Is it fair that police can use brute force to protect and serve the people of our country? Police are suppose to protect and serve the people of our country, however, in some cases police abuse their power and force become police brutality. Officers are faced with threatening challenges everyday which force them to make a decision. Police officers have a certain amount of power, but the kind of power that police have also comes with responsibility. For example, when to use excessive force, lethal force or deadly force . The use of excessive force and how some people believe that police officers use too much force also causes debate in today's society. Another controversy between society is are police officer trained properly? This question …show more content…
For example, the Rodney King incident portrays the use of excessive force. In the early nineteen hundreds law enforcement starting to rethink the use of force policy and training. A poll done in nineteen ninety-one concerning the way officers treated people and the use of excessive force with the public. Surveys ask people if they have ever been abused or mistreated by police, five percent of poll and nine percent of minorities had either been abused or mistreated. Another twenty percent said they know someone who had been physically abused by the police (Alpert and Smith, 2001). Studies shown that people are mistreated by police and the use of excessive force. The use of force and training is applied to protect the public and police. Also, deadly force plays a role in this as well. Over the past year society has heard of a few cases that deadly force played a role in. For example, Michael Brown was an unarmed African American male who was resisting arrest, but had no weapon to harm anyone. Deadly force was used on Brown because of his size. Yet, that does not justify the fact that an officer should be able to use deadly force on anyone because of their size or even because they are resisting arrest. Without a sign of endangerment, a police officer should not be able to use deadly force. Some people may disagree on the fact that officers should be able to use deadly force no matter what the circumstance is, but if there is not an physical harm being done then police should not be able to use deadly force. However, some people might wonder when is force reasonable? This determination comes down to the officer before using any force. Generally, the use of force is usually necessary when someone is resisting arrest, detain a suspect, or to protect others. In the Brown case there was no reason for deadly force to be used than resisting arrest and that is not does not mean that Brown should
In my opinion the concept of “warrior police” helps better explain cases of excessive force. Excessive force is “the application of an amount and frequency of force greater than required compelling compliance from a willing or unwilling subject”. Police are taught to adopt in the face of a life-threatening struggle. They have the mindset survive a bad situation no matter the odds or difficulty and to never give up even when it is mentally and physically easier to do so.
Police brutality is becoming more and more apparent in the news today because it seems to be occurring more than before. In 2012, the NYPD killed 21 people that year which was an increase by 7 from the previous year (W.A.T.E.R, 1). The numbers are rising in the big cities where more crimes are likely to happen. Toronto isn’t as big as New York City, but it comes to show that police officers are killing more individuals each year. In 2009, in the little city of Cabbagetown near Toronto, two Toronto officers severely beat a man who was allegedly drunk in public. The two police officers were later found guilty of assault causing bodily harm, which shocked much of the public because rarely do police officers get charged after incidents like this. This case ended up bringing up the ethical issue of whether police officers use excessive force on people because they are law enforcements. Police officers seem to usually get away with the actions they do, which sometimes result in death, because they are law enforcements and they’re just looking out for their own safety and of others. I believe that police officers do sometimes use excessive force on people and that they get away with the consequences because they have a free pass because of their job title. To defend this judgment, the arguments that I will use are the statements of both police officers, the test results that proved that the police officers attacked a man who didn’t deserve it, and the decision of the SIU.
Over the years, our nation has witnessed countless cases of police brutality. It has developed into a controversial topic between communities. For instance, deindustrialization is the removal or reduction of manufacturing capability or activity can lead to more crimes when people are laid off. Police officers are faced with many threatening situations day-to-day gripping them to make split second decisions; either to expect the worst or hope for the best. The police are given the authority to take any citizen away for their action that can ruin their lives. With that kind of power comes great responsibility, which is one main concern with the amount of discretion officers have is when to use lethal force. The use of excessive force might or
Cops have to use physical force on criminals but is excessive force needed for unarmed criminals. Is it necessary to shoot at an unarmed man 41 times because he made a suspicious move? I know police officers have their reasons, sometimes you have to be in their shoes to understand what they are facing that might be a threat to their life or others around the scene. Its understood, force is sometimes necessary to refrain criminals when they get out of line, or put the police officers life endanger. Inherent criminality; the belief that people who commit crimes are animals and incapable of rehabilitation, leads police to treat people brutally. . Recent statistics published by the Stolen Lives Project estimate that the number of cases in the United States relating to police brutality has reached the thousands, but these statistics come with a disclaimer many, if not most, of these instances are never reported due to fear of reprisal. The fact is there are many cases of police brutality and corruption. Some are not good enough to make it to the front page of the newspaper or to the news. Not enough is being done; lack of community efforts are being made to help. Justice has to be served and the code of silence needs to be broken. Some cops need to be put behind bars. The only way to clean up the city or community is to clean up all the dirty cops. Police brutality is a cruel, inhumane injustice that can be prohibited. No one needs to be afraid or be worried about being intimidated by police and about coming foward with information. Without a doubt we have the good cops and bad cops, about a fraction of those cops still go abusing their authority to innocent people. If it were not for bystanders witnessing the brutality cops put on people many cases wouldn’t be what they are today. Fresno Police Department
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.
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.
“But they didn't have to beat me this bad. I don't know what I did to be beat up." Rodney King, March 3, 1991. Police Brutality has been a long lasting problem in the United States since at least 1903 when police Captain Williams of the New York Police Department said the phrase, "There is more law at the end of a policeman's nightstick than in a decision of the Supreme Court." In the 1920's the Wichersham Commission had a number of instances of police brutality. Many of these included the use of the "third degree" (beating to obtain a confession). This is a very effective way to get a confession out of somebody. However, beating the accused could easily elicit a confession from a scared and innocent person. Also, this puts the accused person's life in danger. Police officers must make snap life and death decisions daily. Officers' work in an environment where death (theirs, their partners, and an innocent or guilty person) is one decision away. How does that constant fear effect an officer's perception? Unfortunately, many that are attracted to law enforcement are aggressive and prone towards violence as a solution. Police officers have a lot of power. With this power comes responsibility. Police brutality can be defined as the excessive or unreasonable use of force in dealing with citizens, suspects and offenders.
Police use of force can be described as being the "amount of effort required by police to compel compliance by an unwilling subject.”(nij.gov, p.1) The stages of force police use are simple verbal and physical restraint, less lethal force and lethal force. Police officers are encouraged to use only enough force necessary to control a situation, arrest the person, or protect themselves or others from harm (p.1). When a situation begins to spiral out of control for the police officers, the next level should be used in order to gain control.
When a police officer uses force it is put out into the media and people argue back and forth about if the police officer was in the right or wrong with how much force was used. Some people seem to think that the police would rather use force than to resolve the problem peacefully. More people believe that the police are targeting minorities and are using excessive force on minorities. The police do not like using force to apprehend a suspect; the police are not racial profiling the suspects. The police are taught to use force when the suspect is a threat to the officer or others around the area. The officer has to be one level above the suspect in order to keep as many people as possible safe. Police officers do not get a chance to say why
In today’s society, police officers are very cautious on how much force they can use on a suspect due to the police brutality going on right now. Police brutality is defined as the use of force exceeding what is necessary, many people argue that there should be new policies to determine how much force a police officer can use and also have laws that will convict officers who have killed people by using too much force, so that there is less incidents in the future.
Early in the 17th century was when the first modern day policing was expected to have begun. Ever since the 18th century begun, incidences of police using excess force by abusing their power have been quite common. As time progressed, these wrongful actions by police have been entitled as police brutality. Police brutality is defined as" the use of excessive force used by police dealing with public... excessive force can be either physical, verbal, and/or psychological". According to this definition, whether it be arresting someone with too much force or even uttering certain statements, can all be classified as police brutality. No individual should be victimized by police officers who use excess force that in no way deters crimes. It does nothing but bring a dire unjust society in which innocent people can feel afraid; and give those officers who are correctly doing their duties a bad reputation. Due to the dispensable, unscrupulous nature of police brutality; several measures including disciplining police officers, stricter laws(and stringent penalties), integration, as well as educating the general public about their rights, must be applied in order to extirpate the misconduct citizens should not have to face.
The use of excessive force may or may not be a large predicament, but should be viewed by both the police and the community. Police brutality is hypocrisy as the police are meant to protect society from harm, not cause further damage and stress. Police should be trained properly so they do not resort to violence and abuse of power. Many cases of police brutality are not sanctioned and are undertaken by a group of police as a form of "mob mentality". Police are placed on a pedestal of authority and respect by the rest of society.
Recently in the United States there has been in increase in deaths that have come from police officers using deadly force. The use of force is inevitable as a police officer, many times their own lives or the life’s civilians are at risk when it comes to determine what type of force a officer should use. There are many incidents where police officer have to react in a matter of seconds and has to choose between his own life or that of the individual causing the disturbance. When a Police Officer uses deadly force has caused outraged with the public, stirring up protests and creating a scandal for the police officer and the Police Department. Many do not know when it is right for an officer to use deadly force and what constitutes it, or what happens when the officer does not use the appropriate amount of force that is required to control the situation. There has been many changes in Police Departments around the country to try to reduce the use of deadly force in response to the issues that have occurred because of it.
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. The most noticeable form of brutality is physical, where Chemical gas, batons, tasers, and guns, can be used for physical intimidation or to actually hurt people. Police brutality can also take the form of verbal abuse or psychological intimidation. It seems reasonable to understand that sometimes the police are put into situations where excessive force may be needed. But, because some officers use these extreme actions in situations when it is not, police brutality should be addressed and looked into by both the police and the public. For instance, a police officer who beats a nonviolent protester with a baton would probably be accused of excessive use of force, under the argument that the police officer probably could have dealt with the situation less violently.
We rely on the Police force to keep the community safe, but what price do we pay for that security? The job of a police officer is one of constant danger and threat. When an officer must engage with a belligerent and confrontational individual, there is a decision that must be made at the individual level. An officer must detain this person, while staying safe and keeping those around the scene safe. The officer has been trained in the appropriate use of force. The officer may have felt that use of force was warranted and used with discretion. The bystanders often don’t understand the complex situation that is unfolding before them and are quick to assume the officer has crossed the line. If you peruse through the internet you will see a myriad of reports covering police brutality that range from racial profiling to murder. Every time an officer uses force during an incident involving a minority group there is public outcry for justice and reform. When an officer chooses to use force, when does it become excessive? Who is the responsible unbiased entity to make that