Arguments Against Police Brutality
Police Brutality: A Rising Issue What should society do when the people that are supposed to be protecting them turn into the people that they need protecting from? Police brutality has become a major issue in today's society and has become a major point within today’s media. As stated by Lauren Fox, “The deaths of black men at the hands of police have been thrust into the national spotlight” (Fox). Police brutality is classified as an officer applying excessive and/or unneeded force to the innocent for no apparent reason. Through police brutality many innocent people have died and lots have not gotten the justice that the truly deserved. Police brutality has torn families apart and left them with a wound that they are unable to fix.With
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many people focusing upon the issue of police brutality they often feel a need to help fix which was all caused by those they depended upon to keep them out of harm's way. Unfortunately, the only help the people try to provide comes in the form of doing more damage and destruction through rioting. Many of the cases the people of society seen have to do with a white officers vs. black suspects or victims. This has caused police brutality to be often times tied into the Black Lives Matter movement (Garimella) (Shor). There needs to be more actions taken towards police in order to help reduce the amount of police brutality and to protect people. There needs to be more police oversight and a clearer line drawn between police officers protecting themselves and causing unneeded harm and more tests and training to determine if the police officers have enough mental stability to be deemed stable enough to posses a gun. To help combat police brutality there needs to be more police oversight and a clearer line drawn for the police officers between protection of themselves or rather just causing unnecessary harm. In a recent article by Mr. Wolverton, he wrote about the case of two women from Colorado that were forced to the ground by police and beaten: “...a video not only didn’t exonerate police accused of beating a citizen, but revealed that their brutality was worse than expected” (Wolverton II). If this video had not been available to reveal the truth, then the truth might not have ever been discovered. There is no way to know for sure but there have probably been many cases where the victim did not get nearly as much of the justice as they deserved. Police officers can make the mistake of misjudging the situation which can ultimately get them into bigger problems. Officer Wilson who was proven guilty for fatally shooting Michael Brown had claimed that: “...if he could buy 30 seconds before other officers arrived, they could ‘make the arrest, nothing happens, and we are all good.’ Wilson thought that he had done as much as he was able to do in that incident” (Garimella). Often police or the other people looking in on the situation see it as officers protecting themselves when in reality there are many other approaches that could be taken to help respect the other person's rights. If the police were truly just protecting themselves there was more then likely a better choice that would have been made in order to keep the people safe. There should be more tests and training to determine if the police officers have enough mental stability to be deemed capable enough to posses a gun and be able to use it. In an effort to help reduce the amount and the severity of police brutality, the author Mr. Garimella stated that, “...police force should be required to take yearly psychological examinations to determine whether they are mentally fit to carry weapons and have the freedom to use them. Officers’ mentalities play a large role in how they react to different situations” (Garimella). Not all officers should be able to have a gun because certain officers may use it for uses other than what it's intended for and do not have strong enough self control to not pull the trigger on impulse taking away an innocent person's life. And if they cannot be deemed stable enough to have a gun they should be analyzed to see if they should even be a part of the police force. While there is a major need for more police officers they need to make sure to spend even more time than they already do training the police officers and truly make sure they fill all of the requirements. This can ultimately save many lives. Citizens can seem to feel threatened by those protecting them and it can be said that, “...public outcry against abuses of power by those carrying guns and charged with ‘serving and protecting’ their fellow citizens is understandable and often justified…” (Wolverton II). The people of these cities are depending on these officers to protect them, their families, and all those around them. Without the proper testing and selection the amount of trust that can be put into these officers is less because some can not handle the amount of responsibility and power that comes along with the deadly weapons they get to carry. The situation may be viewed as media makes police brutality a bigger deal and draws more attention than necessary and that officers are often times just trying to protect themselves. As stared by Mr. Garimella, “...the incidents that have been erupting in the media are isolated, unfortunate examples of police brutality, and that in reality, police relations with racial minorities are dramatized by the media” (Garimella). The amount of drama and attention that the media pays to police brutality only expands upon the problem and makes it worse rather than trying to help solve it. People should be taking action against it rather than just reacting in a negative way. Media gives people an unfair view into police brutality because they only show white cops vs. black males and black cops vs. black males. This unfortunately leads society to think that police brutality is an issue mostly isolated to and related to skin tone. While skin tone does occasionally play a role in the situation there is much more to police brutality then the issue of skin color. While media does pay attention to these situations they only talk about the situations that they have heard about imagine all of the other cases that were never talked about and had light drawn to. Bhargavi Garimella talks about that sometimes there is more that is hidden within the department that the public is not informed about such as the fact that, “Police departments are not required to report cases of abuse at the federal level. Because of this, police brutality could be a much more common problem then we think” (Garimella). Many undiscovered cases that could possibly help people truly see how serious of a problem this is and how often it occurs will never be shared or talked about. Media helps expose people to the world around them and although sometimes it goes too far and causes damage that is usually is not the case and it truly helps provide info to those who otherwise wouldn't know about it. Media just needs to work on showing more of a variety in types of cases so people are not just exposed to a biased view. Police brutality is a very serious issue that needs to be addressed for the good of citizens.
In order to help reduce this issue there needs to be more police oversight and a clearer line drawn for the police officers between protecting themselves and causing harm to the innocent, and more tests and training to determine if the police officers have enough mental stability to be deemed stable enough to posses a gun. If the issue of police brutality is not properly and carefully solved to make people on both sides of the situation content and taken care of there is going to become a massive rift between the citizens and those who are paid to protect the people. People are slowly starting to lose the trust they put in these people. The people of these towns put there lives into the hands of these officers so they need to fill all of the expectations and make sure to keep as many people safe as possible. This issue needs to be taken care of before to much more damage is caused. If society takes too long this issue may ultimately lead a large amount of destruction that could have been prevented. If society can not trust the people that are there to protect us the who should be trusted? The people need to stand up to change the amount of power that the law enforcement holds before it is too
late.
Word Count: 1470
Works Cited
Fox, Lauren. “Is Congress Powerless When it Comes to Combating Police Brutality?.” National Journal Daily AM 28 Apr. 2015: 1. Points of View Reference Center. Web. http://web.b.ebscohost.com/pov/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=26962bc7-dbd7-4684-9695-5d4576502153%40sessionmgr120&hid=118&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU%3d#AN=102342799&db=pwh Accessed 15 Sept. 2016.
Garimella, Bhargavi. “What’s Behind Police Brutality?.” Teen Ink 27.2 (2015): 21. Points of View Reference Center. Web. http://web.b.ebscohost.com/pov/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=26962bc7-dbd7-4684-9695-5d4576502153%40sessionmgr120&hid=118&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU%3d#AN=110234121&db=pwh Accessed 16 Sept. 2016.
SHOR, FRANCIS. “Black Lives Matter.” New Politics 15.3 (2015): 28. Points of View Reference Center. Web. http://web.b.ebscohost.com/pov/detail/detail?vid=8&sid=26962bc7-dbd7-4684-9695-5d4576502153%40sessionmgr120&hid=118&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU%3d#AN=108438566&db=pwh Accessed 16 Sept. 2016.
Wolverton II, Joe. “What About POLICE BRUTALITY?.” New American (08856540) 31.18 (2015): 33. Points of View Reference Center. Web. http://web.b.ebscohost.com/pov/detail/detail?vid=10&sid=26962bc7-dbd7-4684-9695-5d4576502153%40sessionmgr120&hid=118&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU%3d#AN=109517199&db=pwh Accessed 16 Sept. 2016.
many people focusing upon the issue of police brutality they often feel a need to help fix which was all caused by those they depended upon to keep them out of harm's way. Unfortunately, the only help the people try to provide comes in the form of doing more damage and destruction through rioting. Many of the cases the people of society seen have to do with a white officers vs. black suspects or victims. This has caused police brutality to be often times tied into the Black Lives Matter movement (Garimella) (Shor). There needs to be more actions taken towards police in order to help reduce the amount of police brutality and to protect people. There needs to be more police oversight and a clearer line drawn between police officers protecting themselves and causing unneeded harm and more tests and training to determine if the police officers have enough mental stability to be deemed stable enough to posses a gun. To help combat police brutality there needs to be more police oversight and a clearer line drawn for the police officers between protection of themselves or rather just causing unnecessary harm. In a recent article by Mr. Wolverton, he wrote about the case of two women from Colorado that were forced to the ground by police and beaten: “...a video not only didn’t exonerate police accused of beating a citizen, but revealed that their brutality was worse than expected” (Wolverton II). If this video had not been available to reveal the truth, then the truth might not have ever been discovered. There is no way to know for sure but there have probably been many cases where the victim did not get nearly as much of the justice as they deserved. Police officers can make the mistake of misjudging the situation which can ultimately get them into bigger problems. Officer Wilson who was proven guilty for fatally shooting Michael Brown had claimed that: “...if he could buy 30 seconds before other officers arrived, they could ‘make the arrest, nothing happens, and we are all good.’ Wilson thought that he had done as much as he was able to do in that incident” (Garimella). Often police or the other people looking in on the situation see it as officers protecting themselves when in reality there are many other approaches that could be taken to help respect the other person's rights. If the police were truly just protecting themselves there was more then likely a better choice that would have been made in order to keep the people safe. There should be more tests and training to determine if the police officers have enough mental stability to be deemed capable enough to posses a gun and be able to use it. In an effort to help reduce the amount and the severity of police brutality, the author Mr. Garimella stated that, “...police force should be required to take yearly psychological examinations to determine whether they are mentally fit to carry weapons and have the freedom to use them. Officers’ mentalities play a large role in how they react to different situations” (Garimella). Not all officers should be able to have a gun because certain officers may use it for uses other than what it's intended for and do not have strong enough self control to not pull the trigger on impulse taking away an innocent person's life. And if they cannot be deemed stable enough to have a gun they should be analyzed to see if they should even be a part of the police force. While there is a major need for more police officers they need to make sure to spend even more time than they already do training the police officers and truly make sure they fill all of the requirements. This can ultimately save many lives. Citizens can seem to feel threatened by those protecting them and it can be said that, “...public outcry against abuses of power by those carrying guns and charged with ‘serving and protecting’ their fellow citizens is understandable and often justified…” (Wolverton II). The people of these cities are depending on these officers to protect them, their families, and all those around them. Without the proper testing and selection the amount of trust that can be put into these officers is less because some can not handle the amount of responsibility and power that comes along with the deadly weapons they get to carry. The situation may be viewed as media makes police brutality a bigger deal and draws more attention than necessary and that officers are often times just trying to protect themselves. As stared by Mr. Garimella, “...the incidents that have been erupting in the media are isolated, unfortunate examples of police brutality, and that in reality, police relations with racial minorities are dramatized by the media” (Garimella). The amount of drama and attention that the media pays to police brutality only expands upon the problem and makes it worse rather than trying to help solve it. People should be taking action against it rather than just reacting in a negative way. Media gives people an unfair view into police brutality because they only show white cops vs. black males and black cops vs. black males. This unfortunately leads society to think that police brutality is an issue mostly isolated to and related to skin tone. While skin tone does occasionally play a role in the situation there is much more to police brutality then the issue of skin color. While media does pay attention to these situations they only talk about the situations that they have heard about imagine all of the other cases that were never talked about and had light drawn to. Bhargavi Garimella talks about that sometimes there is more that is hidden within the department that the public is not informed about such as the fact that, “Police departments are not required to report cases of abuse at the federal level. Because of this, police brutality could be a much more common problem then we think” (Garimella). Many undiscovered cases that could possibly help people truly see how serious of a problem this is and how often it occurs will never be shared or talked about. Media helps expose people to the world around them and although sometimes it goes too far and causes damage that is usually is not the case and it truly helps provide info to those who otherwise wouldn't know about it. Media just needs to work on showing more of a variety in types of cases so people are not just exposed to a biased view. Police brutality is a very serious issue that needs to be addressed for the good of citizens.
In order to help reduce this issue there needs to be more police oversight and a clearer line drawn for the police officers between protecting themselves and causing harm to the innocent, and more tests and training to determine if the police officers have enough mental stability to be deemed stable enough to posses a gun. If the issue of police brutality is not properly and carefully solved to make people on both sides of the situation content and taken care of there is going to become a massive rift between the citizens and those who are paid to protect the people. People are slowly starting to lose the trust they put in these people. The people of these towns put there lives into the hands of these officers so they need to fill all of the expectations and make sure to keep as many people safe as possible. This issue needs to be taken care of before to much more damage is caused. If society takes too long this issue may ultimately lead a large amount of destruction that could have been prevented. If society can not trust the people that are there to protect us the who should be trusted? The people need to stand up to change the amount of power that the law enforcement holds before it is too
late.
Word Count: 1470
Works Cited
Fox, Lauren. “Is Congress Powerless When it Comes to Combating Police Brutality?.” National Journal Daily AM 28 Apr. 2015: 1. Points of View Reference Center. Web. http://web.b.ebscohost.com/pov/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=26962bc7-dbd7-4684-9695-5d4576502153%40sessionmgr120&hid=118&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU%3d#AN=102342799&db=pwh Accessed 15 Sept. 2016.
Garimella, Bhargavi. “What’s Behind Police Brutality?.” Teen Ink 27.2 (2015): 21. Points of View Reference Center. Web. http://web.b.ebscohost.com/pov/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=26962bc7-dbd7-4684-9695-5d4576502153%40sessionmgr120&hid=118&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU%3d#AN=110234121&db=pwh Accessed 16 Sept. 2016.
SHOR, FRANCIS. “Black Lives Matter.” New Politics 15.3 (2015): 28. Points of View Reference Center. Web. http://web.b.ebscohost.com/pov/detail/detail?vid=8&sid=26962bc7-dbd7-4684-9695-5d4576502153%40sessionmgr120&hid=118&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU%3d#AN=108438566&db=pwh Accessed 16 Sept. 2016.
Wolverton II, Joe. “What About POLICE BRUTALITY?.” New American (08856540) 31.18 (2015): 33. Points of View Reference Center. Web. http://web.b.ebscohost.com/pov/detail/detail?vid=10&sid=26962bc7-dbd7-4684-9695-5d4576502153%40sessionmgr120&hid=118&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU%3d#AN=109517199&db=pwh Accessed 16 Sept. 2016.