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Police Brutality In America Research Paper

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Police Brutality in the United States of America
Police brutality has been a problem in the United States of America for a long time. The regulations that cops should abide by hasn’t changed, but the actions of officers have. Police officers have a different view of the rules that they should follow. The power that police have has gone to their heads, and they take advantage of the power. Police are needed in America because of how society is, but there are things that the police do that shows a complete misuse of their power. The fact that this is allowed to happen in America makes today’s society part of the problem. The reason the police feel like they can do what they want is because they think they could not be blame for their actions. …show more content…

People should feel protected and safe because of the police. In order to feel safe, a person has to be armed with a camera cell phone. In August 2012, Luis Paulino was beaten by NYPD officers and the event was captured on video. Paulino was shoved to the ground, and several officers punched him repeatedly. Paulino was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstructing a government official, but those charges were later dropped thanks to the video. If he had not had that video, this would have been his word against fifteen officers. In a public place, a person is allowed to film anything that is in plain view. Even though people can video an incident, this does not discourage an officer from acts of misconduct. The use of video and social media postings has reduced some police brutality. Some police departments are implementing body-camera programs for their officers, and that seems to be working and there have been fewer complaints and less use of force. As a citizen, when one kills a person they face a prison sentence, but if that person is a policeman using unnecessary force and killing someone they will get a slap on the hand and are free to potentially kill again. Policemen should not be given a license to do harm just because they are wearing a badge. People should feel safe around them, and that is not the case. Citizens have no right to feel threatened by someone who is supposed to …show more content…

Most of the police officers misuse their positions in law enforcement, possibly due to “power trip”, and are no help to citizens. The allegations of brutality, in the case of Officer Johannes Mehserle, focused on whether or not the officer was guilty of a wrongful death towards Oscar Grant. According to officer Mehserle, he alleges that he thought the gun was his Taser, but instead was his handgun that shot Grant. In the first place, police officers are trained to handle their pistols and know the responsibility of their weapons. The lawyers who represented officer Mehserle had to know Mehserle knew his handgun was not his Taser. Instead, the lawyers and the police officers who work with Mehserle were protecting Mehserle in hopes of him receiving a lighter sentence. It is thought that police tend to keep information from the public and only share it amongst each

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