What Has Changed About Police Brutality: From Rodney King To Michael Brown
Nancy Tang
Professor Spitzer
Political Science 100
20 November 2015
Police Brutality on Individuals Recently, we have seen police brutality occur in our community more and more. We see even see it happening to a lower minority in our community. What exactly is causing such brutality? With the police taking advantage of their power, it is negatively affecting the community and individuals around the world. We all hear news about police brutality over the news or over social media. According to an article, “What Has Changed About Police Brutality in America, From Rodney King to Michael Brown by Flatow, is about a man, Rodney King, who was attacked by five officers with batons “more than 50 times” (Flatow). What were the officers’ consequences? …show more content…
It is safe to say that he is not the only black man to get treated poorly. In the Bureau of Justice Statistics, it has stated that blacks have more of a negative experience with the police. Sure whites and Hispanics get treated negatively also, but not as much as the blacks. According the Bureau of Justice Statistics, “data collections from 2002-11, blacks (3.5%) were more likely to experience nonfatal force during their most recent contact with police than whites (1.4%) and Hispanics (2.1%)” (Davis). Those who had contact with police had at least two or more types of force or blows against them. Not only that but blacks had a higher chance of being stopped in the streets through suspicion. Those who have experienced being stopped by the police, most of the time, the police himself was not behaving properly (Davis). From these statistics, we can tell that the police himself sometimes cause these incidents of brutality. No one triggers such aggression; it’s the just cop himself that decides to be aggressive. Because of such high authority he believes he has the right to be …show more content…
If a criminal is trying to run away, of course the cop is going to have to be rough in order to capture the criminal. According to the National Institute of Justice, “If officers communicate well, listen and treat citizens with respect, citizens will respond in kind.” It all depends on the first impression on both sides, the officer and the respondent. It’s most likely that if one person is behaving abnormally, the other is going to respond in a non-respectful way because if one person is not going to give respect then why should the other person give respect back. Media is also portraying police in a negative way that could make individuals see them differently. “Frequent exposure to media reports of police abuse or corruption is a strong predictor of perceptions of misconduct and supports the belief that it is common” which leads to having the community think of what is the point of being positive with the officer when they’re going to get nothing but assumptions and violence. (National Institute of
Professor Spitzer
Political Science 100
20 November 2015
Police Brutality on Individuals Recently, we have seen police brutality occur in our community more and more. We see even see it happening to a lower minority in our community. What exactly is causing such brutality? With the police taking advantage of their power, it is negatively affecting the community and individuals around the world. We all hear news about police brutality over the news or over social media. According to an article, “What Has Changed About Police Brutality in America, From Rodney King to Michael Brown by Flatow, is about a man, Rodney King, who was attacked by five officers with batons “more than 50 times” (Flatow). What were the officers’ consequences? …show more content…
It is safe to say that he is not the only black man to get treated poorly. In the Bureau of Justice Statistics, it has stated that blacks have more of a negative experience with the police. Sure whites and Hispanics get treated negatively also, but not as much as the blacks. According the Bureau of Justice Statistics, “data collections from 2002-11, blacks (3.5%) were more likely to experience nonfatal force during their most recent contact with police than whites (1.4%) and Hispanics (2.1%)” (Davis). Those who had contact with police had at least two or more types of force or blows against them. Not only that but blacks had a higher chance of being stopped in the streets through suspicion. Those who have experienced being stopped by the police, most of the time, the police himself was not behaving properly (Davis). From these statistics, we can tell that the police himself sometimes cause these incidents of brutality. No one triggers such aggression; it’s the just cop himself that decides to be aggressive. Because of such high authority he believes he has the right to be …show more content…
If a criminal is trying to run away, of course the cop is going to have to be rough in order to capture the criminal. According to the National Institute of Justice, “If officers communicate well, listen and treat citizens with respect, citizens will respond in kind.” It all depends on the first impression on both sides, the officer and the respondent. It’s most likely that if one person is behaving abnormally, the other is going to respond in a non-respectful way because if one person is not going to give respect then why should the other person give respect back. Media is also portraying police in a negative way that could make individuals see them differently. “Frequent exposure to media reports of police abuse or corruption is a strong predictor of perceptions of misconduct and supports the belief that it is common” which leads to having the community think of what is the point of being positive with the officer when they’re going to get nothing but assumptions and violence. (National Institute of