“I told the police -- please don’t shoot him, he’s sick, he’s mentally sick.” This quote is taken from a women who had to watch police officers fatally shoot her brother who was suffering from a mental breakdown after the recent death of a friend. Police brutality is a serious human rights violation that has been on the rise for the past twenty years. Very few police officers have training in what to do when they get a call involving a mentally ill person. In the case referred to earlier, Alfred Olango, a 38 year-old african american man who immigrated from Uganda was acting erratically, prompting his sister to call the police for help. Olango’s sister had told the responding police officers that he was mentally sick yet he was still fatally …show more content…
Some police officers have the dangerous mindset that they are above the law and can get away with anything they do just because of their role and rank in society. In 2015, there were 965 fatal shootings by police. One of those shootings was of 59 year-old David Kassick. Kassick was tased three times and then shot twice in the back resulting in his death. Kassick cooperated with the officer and did everything he was asked to do yet still the outcome was death. The officer Lisa Mearkle was charged with the following: third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter. When Mearkle appeared in court for the charges held against her, the jury acquitted her of all three charges. When police officers are let off the hook for murder, like Mearkle was, it sets an example for other police officers that it is okay to do the same. It is very dangerous for police officers to think this way because it is causing many to abuse their power. While police brutality mainly affects those of different races and those in minorities, it happens to people of all races and backgrounds. Recently though, it has been brought to higher attention because people have recorded the violence and exposed it to the general population. Thus making it easier to depict what really happened and spread the truth of what’s happening to all of America. Even with these videos, police brutality is still a very serious and major problem in
When hearing the phrase “police brutality,” many people imagine batons cracking skulls, tasers electrocuting bodies and bullets penetrating innocent teens. While police officers have been known to use violence, police brutality does not occur as often as many believe. In many situations, officers have to act on impulse and curiosity, despite the backlash the media may create.
Police brutality has been a significant issue for many years.. The people affected by this most of all, are people of color. They are subject to racial inequality by the police and the justice system every day. They are being killed everyday simply for existing. The excessive force used by the police specifically towards African Americans is continuous; with the justice system doing close to nothing to change that. This is one of the reasons they continue to kill and harass African Americans. According to Propublica, young black males are about twenty times more likely to be shot and killed by the police than their white peers are. Murderers are walking free, and innocent lives are being taken. Over the past couple of years, thousands of people have been killed on the hands of the police, both black and white.
In America, police brutality affects and victimizes people of color mentally and socially. Social injustice has become a major issue, which involved the principle of white supremacy vs minorities. The current police brutality that has been occurring is culturally disconnecting ethnicities from one another. According to Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell, “…the cultural disconnect is very real; you have the weight of generations of abuse on African Americans,” (Flatow, 2016). For example, over the past four years, there have been countless acts of police brutality. The three key deaths of Eric Garner, Philando Castile, and Alton Sterling have become the face of police brutality in the year 2016. People knew that it was unequal treatment of black people by police in the United States and they made it known by creating #BlackLivesMatter.
For many years in the past, police action particularly police abuse, has come to be unclear. Citizens are worried about protecting them from criminals. In fact they need to me aware of the corrupt police officers that are in the streets today as well as the criminals. There are many examples that make police brutality the worst as it is today. This one is one of them. Police Officer Daniel is in the choke hold death of Eric Garner, come in the wake if November 15th by the channel 24 news in Ferguson Missouri, police officer would walk free after killing 10 year old Michael Brown. (www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32740523) In the present police brutality does exist in the mist of us in the time and age we live in everyday. We just haven’t seen it yet. There are people that think if a police
This year there's been a lot of brutalities. In fact, there have been at least 500 people killed by the police officers this year. In this article, we are going to be talking about police brutality against African Americans. We are also going to talk about the differences and similarities of different cases that have been in the news this year. For example, the Sandra bland, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and the Walter Scott cases. Also, we're going to talk about how these cases have affected the African American community.
Just how much force is appropriate under various circumstances can be debatable. When an officer uses excessive force, he or she violates the law. Most brutality is directed against minority groups or otherwise powerless populations. Officers who engage in brutality rationalize their use of extralegal force, they claim they are punishing those groups that threaten to disrupt the social order. The importance of understanding racism in the context of police brutality cannot be underestimated. Many police officials automatically regard racial minority group members as potentially dangerous regardless of their particular activities, gestures, or attire. This perception of racial minority citizens as “trouble” sometimes translates into racially discriminatory police behavior. Most police officers expect citizens to always surrender to police authority. When citizens challenge it instead, some officers view such behavior as the unofficial crime of disobeying a police officer and use physical force to gain compliance. So what can be done to help prevent police brutality around our
In the article about a skateboarder in NY it says "Over abuse of power as always!" Mu wrote on his Facebook page. "I'm so over the injustices so many people face in this country. Social, economic, race, class, everything!" It’s shown that a skateboarder is mistreated because he didn’t know the rules of the park, then refuses to give officer his board. The NYPD officer pulls his head back by his hair before putting him in a headlock. After tackling Mu, the officer pulls out his pepper spray and shoots it in the skateboarder's face. The officer did not face any consequences after this incident. This example shows that police officers do not get punished for their actions. This connects to the man that was shot with his hands up in the in sign of surrendering. The power of officers were abused because there wasn’t any need be any violent when no threat is being presented. Another example is a man is texas who suffered from injustice when he was shot with his hands in the air. In the articles it states “A second video has emerged showing two Texas police officers shoot and kill a man who appears to have had his hands up.” This quotation shows that a man commits a crime, is caught and then surrenders to the police with his hands up in the air. The texas police officers shot the man which clearly wasn’t a threat considering he was giving up with his hands in the air. The texas officers show injustice because they abused their power when taking unspeakable actions to kill this
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
Either a Police Officer has been shot or a Police Officer has shot a citizen, but either way the final result is death. Whether an Officer has been shot or an Officer has shot someone these cases seem to be related to one thing, fear. People in today’s society feel as though they can’t trust Police Officers as they are there to hurt and kill them. And Police Officers feel as though they are in danger of doing their everyday duties because people see them as the “bad guys” and want to hurt or
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.
A study published by Smith, S. E. states that “Over 50 percent of fatal police shootings in many areas of the country involve mentally ill.’’ Still nobody seems to bring up the topic of mental health till a horrific act of mass violence. Even after the terrible act not a lot of talk is being done about what can be done to help the people who struggle with this everyday. Also what should be done to reduce to violence we see coming from this source of.
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.
Holmes, Malcolm D. "Minority threat and police brutality: Determinants of civil rights criminal complaints in US municipalities." Criminology 38.2 (2000): 343-368.
Police brutality is one of the most serious human rights violations in the United States and it occurs everywhere. The reason why I chose this topic is because police brutality happens all the time in the United States and still remains unrecognized by many. Additionally, the public should be knowledgeable about this topic because of how serious this crime can be and the serious outcomes that police brutality can have on other police officers and the public. The job of police officers is to maintain public order, prevent, and detect crimes. They are involved in very dangerous and stressful occupations that can involve violent situations that must be stopped and controlled by any means. In many confrontations with people, police may find it necessary to use excessive force to take control of a certain situation. Sometimes this makes an officer fight with a suspect who resists being arrested. Not all cops in communities are great cops. At least once a year, the news covers a story about a person being beat by an officer. The article “Minority Threat and Police Brutality: Determinants of Civil Rights Criminal Complaints in U.S. Municipalities” by Malcolm D. Holmes from the University of Wyoming, uses the conflict theory to explain why officers go after minorities sometimes causing police brutality. It explains the police’s tension with African American and Latino males. Those minorities are the ones that retaliate more against police officers which causes the officer to use violent force to defend themselves.
Police brutality is an act that often goes unnoticed by the vast majority of white Americans. This is the intentional use of “excessive force by an authority figure, which oftentimes ends with bruises, broken bones, bloodshed, and sometimes even death” (Harmon). While law-abiding citizens worry about protecting themselves from criminals, it has now been revealed that they must also keep an eye on those who are supposed to protect and serve. According to the National Police Academy, in the past year, there have been over 7,000 reports of police misconduct; fatalities have been linked to more than 400 of these cases (Gul). Police brutality is often triggered by disrespect towards the police officer.