Radley Balko Case Study
Criminal Justice Organizational Trends In the “Radley Balko on the 3 Worst Cases of Police Abuse in 2011” video there were three cases of communication and unethical decisions made by police officers. All three cases were different, but two suspects in the video were shot fatally by police. The first video that was shown was a Utah SWAT team. The officers were seeking the roommate who was pulled over by the police earlier in the day. The officers received a tip that there was an extreme large amount of drugs in the home, so a raid was commenced. When the police entered the home, the roommate came out of the back of the home, who thought the home was being burglarized and charged the
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officers with a golf club. Before the roommate could come out if the hallway, the officers fatally shot the roommate.
The second video was a Seattle police officer seeing a man on the street who had a knife in his pocket or hand. The man was carrying a knife that was well below state regulations to carry a knife of that size in public. The video did not say whether the knife was in plain sight, on a belt with a holder, or in the suspect’s hand. Once the gentleman crossed the street, the officer pulled over and approached the suspect and requested that they man put the gun down. The officer’s police camera was not at an angle where the following incident took place. After the officer requested that the suspect put his gun down, shots were fired almost immediately. On the audio portion of the camera, in the distance as women yells at the police officer asking why he shot the man, he was not doing anything wrong. The officer responds to the women and states that he asked that the man put down the knife and he did not comply.
The third case in this video series was a Michigan police officer who had received an anonymous tip that drugs were being sold out of the house. The guy how owned the house was a local heavy metal singer, who had a recording studio in the house. At the time of the police entry the suspect was recording some music for the band. It turns out that there was personal use marijuana was in the home, but once the police officers saw the expensive and impressive music equipment, the officers had a different plan. One of the officers started playing and singing on the microphone, not realizing he was being recorded and proceeds speak with his partner about taking what equipment they wanted to take through asset forfeiture.
None of the officer’s actions or their use of power was justified in these three cases.
The Utah police shot a young man who had a golf club and thought his home was being burglarized. Although, the suspect could have been on drugs during the raid, the officers had the discretion to talk the gentleman down or to use force. In the video, it clearly shows that before the roommate could get out of the hallway, shots were fired. You can clearly see that the roommate did not have a gun, but that he had a golf club in his hand. In this case the police could have shot the man with a taser gun instead of a gun, or if they had fear of weapons used, they could have shot the man in a non fatal area. The second video shows the officer shooting someone who had a knife. The suspect was asked by police to put down his knife and within seconds the man was fatally shot. The officer could have given the man more time to drop his knife, no matter the area of where the man had the knife on him. Although the police camera did not record the visual aspect of the confrontation between the man and the officer, the officer decision cost a man of his life. In the recording the officer was asked by a woman who was near the scene why did he shoot the man. The officer responded and stated that he did not put the knife down as requested. The officer was cleared of any charges in this case. The officer could have given more time for the man to put the knife down or tased the man, or used pepper spray to ensure officer safety. The last video, although had no fatalities, showed that they officers were unethical in their decision making. The last video records officers joking and singing in a suspect’s musical equipment, after they enter the home believing drugs were sold out of the home. The homeowner did have personal use marijuana in the home not and enough to sell as mass distribution. After the officers realized that the musical equipment was expensive and exceptional the officers started
speaking to each other about taking the equipment for assets forfeiture or confiscation. There was no need for officers to take the equipment, except for personal gain.
The culture of leadership in each of these agencies could have affected the officer’s decisions to use excessive use of force or to exercise unethical decision making. Law enforcement agencies reflect the ethics of the leaders who run them. This can extend to the Chief of Police to the person in the mail room at a prison. If the leaders are corrupt, there is no room for true leadership, morals, values, and the mission of any particular agency gets tossed out of the window. It is becomes hard to be a good cop or employee when your superiors, partner, and coworkers are corrupt or making daily unethical decisions. Peer pressure can affect any one and depending on the situation and how much one is seeking comradely from fellow co-workers, it becomes a life changing decision. Although crime and corruption is everywhere, the two major metropolitan areas that receive the most media coverage on corruption and unethical officers are Los Angeles and New York Police Department. The famous case of police brutality in Los Angeles is the Rodney King beating in 1991. Rodney King, who was pulled over for suspicious driving was beaten brutally by many LAPD officers (Dunphy, 2010). Sergeant Stacey Koon, who was one of the arresting officers that day, although Koon had an impressive track record in the past, he did not make positive headlines during the trail (Dunphy, 2010). Koon was almost proud of what had taken place during trail and presented himself as a racist. This was something that did not show a positive reflect on the department, seeing that he was known as a leader.
References
Jack Dunphy, Los Angeles Police Protective League (2010) Controversy over Rodney King beating and L.A. riots reignites Retrieved from http://lapd.com/news/headlines/controversy_over_rodney_king_beating_and_la_riots_reignites/
officers with a golf club. Before the roommate could come out if the hallway, the officers fatally shot the roommate.
The second video was a Seattle police officer seeing a man on the street who had a knife in his pocket or hand. The man was carrying a knife that was well below state regulations to carry a knife of that size in public. The video did not say whether the knife was in plain sight, on a belt with a holder, or in the suspect’s hand. Once the gentleman crossed the street, the officer pulled over and approached the suspect and requested that they man put the gun down. The officer’s police camera was not at an angle where the following incident took place. After the officer requested that the suspect put his gun down, shots were fired almost immediately. On the audio portion of the camera, in the distance as women yells at the police officer asking why he shot the man, he was not doing anything wrong. The officer responds to the women and states that he asked that the man put down the knife and he did not comply.
The third case in this video series was a Michigan police officer who had received an anonymous tip that drugs were being sold out of the house. The guy how owned the house was a local heavy metal singer, who had a recording studio in the house. At the time of the police entry the suspect was recording some music for the band. It turns out that there was personal use marijuana was in the home, but once the police officers saw the expensive and impressive music equipment, the officers had a different plan. One of the officers started playing and singing on the microphone, not realizing he was being recorded and proceeds speak with his partner about taking what equipment they wanted to take through asset forfeiture.
None of the officer’s actions or their use of power was justified in these three cases.
The Utah police shot a young man who had a golf club and thought his home was being burglarized. Although, the suspect could have been on drugs during the raid, the officers had the discretion to talk the gentleman down or to use force. In the video, it clearly shows that before the roommate could get out of the hallway, shots were fired. You can clearly see that the roommate did not have a gun, but that he had a golf club in his hand. In this case the police could have shot the man with a taser gun instead of a gun, or if they had fear of weapons used, they could have shot the man in a non fatal area. The second video shows the officer shooting someone who had a knife. The suspect was asked by police to put down his knife and within seconds the man was fatally shot. The officer could have given the man more time to drop his knife, no matter the area of where the man had the knife on him. Although the police camera did not record the visual aspect of the confrontation between the man and the officer, the officer decision cost a man of his life. In the recording the officer was asked by a woman who was near the scene why did he shoot the man. The officer responded and stated that he did not put the knife down as requested. The officer was cleared of any charges in this case. The officer could have given more time for the man to put the knife down or tased the man, or used pepper spray to ensure officer safety. The last video, although had no fatalities, showed that they officers were unethical in their decision making. The last video records officers joking and singing in a suspect’s musical equipment, after they enter the home believing drugs were sold out of the home. The homeowner did have personal use marijuana in the home not and enough to sell as mass distribution. After the officers realized that the musical equipment was expensive and exceptional the officers started
speaking to each other about taking the equipment for assets forfeiture or confiscation. There was no need for officers to take the equipment, except for personal gain.
The culture of leadership in each of these agencies could have affected the officer’s decisions to use excessive use of force or to exercise unethical decision making. Law enforcement agencies reflect the ethics of the leaders who run them. This can extend to the Chief of Police to the person in the mail room at a prison. If the leaders are corrupt, there is no room for true leadership, morals, values, and the mission of any particular agency gets tossed out of the window. It is becomes hard to be a good cop or employee when your superiors, partner, and coworkers are corrupt or making daily unethical decisions. Peer pressure can affect any one and depending on the situation and how much one is seeking comradely from fellow co-workers, it becomes a life changing decision. Although crime and corruption is everywhere, the two major metropolitan areas that receive the most media coverage on corruption and unethical officers are Los Angeles and New York Police Department. The famous case of police brutality in Los Angeles is the Rodney King beating in 1991. Rodney King, who was pulled over for suspicious driving was beaten brutally by many LAPD officers (Dunphy, 2010). Sergeant Stacey Koon, who was one of the arresting officers that day, although Koon had an impressive track record in the past, he did not make positive headlines during the trail (Dunphy, 2010). Koon was almost proud of what had taken place during trail and presented himself as a racist. This was something that did not show a positive reflect on the department, seeing that he was known as a leader.
References
Jack Dunphy, Los Angeles Police Protective League (2010) Controversy over Rodney King beating and L.A. riots reignites Retrieved from http://lapd.com/news/headlines/controversy_over_rodney_king_beating_and_la_riots_reignites/