Police Brutality Research Paper

Police Brutality: America’s largest problem

Police brutality is a very important issue that the American people need to deal with. Police brutality is now a really popular topic, because of cellular devices and other video recording devices. Without those devices police brutality would continue to be swept under the media's rug. America needs to come together as one and make the United States a safer environment for all of its citizens. Police brutality can be prevented and handled by the judicial system. Making new stipulations for the Police department all across the country, such as forcing police officers to take a sensitivity course, requiring officers to wear cameras on themselves when on duty, and having officers take therapy sessions
every six months to check on the mental stability of the officers. Police brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer (the law dictionary).
That means that the people who are supposed to keep the city safe are harming the very people they are supposed to protect. Those very people now are hesitant and wary of their police forces. They are afraid to call their police officers to come help because they are frightened of being hurt. Law enforcement officers that are taken to court for committing a murder is less than one percent. Forty three percent of police officers say that always following the rules is not going to get the job done (Copcrisis). Another fifty two percent say they would turn a blind eye to another police officers misconduct (Copcrisis). If the police officers are taking up for their peers when they will do what is right. The very people who are sworn into protecting the common people are saying they would turn a
Johnson
2 blind eye to each other's misconduct. May that misconduct be the killing of another young black or a beating? Police brutality has been around since the earliest days of America. An example being when freed slaves were walking down a sidewalk police officers could ask for identification at any time and if that black man did not have his papers he went to jail. Jail was like another word for slavery those men worked on roads and other things of that nature with no pay. Another example is the Civil Rights Movement. The law enforcement beat, gassed, and sometimes killed Civil Right Activists. The most famous incident is Bloody Sunday. Police officers battered and pummeled the marchers from the Edmund Pettus Bridge to their church and homes. Many were wounded on this horrific day and still have scars to prove their fight. Today there are still many cases of police brutality.
Take the case of Freddie Gray who was a black man who was fatally wounded in police custody. Gray while in police custody asked for medical attention many times. The police officers ignored him and strapped him up in the back of a police van. Later that day an ambulance is required at the police department about an unconscious man. Gray arrived at the hospital and was diagnosed with shock trauma after he suffered with broken vertebrae. Gray stayed in the hospital for a week until he passed away from his wounds. Another example case is the case of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager who was shot down in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown was stopped by Officer Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson Police officer. Several reports say Brown was shot with his hand up in surrender. Officer Wilson shot Mr. Brown ten plus times in what he says were self-defense. This police officer who's had training is afraid for his life by an eighteen year old teenager. That is not believable that police officers are so called trained professionals but are trigger happy when they are faced with an unarmed black
teenager. It seems as if police brutality gets worse and worse every year. The news and social media are always addressing the issue and quite frankly the situation occurs more. The fact that the severe case of police brutality keeps happening is sign that justice is not in sight. It also shows
Johnson 3
The lack of responsibility the government and law enforcement have on dealing with police brutality. Police brutality could be prevented in multiple ways. Also an example of a well-known story of police brutality was the beating of Rodney King in 1991. In the year of 1991 a video wondered across the media of and about the beating of Rodney King. Rodney King was chase by L.A.P.D. officers for approximately an 8 mile high speed chase. King and his two friends were surrounded and ordered to stop out of the vehicle and lie face down on the ground. (Criminal Justice Degrees Guide) Through all that happen King was brutally beaten and it was caught on video which caused it to go viral. With the beating caught on video it was good because it was something that opened up the public’s eyes so they could see what was going on and It made the case a big deal. If it was not recorded there is a possibility that this case of police brutality would not have been a part of history and justice possibly would not have been served.