Police Brutality Lies

In today's society, it is not uncommon for police officer misconduct, including brutality, to gain everyone's attention. When one officer shoots and kills a suspect, that officer is investigated in order to ensure there was no intentions to harm anyone but to try and keep the peace. Intentional harm to citizens is considered police brutality and can escalate into something more serious such as riots and protests. The kind of misconduct that some police take when arresting a suspect cannot be taken lightly to prevent any sort of riots or protests such as those after Rodney King as 50 people were killed and hundreds more were injured (Katel). Cases, as well as investigations after accusations, need to be dealt in a serious as

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. This means that even the criminals, who are a part of the public, have certain rights, particularly, civil rights. Police brutality causes a major concern in today’s society in America and a resolution is imminent. These racial prejudices are rooted in America’s deep psyche to grasp its power, we must move American original sin, slavery, and its corollary the terrible fear transmitted from generation to generation of a revolt.

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.

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. As a result, there is a drastic increase of violent outburst between both sides. For the last years, it was reported that 51.5 percent of black were killed by police officers (ibtimes.com). On the other hand, there have been 51,548 assaults against law enforcement and it resulted in 14,453 injuries in 2015 alone (nleomf.org). In the United States, recently, police brutality has been a popular subject all over the news and social media.

"Police Brutality Sparks Public Outcry." African American Eras: Contemporary Times, vol. 3: Government and Politics, Health and Medicine, Law and Justice, UXL, 2010, pp. 546-549. Gale Virtual Reference Library, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX1838000245/GVRL?u=etiwanda_hsl&sid=GVRL&xid=4a1161fe. Accessed 3 May 2018.

Cops around the United States have been accused of racially profiling black people. This topic has been brought up by everyone around the U.S. and is very controversial. Studies have shown that the majority of deaths by police officers have been people of opposite color in America. Police brutality in America is a growing epidemic that has shown no signs of slowing down. Innocent men, women, and even children have been killed by police officers for no reason.

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”]

Cecily Strong is a comedian of the famous and popular show Saturday Night Live on NBC. She often works with her coworkers to made fun of what happening in the world. As a comedian, many of her jokes fall into the category of dry sarcasm. So, it is important to take that into consideration when watching the speeches she gives. In in April of 2015, she gave a speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner at the Washington Hilton.

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. In order to move forward, the African-American community must heal. As an activist and aspiring social worker, I

Minorities in the community have been subjected to violence by law enforcement in the United States for some time. This violence is called police brutality and it is unacceptable. The job of a police officer is to maintain public order, prevent, and detect crime. They are a part of a dangerous and stressful career that can involve risky situations that must be controlled. Sometimes police are put in situations that excessive force is needed. Some officers use these extreme measures in situations when it is not needed, police brutality should be addressed by testing police for for racial bias, require more training, and use body cameras.

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. This cannot be a coincidence. This has been a problem since the beginning of law enforcement in this country. The incidents of police brutality today and the devaluation of African American lives is related to previous cases

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. “One of the most significant reforms that did come out of the commission was ending the policy of lifetime terms for police chiefs.” (Rodney King, 1991, Los Angeles) This led to a police chief named Daryl Gates to resign and made serving for a lifetime over. In another case of police misconduct, Amadou Diallo was shot by police because they thought that his wallet was a gun. Just like the Rodney King case, the officers that were involved were also not charged. After a lot of protest, the only changes that were instituted were “adding more minority officers to the special Street Crimes unit whose officer had shot Diallo and requiring all officers in the unit to wear uniforms.” (Amadou Diallo, 1999, New York City) However, these reforms didn’t solve the problem at all. According to data statistics, this tragedy happened because of the law called Stop-and-frisk. The police were overusing this tactic to aggressively made police stops. Data shows that stop-and-frisk was getting extremely worse and the number of police stops that was being conducted is due to racial profiling. After a successful campaign, new legislations were introduce that will have an inspector to oversee NYPD and would allow citizens to sue the

On August 9, 2014, an 18 year old named Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. From this event sprang countless protests, all stemming from the fact that Michael Brown was African American and that he was killed by a police officer (Sokhi-Bulley). As the protests progressed, the demonstrations were met by increasing police resistance, bringing a growing sense of rage and conflict against the law enforcement of the town as well as the country. Overall, the community of Ferguson, Missouri, has a major problem of police brutality, likely originating from a sense of deep seeded racism within the force as well as the nation’s society.

Twenty-three years after Rodney King’s beating, police brutality is on the rise more than ever. On March 3, 1991 Rodney King led police on a high speed chase through the streets of Los Angeles County before finally surrendering. An intoxicated Rodney King resisted arrest and upon doing so he was brutally beaten by police officers. An 89-second video of Rodney King being beaten was filmed and released to the press. The video shows police officers Laurence Powell, Theodore Briseno, Timothy Wind and Stacey Koon, beating King with their batons.

According to the article Racism and Police Brutality in America, “Whites believe that Blacks are disproportionately inclined to engage in criminal behavior and are the deserving on harsh treatment by the criminal justice system” (Chaney 484). The justice system has unfortunately followed this idea. The African American race has been a minority in the legal system in the past; however, it has been much worse as of 2015. Some individuals assume it is acceptable to refrain from acknowledging this fact. Racism is an issue in the midst of police brutality, and it should be resolved. 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