Why Do We Need Police Brutality?

Police Brutality underscores the abuse of authority. Officers use strands of unreasonable attitudes of extreme measures when it is not necessary. Over time policemen have acted out in ways that demonstrate their abuse of authority, making this behavior now “familiar to the average citizen” (Geiselman). Unjustified shootings, fatal choking's, severe beating’s and rough treatment have all contributed to the current problem of police brutality in America. The fact of the matter is that most of these incidents go un-reported or un-noticed. Through research, we seek to identify the causes of police brutality, and what we can possibly do to end it.
Police brutality occurs in unnecessary times, constructing it into a serious problem. Police brutality
has become a problem because of the dangerous riots and angry mobs that parents and families have begun to do. Not only that, but also the connection to racism is relevantly evident. As Chaney and Robertson pointed out, “Whites believe that blacks are disproportionately inclined to engage in criminal behavior and are the deserving of harsh treatment by the criminal justice system” (Chaney and Robertson 2). Bonnie on the other hand contrasts with Chaney and Robertson by claiming that racism is not what makes police brutality a serious problem, and that the problem is actually the police officers. Chaney and Robertson’s articles provide insight concerning the problem being the police officers and the way it can be changed by their training on testing communication skills and the way they treat others. Progressive agrees with Bonnie that police officers and their chief’s feel as if they have the authority over everyone and comments, “Probably until the day I die, I will always give police officers the benefit of the doubt” (Progressive). That doubt emerges not only from their actions, but more importantly from their victims.
Subsequently, police brutality is seen to be aimed towards African American’s and several other races other than Americans. In “seven reasons Police brutality is systemic, not anecdotal”. Kristian states, “When police officers act on their racist assumptions, it is frequently poor black people who are their victims”(Kristian 1). In the article “Police brutality must end,” Progressive’s argument coincides with that of Kristian’s by explaining, “Nearly all victims in the case of deaths in custody and police shootings reviewed by amnesty international were from racial minorities-particularly African American. Latinos and Asians” (Progressive 4). Not only are the two articles agreeing on racism being the cause of police brutality, but also Chaney and Robertson reconcile that police brutality is aimed towards African Americans because of their skin color. According to Chaney, Black males are viewed as the “prototypical criminal”, which causes others to attack and assume black’s to be guilty (Chaney and Robertson).
The cause of police brutality could possibly be the fact that there are several racist people in the world. Because of racism Chaney and Robertson concluded that, “Blacks are more likely to be the victims of police brutality” (Chaney and Robertson). However, other than racism, there are other reasons that contribute to police’s justifying actions. For example, as Progressive expressed police feeling overpowered has lead to them seeing the allusive “message that it is okay to rough people up- especially people of color” Also that “Officers are abusing their authority in the most flagrant ways” (Progressive 3). Officers with bad tempers and disrespectful manners should be changed or removed from the situation by being replaced with new and improved officers.
Furthermore, there are several techniques to prevent police brutality from occurring.
For instance, both Bonnie and Progressive acknowledge that departments do not provide the proper training. Providing officers with the proper training may improve the disapproving view people are beginning to have on police officers and decrease the number of people being killed. Bonnie believes “Many departments don’t provide adequate training in nonviolent solutions” (Bonnie 13). Officers’ attitudes affect the situations because of the way they handle them. Progressive agrees with Bonnie by emphasizing “Many of the people allegedly kicked and beaten by police were not criminals just people who simply had questioned police authority or had minor disagreements with officer” (Progressive 19). Bender, Chaney, and Robertson insist, “Racism causes police brutality,” which means that by stopping racism all problems could stop also (Bender 42) (Chaney and Robertson). If officers were to stop suggesting that black people are criminal’s police brutality could be resolved. “Authors suggest that since black people in general, and black males in particular, are caricatured as aggressively may, to some extent be influenced by race” (Progressive 15). On the other hand another way police brutality could be prevented from “What has changed about police brutality in America, From Rodney King to Michael Brown” Is getting help from other officers and hiring new chiefs the LAPD realized they could not make
changes alone. The LAPD wanted to make “changes to police training, stronger mechanisms for complaints against officers, and improved supervision”(ThinkProgress). Bender in “Policing the police” also agrees “A police corps will reduce crime rates and improve police-community relations” (Bender). Agreeing with both of these articles, if having the proper equipment improves the training of police officers then it is necessary.
Although racism could be the problem in most cases, in this situation it isn’t because individual police officers are consciously racist or think black lives don’t matter. Officers tend to believe they are above the law, because they perform the way they are trained to perform. It is significant is for officers to posses the proper training so they can handle and settle situations properly. Geiselman claimed, "Cleveland police officers are not given the basic equipment, the physical structures, and the technology required to perform their jobs safely and effectively." Geiselman also states the reason officers are lacking their job is because of the necessity of the right equipment in which they do no have. His approach to the topic is unique in that he is addressing the problem of the lack of training by analyzing the officer’s that do not have the basic equipment. Geiselman takes into consideration that these officers need the equipment to do their job. Officer’s having a lack of training is disturbing given the fact that there are situation in which these officers do not know how to react to or handle. In addition, extending class-training hours would be beneficial for more officers to attain the full learning experience. In “Cleveland police lack training and technology, Justice Department finds”, Geiselman professes, “the lack of training has dangerous results” agreeing that without the proper training in dangerous situations not only citizens but the officer’s life as well could be in danger (Geiselman). When officers are not properly trained they tend to pull out guns too often. Geiselman implied, “sometimes accidentally” displaying that he agrees guns do not need to be fired or used in unnecessary situations, but are meant to be handled cautiously (Geiselman).
In addition to the lack of training, it is also found that it causes animal cruelty to occur as well.
According to the “Animal legal defense fund”, “Sometimes dogs are killed because they appear to be of a dangerous breed” (Animal Legal Defense fund). “Animal Legal Defense fund” also stated, “If your dog is perceived as a dangerous breed, such as a Pit Bull or Rottweiler, the risk factor to officers and your dog increases exponentially” (Animal legal Defense fund). Although there is an agreement with both quotes, the fact that dog’s are stereotyped as “dangerous” based on their breed is wrong (Animal Legal defense fund). An example of animal cruelty was found in “Family pets: Victims of police Brutality?” by Chandler. A dog with the name of “Cisco” was shot and beaten to death in front of his owner. This officer had an insufficient amount of training; therefore, beat the wrong dog and “the officer had the wrong house” (Chandler). However, Chandler pointed out, “But Paxton isn’t the first dog owner whose pet has been shot to death by police. A search of news articles from the past year shows more than 100 separate incidents” this evidence clearly shows officers are abusing innocent animals for no sufficient reason because of their mistakes (Chandler). Chandler stated “An officer untrained in recognizing a dog’s body language, for example, could easily mistake a bounding dog from a charging one, a nervous dog from an angry one, or an aggressive dog from one that’s merely
territorial” (Chandler). As spoke about before this news article also agrees with the fact that officer’s who are not well trained do not know how to handle dangerous situations or recognize a “dogs body language” (Chandler). Chandler’s response to animal cruelty is interesting reason being that she also believes if police officers were to be trained properly or held accountable for their actions animal cruelty could be prevented. However, that is not the only thing that could be prevented, but as well as all the other problems police officers seem to be creating.
In conclusion, from what has been acquired over the past weeks of looking at the different animal cruelty and police brutality articles there is a handful of disgraceful people in this world.
As a result of this research, it has come to the understanding that police brutality is an issue that has greatly impacted the African American community. To prevent the chaos of riots and charges, police officers need better training on what to do in a situation that involves a knife, a gun or a suspect who is not obeying them. Advanced training for officers could teach them not to be biased towards African Americans. Officers also need to build a relationship with the community and prevent themselves from tearing it apart. Police officers should also be held accountable for their actions just as any other person in the country for committing a murder and shooting a person or an animal.
Summarily, Police Brutality has become to be a big issue in many cities. A strand of repeated behavior in which police take advantage of their power is found. Not only can
Police brutality be towards people, but also towards animals. Knowing animals and people are physically and verbally abused every single day is heart breaking. Luckily, the lack of training, police brutality, racism and animal cruelty could all be changed. Police brutality has narrowed down the problem of racism and the lack of training for officers. This problem was proven to be controllable and preventable. A possible solution for better officers could manifest in new officers with proper training, technology and acceptable manners that could help the way simple problems spiral out of control.