astonishing- at one point we had four police officers facing first-degree murder charges” (Kahn, 2010). Following the spur of bad behavior from the officers, a new mayor and police chief were instated into the system, hoping to bring reform to the city. After holding office for some time, numerous officers were fired, the murder rate dropped, and relations improved. However, the efforts did not last long and by 2005, the police department was back to its corrupt ways (Kahn,
In a viewpoint by Nicole Flatow titled “History Indicates Varied Results in Improving Police Brutality in America,” She believes that there has been little reforms regarding police brutality. Nicole argues for years, America has barely made any effort on improving the use of force by police officers. For example, victims such as Rodney King and Amadou Diallo, led to some reforms, but did not solve the violence of police brutality. With the beating of Rodney King that was captured on camera, it sparked massive outrage that led to a riot when the police officers received no charges. Because of the riots, it created a momentum for a reform of the police.
“...Much of the recent crime increase threatens the vitality of America’s cities–and thousands of lives–it is not, in itself, the greatest danger in today’s war on cops. The greatest danger lies, rather, in the delegitimation of law and order itself’ (Mac Donald). In the book “The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe,” published in the year of 2016, author Heather Mac Donald provides credible evidence to expand on her viewpoint of our country’s current criminal crisis. In addition to “The War on Cops, Mac Donald has written two other books. Her works “Are Cops Racist?”
Unfortunately that is today’s society and how it plays a role on people’s lives. Gray’s death exposed the long-simmering mistrust between the city’s cops and the African-American communities they’re sworn to protect. The resulting protests and the national attention they attracted laid bare the systemic inequalities between poor, majority-black neighborhoods like Sandown-Winchester, where Gray lived his entire brief life, and the city’s growing, majority-white neighborhoods surrounding the Inner Harbor. PD now partners with federal agencies to focus on hundreds of suspects it believes are responsible for most of the city’s crime. He’s increased arrests overall, which plummeted last summer as violence spiraled out of control.
Moskos, a harvard trained sociologist describes what is was like to work as a police officer in Baltimore’s Eastern district. As a young new police officer, Moskos was placed in the Eastern district, which is a very high crime area, one of the most dangerous areas in the United States. Moskos contends that when officers are fresh out of the academy, they are usually placed in high crime districts. Since these areas are considered to be the least desired to work. So in a sense the ghetto becomes a real life training area.
The New Orleans police force became racially integrated. John Baptiste Jourdain, a man of mixed race, became the lead detective on the publicized Digby kidnapping case. Men of color ran for office, accepted patronage posts, or, like Jourdain, joined the integrated police force. Afro-Creoles took on all of these newly integrated positions while understanding that their accomplishments or failures could affect all black people in Louisiana. If they didn’t succeed, ex-
Jason Ke ENG2D1 Ms.Doak 11 March 2022 Racism and police brutality As humanity progresses, we become more inclusive of those who are different from us, but there are still many communities around the world that hold heavy discrimination, and if you add some police corruption on top of that, you end up with Starr’s life from "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas. Have you ever heard of racism? Or uncontrollable police violence? Have you ever witnessed racism?
The Ferguson Police Department was harming not only the citizens it served but also law enforcement agencies everywhere. The norms associated with public safety must be focused on the prevention of crime and the health, safety, and welfare of the public. It is unknown for how long the Ferguson Police Department ingrained the deviant behavior into its officers but regardless, the damage was
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
Article 1 In the article “Police Violence and Citizen Crime Reporting in the Black Community” written by Matthew Desmond, Andrew V. Papachristos, and David S. Kirk, discusses police misconducts causes communities to be unsafe for citizens especially the black community. Many black men have experience racial profiling or police brutality in Milwaukee and this continues on to a point where calling 911 for help is no longer a choice for individuals to use due to a publicized case of police violence against an defenseless man, Frank Jude. Jude, as stated in the article, was unarmed, accused, stripped naked, and beat by the police brutally. This terrifying incident caused many to protests against the police force. Desmond, Papachristos, and
This report is showing light to the communities’ response to police brutality particularly in the black communities and also their encounters with police officers. Police brutality is physical violence and great cruelty demonstrated by a police officer. Police brutality and misconduct have existed for many decades and it even has been broadcasted in news stories over America, but nothing has changed. It has happened predominantly to African Americans in lower-income states. Police officers are given slaps on the wrist for taking a life or injuring an innocent person.
The New Orleans Police Department, consistently one of the most brutal in the nation, has seen dozens of its officers arrested in the last two years for robbery, murder and other felonies. One officer is a suspect in several
Annotated Bibliography Books Dudley, William, et al., editors. Police Brutality. D.L. Bender, 1991. • Police Brutality gives information on how police brutality is a widespread issue in the United States and explains different controversies and cases that relate to police brutality. • The editors of this book include activists and nonfiction authors who provide reliable information on what happened during different incidences of police brutality and the viewpoints and controversies that come with it.
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
Police brutality remains a common yet controversial topic around the world. Police brutality is “the use of excessive and/or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians” (thelawdictionary.org). It’s a topic that segregates communities and makes each other their enemy. Specifically, a white officer has been the enemy of the black community. Unfortunately, the tension between police and blacks grew over the past few decades.
Police Brutality is an ongoing problem and existent concern in the United States and should be resolved immediately. Law enforcement must function as an element that consists of organized and civilized officers. The presence of police brutality is becoming more of an issue as society grows. The problem posed by the illegal exercise of police power is an ongoing reality for individuals of a disfavored race, class, or sexual orientation. Police brutality must be stopped so that police do not forget who they are serving – not themselves, but the public.