Essay On Police Militarization
For years, the police force has been jeopardizing the rights of human beings while receiving no repercussions. The government’s and the police’s tolerance to reoccurring acts of horror continues to occur, causing police brutality to be one of the most serious human rights abuses in the United States today. Standards for what constitutes brutality vary widely, though, two major international human rights treaties, to which the United States is a party, explicitly prohibit police abuse. The International Covenant on Civil and Political rights and the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, protect the right of life and prohibit torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment (Collins 9). The
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legal test for excessive use of force, according to a 1989 Supreme Court ruling, is whether the police officer reasonably believed that the force he or she used was necessary to accomplish a legitimate goal. However, the universal definitions of “reasonably” and “necessary” vary, and court standards for both shift rapidly.
The government’s lack of vigor for solving cases of police abuse is an unsolved problem. For example, special law enforcement “bill of rights”, passed by the government, protect police officers accused of human rights violations or other misconduct by providing specific protections for the officers (Collins 5). Additionally, Less than one percent of the complaints made to the Justice Department claiming civil rights violations by law enforcement officials lead to the filing of charges by federal prosecutors (Collins 118). Even Brown and Garner grand juries, who will famously indict anyone, nearly never do so when a police officer is before them (Lithwick). In New Jersey, ninety-nine percent of police brutality complaints are never investigated even though civilians convict one out of every three officers nationwide. In Chicago, civilians filed ten thousand abuse complaints filed against the Chicago Police Department between 2002 and 2004, and just nineteen of them resulted in “meaningful disciplinary action” (Kristian). Overall, the government’s effort put forth to change preexisting laws is minimal and trifling. Ethnicity contributes majorly to day-to-day police cruelty. The ICCPR states, “each State party to the present Covenant undertakes respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction that right recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political, or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status” (Collins 111). Article 26 emphasizes “all persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law” (Collins 112). Not only the police force but also the government ignores preset statutes when police abuse, regarding predominately race, arises. Each new incident concerning police mistreatment of an African-American, Hispanic American, or other minority, reinforces a general belief that the police force is harsh and subjects certain people to particularly harsh treatment and racial bias (Collins 39). Mistrust between the police force and minority groups continues to occur and failure to address the racial barrier verbalizes to people that minorities are a safe target for police abuse (Kristian).
The code of silence contributes to the continuance of police abuse. The code of silence is when the officer does not provide argumentative information against a fellow officer (Collins 68). Repercussions for breaking the code of silence include ostracism, threats, and the fear that officers will not protect an officer who breaks the code in the future (Collins 69). Even when police departments try to hold officers who commit abuses accountable, many avoid dismissal or severe disciplinary sanctions because higher-ranking official provide officers with many opportunities to fight punishments (Collins 5). In cities like Philadelphia or New Orleans where police abuse and corruption are rampant, the code of silence is not limited to the street officers who witness abuses and fail to report them, or whose life when asked about the incidents (Collins 71). The code of silence gives immunity to abusive officers, making the persecution of an officer unlikely. Internal police corruption plays a significant role in penalties for police abuse. Corruption such as the code of silence and the blue wall of silence prevent officers from calling out their peers. Under Section 1983, a victim of police abuse may not win a damage award following a judgment against a police department unless the victim can prove that a municipal policy or custom caused the injury (Collins 118). However, police officers are able to gain immunity from Section 1983 liability unless they can verify that their conduct violated the ”clearly established” statutory or constitutional norms of which a reasonable person would have known (Collins 120). It is very difficult for a person to successfully accuse a police officer of abuse.
The increased militarization of police is creating a growing problem with incidents of abuse.
The militarization of the police has taken place amid a striking upsurge of protests over police brutality and, in particular, the endless killing of young black men (Engelhardt). The government is equipping local police with weapons powerful enough to conquer a small country and the use of armed SWAT team’s use of these weapons rose by fifteen thousand percent in the last two decades (Kristian). Christian Science Monitor reports that the United States police officers shoot approximately one thousand citizens per year in the line of duty and unjustifiable shootings make up about forty percent (Lithwick). The U.N. Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials specifies standards on recruitment, training, and the use of force. The statute calls for proportionality in the amount of force used when required, and for governments to ensure that “arbitrary or abusive use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials are punished as a criminal offence under their law” (Collins 9). Ultimately, no radical need for such powerful weapons has developed to justify the militaristic tendencies of the police
force.
Officials wrongly and consistently overlook problem officers that have significant records of abuse. Rogue or problem officers account for a large percentage of abuse complains and civil lawsuits. Internal affairs divisions, however, generally fail to track problem officers of utilize early warning systems to identify those officers who are the subject of repeated complaints and civil lawsuits. Police experts suggest that problem officers should receive special monitoring, training and counseling to counter the heightened risk of their involvment in some future incident of misconduct of brutality. Human Rights Watch is presenting these cases not to accuse any particular officer of an abuse, but rather to describe the barriers that exist to addressing such allegations meaningfully (Collins 27). Nonetheless, officials recognize that police officers make mistakes when they are under pressure. Prosecutors consider many reasons to pursue a case against an ostensibly violent police officer: reasons that they consider corrupt. One reason discerns the traditionally close relationship between district and county attorneys and police officers that usually work together to prosecute other alleged criminals. Another reason incorporates the difficulties in convincing grand juries and trial juries that the police officer did not merely make an understandable mistake, but committed a crime. Moreover, special proceedings provide additional protections for police officers committing criminal behavior (Collins 86). Lastly, the lack of information about cases and police incompetence contributes to the reasons that prosecutors may choose not to pursue a case against a police officer. Since criminal prosecution of officers is difficult, human rights standards have not succeeded in improving. While police abuse is one of the most serious human rights infractions in the United States, the government continues to ignore other, just a serious, human rights violations. “Enhanced interrogation” techniques are a synonym for the U.S. government’s torture of prisoners. “Enhanced interrogation” failed to provide unique of actionable information, and that the CIA systematically misled the White House, Congress, and public about torture methods (Lithwick). These torture methods include but are not limited to rectal feeding, waterboarding, confinement in small spaces, and shackling in stress positions (Lithwick). Another current human rights violation concerns the government depriving women the right of being able to receive an abortion. One in ten abortion clinics have shut or stopped providing the procedure since 2011 and some states, such as South Dakota and Wyoming, only have one clinic in operation (Lithwick). The U.S. government is continually turning a blind eye to human rights injustice; injustice the government and police force are causing although not fixing. Police abuse is a rampant and growing problem in the United States. Internal corruption, race, and the law make reforming and moving the police in a positive direction difficult. Until the government amends laws that change police accountability for infractions, police abuse will continue to be one of the greatest human rights abuses in the United States today.
legal test for excessive use of force, according to a 1989 Supreme Court ruling, is whether the police officer reasonably believed that the force he or she used was necessary to accomplish a legitimate goal. However, the universal definitions of “reasonably” and “necessary” vary, and court standards for both shift rapidly.
The government’s lack of vigor for solving cases of police abuse is an unsolved problem. For example, special law enforcement “bill of rights”, passed by the government, protect police officers accused of human rights violations or other misconduct by providing specific protections for the officers (Collins 5). Additionally, Less than one percent of the complaints made to the Justice Department claiming civil rights violations by law enforcement officials lead to the filing of charges by federal prosecutors (Collins 118). Even Brown and Garner grand juries, who will famously indict anyone, nearly never do so when a police officer is before them (Lithwick). In New Jersey, ninety-nine percent of police brutality complaints are never investigated even though civilians convict one out of every three officers nationwide. In Chicago, civilians filed ten thousand abuse complaints filed against the Chicago Police Department between 2002 and 2004, and just nineteen of them resulted in “meaningful disciplinary action” (Kristian). Overall, the government’s effort put forth to change preexisting laws is minimal and trifling. Ethnicity contributes majorly to day-to-day police cruelty. The ICCPR states, “each State party to the present Covenant undertakes respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction that right recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political, or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status” (Collins 111). Article 26 emphasizes “all persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law” (Collins 112). Not only the police force but also the government ignores preset statutes when police abuse, regarding predominately race, arises. Each new incident concerning police mistreatment of an African-American, Hispanic American, or other minority, reinforces a general belief that the police force is harsh and subjects certain people to particularly harsh treatment and racial bias (Collins 39). Mistrust between the police force and minority groups continues to occur and failure to address the racial barrier verbalizes to people that minorities are a safe target for police abuse (Kristian).
The code of silence contributes to the continuance of police abuse. The code of silence is when the officer does not provide argumentative information against a fellow officer (Collins 68). Repercussions for breaking the code of silence include ostracism, threats, and the fear that officers will not protect an officer who breaks the code in the future (Collins 69). Even when police departments try to hold officers who commit abuses accountable, many avoid dismissal or severe disciplinary sanctions because higher-ranking official provide officers with many opportunities to fight punishments (Collins 5). In cities like Philadelphia or New Orleans where police abuse and corruption are rampant, the code of silence is not limited to the street officers who witness abuses and fail to report them, or whose life when asked about the incidents (Collins 71). The code of silence gives immunity to abusive officers, making the persecution of an officer unlikely. Internal police corruption plays a significant role in penalties for police abuse. Corruption such as the code of silence and the blue wall of silence prevent officers from calling out their peers. Under Section 1983, a victim of police abuse may not win a damage award following a judgment against a police department unless the victim can prove that a municipal policy or custom caused the injury (Collins 118). However, police officers are able to gain immunity from Section 1983 liability unless they can verify that their conduct violated the ”clearly established” statutory or constitutional norms of which a reasonable person would have known (Collins 120). It is very difficult for a person to successfully accuse a police officer of abuse.
The increased militarization of police is creating a growing problem with incidents of abuse.
The militarization of the police has taken place amid a striking upsurge of protests over police brutality and, in particular, the endless killing of young black men (Engelhardt). The government is equipping local police with weapons powerful enough to conquer a small country and the use of armed SWAT team’s use of these weapons rose by fifteen thousand percent in the last two decades (Kristian). Christian Science Monitor reports that the United States police officers shoot approximately one thousand citizens per year in the line of duty and unjustifiable shootings make up about forty percent (Lithwick). The U.N. Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials specifies standards on recruitment, training, and the use of force. The statute calls for proportionality in the amount of force used when required, and for governments to ensure that “arbitrary or abusive use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials are punished as a criminal offence under their law” (Collins 9). Ultimately, no radical need for such powerful weapons has developed to justify the militaristic tendencies of the police
force.
Officials wrongly and consistently overlook problem officers that have significant records of abuse. Rogue or problem officers account for a large percentage of abuse complains and civil lawsuits. Internal affairs divisions, however, generally fail to track problem officers of utilize early warning systems to identify those officers who are the subject of repeated complaints and civil lawsuits. Police experts suggest that problem officers should receive special monitoring, training and counseling to counter the heightened risk of their involvment in some future incident of misconduct of brutality. Human Rights Watch is presenting these cases not to accuse any particular officer of an abuse, but rather to describe the barriers that exist to addressing such allegations meaningfully (Collins 27). Nonetheless, officials recognize that police officers make mistakes when they are under pressure. Prosecutors consider many reasons to pursue a case against an ostensibly violent police officer: reasons that they consider corrupt. One reason discerns the traditionally close relationship between district and county attorneys and police officers that usually work together to prosecute other alleged criminals. Another reason incorporates the difficulties in convincing grand juries and trial juries that the police officer did not merely make an understandable mistake, but committed a crime. Moreover, special proceedings provide additional protections for police officers committing criminal behavior (Collins 86). Lastly, the lack of information about cases and police incompetence contributes to the reasons that prosecutors may choose not to pursue a case against a police officer. Since criminal prosecution of officers is difficult, human rights standards have not succeeded in improving. While police abuse is one of the most serious human rights infractions in the United States, the government continues to ignore other, just a serious, human rights violations. “Enhanced interrogation” techniques are a synonym for the U.S. government’s torture of prisoners. “Enhanced interrogation” failed to provide unique of actionable information, and that the CIA systematically misled the White House, Congress, and public about torture methods (Lithwick). These torture methods include but are not limited to rectal feeding, waterboarding, confinement in small spaces, and shackling in stress positions (Lithwick). Another current human rights violation concerns the government depriving women the right of being able to receive an abortion. One in ten abortion clinics have shut or stopped providing the procedure since 2011 and some states, such as South Dakota and Wyoming, only have one clinic in operation (Lithwick). The U.S. government is continually turning a blind eye to human rights injustice; injustice the government and police force are causing although not fixing. Police abuse is a rampant and growing problem in the United States. Internal corruption, race, and the law make reforming and moving the police in a positive direction difficult. Until the government amends laws that change police accountability for infractions, police abuse will continue to be one of the greatest human rights abuses in the United States today.