Police brutality vs. Dangers the Police Face and the World today
A huge problem in the United States today is the issue of police brutality. Police are alleged to use excessive force are undiscovered because of accountability. While some police do use more force than needed, and some police are the bad guys, this is a small number of the entire force in America This small number of police get away with it because of accountability issues and just straight laziness in the justice system. Public officials handle each report of brutality with denials or explain that the act was an accident or the victim is exaggerating, while the appropriate systems that should stop these "accidents" by holding officers accountable instead protect their officers
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It is also found that complainants often have major difficulty in finding themselves in the hands of the appropriate administrative punishment or criminal prosecution offices that have the power to punish officers who have committed human rights violations. Police are the men and women that patrol back roads and city streets that people travel everyday. Police do a lot of great things to help improve communities,police officers are usually very prominent citizens in a town. Good cops will help people during their off duty hours. The police are on the streets in all types of weather, helping citizens and keeping people safe. Instead of being at home with their families on holidays they are working to keep people safe and provide for their families at the same time. Everyday they step out in a into an unknown danger, not knowing what could happen. And for their service police are a respectable sort of bunch, but there are a small number of cops that don 't deserve that type of respect and the privilege to be a cop. The law is mostly on the cop 's side, whether it be bad or good. Sometimes it …show more content…
In 2012, Trayvon Martin was shot and killed as he walked to a family member 's home from a convenience store where he had just bought some candy. He was 17 years-old. Trayvon 's killer, George Zimmerman, admitted to police that he shot Trayvon in the chest. Zimmerman, "neighborhood watch leader," called the police to report a suspicious person when he saw Travyon, a young black man, walking from the store. the police of the county told Zimmerman o not confront the man, but he confronted him despite being told not to. It ended in the worst possible way. Many facts are unknown and His death ended up creating the stand your ground law in Florida that many have considered a very influential
Trayvon Martin was killed by a neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman. He says that it was self defense, but after the tragic phone call was released to the media everything took a huge turn questioning if it was a hate crime. If Zimmerman would have stayed in his car that night then Trayvon would still be alive. It could not be self-defense if all Travon had in his hand were skittles and some tea. The whole thing blew up right after it was released to the news. Then when it was time for the trial it was live on television. During the trial and after the verdict is when the social media started to go crazy.
The case involved a neighborhood watchman, who happened to be on duty when he saw a young black man wearing a sweater jacket called a “hoodie”, walking through the neighborhood. George Zimmerman, the watchman, who was twenty-eight years old at the time, called authorities about a suspicious character walking around in his neighborhood. The authorities told him not to do anything; just continue with his rounds and not worry. Zimmerman, however, decided he would take matters into his own hands. He confronted the young man; they got into a brawl and Zimmerman pulled out a gun and shot and killed Martin. That premise will play a role in this paper as an argument as to why George Zimmerman should have been convicted of committing a crime. Even if the jury could not have reasons to convict him of the second degree murder of Trayvon Martin; they had other choices.
Although accountability has always been an issue, the injustices that are currently occurring make it priority. Police officers are getting “special treatment” and are not facing charges for crimes they have committed. Police officers are not held accountable for their a...
In most if not all the cases the victim of the excessive force is charged with resisting arrest and or assaulting a police officer, When in fact they are the ones who have been assaulted and victimized themselves. They are now fighting two uphill battles that are very difficult to win in any situation. A lot of the time the victim is from a poor or low income area and may have already been perceived to be a criminal by the police. The police have a great deal of power and they sometimes manipulate situation to make it look like or to hide what may have happen in an arrest situation. My father would tell me stories about the police and the things some officer would do to get away with abusing their power. The police need to be monitored and public needs to be more educated about what Law enforcements job is and how to best help them do it.
The “Stand Your Ground” law was first adopted in the state of florida in 2005. This law did not gain national attention until the shooting death of unarmed teenager, Trayvon Martin, in Sanford, florida, where the shooter, George Zimmerman used the “Stand Your Ground” law as his basis for defending himself against Trayvon Martin to the Sanford Police Department. However, George Zimmerman’s legal defense team did not utilize the law to argue his innocence during his trial. But the damage had been done because soon after other cases in florida began to sprout up with “Stand Your Ground” as the driving force.
Police misconduct is as rampant as ever in America, and it has become a fixture of the news cycle. Police brutality is the use of any force exceeding that reasonably necessary to accomplish a lawful police purpose. The media is inevitably drawn toward tales of conflict, hence why there are so many crime and police stories on the news. Despite the increasing frequency of misbehaving cops, many Americans still maintain a high respect for the man in uniform. Still, police misconduct is a systemic problem, not just an anecdotal one. Here are some reasons why it is a problem. First, many departments do not provide adequate training in nonviolent solutions. With this, police are unfamiliar with what to
In the Ferguson article (2015), there was an example given about an African American man claimed that he was standing outside of of Wal-Mart, an officer called him a “stupid motherf****r” and a “bastard.” According to the man, a lieutenant was on the scene and did nothing to reproach the officer, instead threatening to arrest the man (p. 80). This demonstrates that the police in Ferguson had no respect for the civilian and even though the lieutenant was present, they did nothing. The officer was not suspended nor held responsible for this incident. By failing to hold officers accountable, it sends a message that officers can behave as they like, “regardless of law or policy, and even if caught, that punishment will be light.” (Ferguson, 86). This message serves to excuse officer wrongdoing and heighten community distrust. This is also to say that police can possibly get away with murder because they are higher officials and work for the
Background and Audience Relevance: According to the Human Rights Watch 2012 report on Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States; police brutality has become one the most serious human rights violation. As citizens of the United States it is our duty to make sure that those with authority don 't take advantage of their power.
This case is about a 16-year-old kid from Miami named Trayvon Martin. On the night of February 26th, Trayvon walked from his father's house in a gated community to a nearby store. When walking back, he was spotted by George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old neighborhood watch volunteer. There have been a number of break-ins in the neighborhood over the last few weeks and Zimmerman thought that a young black man walking in the rain and wearing a hooded sweatshirt looked suspicious. Zimmerman then called 911 to report the person who "might be on drugs."
Over the years, this country has witnessed many cases of police brutality. It has become a controversial topic among communities that have seen police brutality take place in front of their homes. Officers are faced with many threatening situations everyday forcing them to make split second decisions and to expect the worst and hope for the best. Police officers are given the power to take any citizens rights away and even their lives. With that kind of power comes responsibility, that’s one major concern with the amount of discretion officers have is when to use force or when to use lethal force. The use of excessive force may or not be a large predicament but should be viewed by both the police and the community.
Police officers primary responsibility is to protect and serve citizens and communities, not to abuse the laws by hurting innocent people. In most states Stand-Your-Ground laws allows innocent citizens the right to use deadly force to defend and protect themselves. But what if they were protecting themselves from police brutality. Police brutality has been going on for many years; they can cause riots, injuries, and even mistrust for the police.
I have respect for the police, and the job they do. Policemen are a selected few who do a dangerous job. Police have done many great things to help improve communities, help people during their off duty hours and stand strong in face of many fears. The police trying to enforce the law are on the streets in all types of weather. Instead of being at home with their families on holidays they are working to keep peace. Everyday, they step out in a world where violence is considered appropriate.
In fact, according to fellow retired police officers Zakir Gul, Hakan Hekim, and Ramazan Terkesil, many of the complaints about excessive use of force by police officers are not investigated, and if they are, the finding is usually that the police officer acted appropriately.... ... middle of paper ... ... It is highly important for police academies to hire suitable and qualified officers and provide a broad and continuous training, with good supervision to help decrease the use of excessive force in law enforcement officers.
One of the primary reasons being the fact that police departments are not required to report incidents of abuse at the federal level (Reisenwitz, 2015). Another reason why police brutality is a problem is because most departments do not provide adequate training in nonviolent solutions. Therefore, without this specific training, police officers are less likely to view violence as their last resort (Kristian, 2015). Nevertheless, as stated in Seven Reasons Why Police Brutality Is Systemic, Not Anecdotal, police deviance is a problem because consequences for misconduct are minimal. It has also been stated that in central New Jersey ninety-nine percent of police brutality complaints are never investigated, and only one out of every three accused cops are convicted nationwide. Meanwhile civilian convictions are double that(Kristian, 2015). Believe it or not, In Chicago, the numbers are even more skewed: It has been reported that there were 10,000 abuse complaints filed against the Chicago PD between 2002 and 2004, and just 19 of them ”resulted in meaningful disciplinary action (Kristian, 2015).” According to USA Today, due to juries being conditioned to believe cops, on a national level, upwards of 95 percent
When you think of police what does it mean to you? The responsibility of a police officer is to protect the public and to serve the community. Also, they detect and to prevent crime, police officers strive to maintain the law. New police officers work with the general duty as patrol divisions, that provides a range of experiences and assignments. The General duty of policing involves patrolling in assigned areas to enforce laws, protect public safety, and arrest criminal suspects either by car, foot, bicycle, or in some cases, horse. Police officers can also do some of the following: they Investigate accidents and crime scenes; to secure evidence and interview any witnesses; they collect notes and reports; they can provide emergency assistance to victims an disaster, crime, and accidents;