The Role Of Racism In The Criminal Justice System

Rodney King was beaten by the police on March 3, 1991. The police tried to pull him over in Lake View Terrace in San Fernando Valley after he was speeding at 110 mph. He led the police on a short chase because he knew if he got pulled over it would violate his parole for a prior robbery. The police claimed that he was resisting arrest once he was pulled over. They officers said they believed he was on drugs, even though he wasn’t. The police then beat Rodney King for about 15 minutes, which lead to him having skull fractures, broken bones, broken teeth, and permanent brain damage. The police didn’t know that they were being filmed for most of the beating. The person that filmed it brought it to a local news station, and within days the film was seen through all of America, Police brutality had been a problem for a while in LA, but this was the first time it was filmed.

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.

There are many concerns for a working police officer in America. Officers can face several types of dangers while on duty. Most of the time when police officers sign up for their job they already have prior knowledge of the risk they may be taking. They represent the civil authority of the government. According to Rose Johnson, "The job of a police officer is risky, and officers incur a higher rate of illnesses and injury than the national average for other jobs. Officers spend a great deal of time working with criminals and dealing with threatening scenarios". Although officers in America face several types of dangers, it does not give the officer the right to engage in unlawful acts. Police officers who receive more education and training will more than likely interact with different minorities through his/her institution. Officers should be more diverse because they will not be very biased and it could help end the problem with racial profiling. Police officers should be randomly drug tested for the safety of the citizens.

Matheson, Victor A., and Robert A. Baade. “Race and Riots: A Note on the Economic Impact of the Rodney King Riots.” Urban Studies, vol. 41, no. 13, 2004, pp. 2691–2696, Academic Search Premier, doi:10.1080/0042098042000294628.

On February 26, 2012, a 17 year old boy named Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a man named George Zimmerman. George was found not guilty in July of 2013. President Obama spoke upon the ruling of this case.

In February 2012, a 28-year-old man followed a 17-year-old youth and killed him on a residential street. The youth hadn’t done anything; he did not commit a crime, and he hadn’t provoked the older man. He was shot simply because he seemed “suspicious.” This was the story of Trayvon Martin’s death in Sanford, Florida at the hands of George Zimmerman (Cooper). Zimmerman, the killer, is a white man while Trayvon was an innocent black youth. While Trayvon’s death was a tragedy, it was also an example of violent racism in the United States. Racial discrimination affects the way Americans think about race violence and relations, and should be eradicated as soon as possible.

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.

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. King was intoxicated while driving and the police had caught him speeding, and initally he tried running away from the police, only to be followed by multiple police and a helicopter. The officers then proceeded to drag King out of his car and brutally beat him.This brutality was the first caught on tape by a bystander, the video had shown the officers tazing, kicking, and hitting Rodney with thier batons a little over 53 times. Witnesses had claimed that King was cooperative and never resisted the officers. The video had gone viral of the abuse and after the case being aquitted by an all white jury, the outcome of these actions resulted in what we know as the L.A riots. Another example of police brutality involving an African American, was a case that happened recently on August

Trayvon Benjamin Martin was an African American boy born on February 5, 1995 in Miami, Florida. Serving a ten-day high school suspension, with his father, Trayvon Martin had gone to visit his father's fiancée’s townhouse at The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, Florida. On the evening of February 26, 2012, Martin walked to a convenience store to purchase an Arizona Tea and a bag of Skittles. The neighborhood in which Martin was walking through had been the victim of multiple robberies times that year. As Martin returned from the store, George Zimmerman, who was the neighborhood watch captain at The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, spotted Martin and decided to call the Sanford Police to report Martin for suspicious behavior. After being instructed to stay in his SUV by the police and to not approach the person, Zimmerman ultimately chose to defy those instructions and to take matters into his own hands. A physical altercation began between the two which left George Zimmerman with a bloody nose and blood coming from the back of his head and also left seventeen year-old Trayvon Martin shot in the chest and

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”]

Police brutality on African-American’s is violent and harmful. In our society today many police are unfairly treating African American people.There is a lot of evidence and statistics here that can help me prove what I 'm saying is the truth. Police brutality on African Americans is a terrible social injustice that must end.

According to the Declaration of Independence signed on July 4,1776 “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The Declaration of Independence says that all men are equal; all men are equal means that every man’s life has the same value. Police brutality has been an ongoing problem since the beginning of time. The conflict of the police versus the people has become a mass media problem as well as a personal problem. Back 1992, Rodney Glen King was the first African American to go viral for being the first victim of police brutality. “King was caught by the Los Angeles police after a high-speed chase on March 3, 1991”. “King, who was intoxicated, had been caught speeding and initially tried to evade the police. When he finally pulled over and exited his car, multiple LAPD units and a helicopter were pursuing him. Taken by bystander George Holliday from across the street, the footage shows four officers tazing, kicking, and hitting King with their batons upwards of 53 times… the bruises, broken leg, and the scar from the stun gun, which jolted him with 50,000 bolt shocks… The officers involved, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseno and Stacey Koon, were put

Trayvon Martin was a 17 year old boy living in Sanford, Florida where he was shot and killed. On the night of February 26th 2012, Trayvon went to the convenience store and was walking back home when he was approached by George Zimmerman, his killer-to-be. George, who was a neighborhood watch volunteer,

King. America learned at this time that there is a problem with excessive force being used in American policing (“5 Ways the Rodney King Beating and LA Riots Changed America”). After America saw the police drag Rodney out of his vehicle, put him on the ground face first, and beat on him excessively, many Americans felt that the police were using their power in wrong ways. Because of this, changes in the way police are hired and a focus on police relationships with the communities they serve happened. It also brought on many discussions of how juries are made up and where trials take place. ‘If you're a leader, you should never forget that everyone needs encouragement. Who ever receives it young or old, successful or less-than- successful unknown or famous- is changed by racism’ said John Maxwell. The beating caused riots and people felt more threatened all of a sudden, this all had a big impact on the way people think and how conscious they are and affected by their attitudes.

“I realize I will always be the poster child for police brutality, but I can try to use that as a positive for haling and restraint.” – Rodney King. Why is police brutality against blacks a re- occurring problem in America?