Essay On Police Violence

Literature Review

Police Violence (Definition)

Police violence towards african-americans is a major problem. Also referred to as police brutality, it is a misconduct by members of the police community towards a civilian. More specifically, it is “the use of excessive and unnecessary force by a police officer” (LegalDictionary 2017). There are many ways in which police brutality can happen. Physical abuse where an individual is thrown to the ground, pointed with a gun to be intimidated, hitten with a batter or sprayed with pepper spray are ways in which physical abuse from police can take place. Verbal and mental abuse is also included, as well as racial profiling, and false arrests.

History and African-Americans

Through decades, it has been highly known that the major victims of police violence and brutality are African-Americans. “In the United States, violence directed at people of color is as old as the country itself,” as it says in the article “Killing Fields: Explaining Police Violence against Persons of Color”, (Jones, 2017, pg. 872). Hundreds of innocent blacks have been killed and injured by police officers, both intentionally and unintentionally. Because they are minorities, African-Americans have the disadvantage of being easily

Dukes and Gaither (2017) explain the term used for such actions which is referred to as “shooter bias,” which basically refers to that people are more likely to make shooting mistakes consistent with Black racial stereotypes. Racial bias continues to surround the communities around the world. Jones (2017) explains in his article how a “White shooter that kills a Black victim is 350% more likely to be found to be justified in their actions than with a White victim” (pg. 876).

Dukes and Gaither (2017) also go on to say that even when minorities are depicted as victims, they are still dehumanized and