Police Brutality and Injustice in America

Blue Betrayal “See these fists? They’re getting ready to fuck you up,” said Officer Ramos, before he and two other officers began to mercilessly beat a mentally-ill man at a transit station (“Full Un-edited”). Kelly Thomas was a schizophrenic homeless-man who was beaten by 3 police officers in Fullerton, Calif. He died in the hospital 5 days later due to the inflicted injuries (Salazar). None of the officers involved were found guilty of any wrong doing. In America today, use of force, police brutality, and night-time home raids are on the rise. Many of these incidents involve people who have committed no crime, who are violently beaten by law enforcement officers. These officers often suffer no consequences for their actions. It is time

Not all blame should be placed on officer Weekley, it is time to create legislation to prevent nighttime police raids of homes. Unless extreme circumstances call for it, citizens should be protected from being terrorized by police in their own homes. During a no-knock raid, the inhabitants of the home are usually woken up in the middle of the night, and cannot be expected to react rationally to shouting and weapons pointed at them. These raids, similar to home-invasions, leave the victim with no proof that the intruders are actually law enforcement. There has even been an instance where former police officers were involved in a robbery ring that used home invasions disguised as drug raids (“Robbery Ring”). The abolishment of this practice would help to restore trust in the

No longer is the average police officer the image of Andy Griffith, he is increasingly becoming something akin to a soldier. Senator Tom Coburn asked the perfect question during a congressional meeting when he said, "Tell me what the difference is between an increasingly militarized police force and a standing army” (qtd. in Devaney). The only way to put a stop to this disturbing trend is for citizens to demand that their representatives pass legislation that ends police militarization, as well as the creation of tougher punishments for excessive use of