On October 20, 2014 a young male teen was fatally shot in Chicago, Illinois. The shooting occurred in the middle of the road and the suspect that was fatally shot was named Laquan McDonald. McDonald was just 17 years old and was the suspect after initial reports placed him in the scene of a possible car jacking. It was reported that Laquan McDonald had a knife and was also seen slashing tires of a police cruiser. When police had finally had him surrounded in the middle of the road, one officer opened fire and released 16 shots into his body. Another deputy on hand said the use of force was not needed because Laquan was not in any way trying to attack the officers present. The officer who fired the 16 shots into Laquan is named Jason D. Van …show more content…
According to the newspaper the Chicago Tribune there has been 876 homicides since the beginning of January 2014. Making shootings like the one of Laquan McDonald seem irrelevant. The only reason I was able to become aware of this shooting was because the procedures and policies that were being implemented by the police department and city of Chicago were not right. This led a reporter named Brandon Smith who wanted to know the reason why a teen with a knife was gunned down with 16 shots by a police officer who was not alone in this fight. The reporter sued the police department demanding them to release the video of the police cruiser that caught the whole incident on tape. In the video, it shows Laquan walking in the middle of the road, when several police cruisers pull in front of him. As soon as Laquan notices the police officers getting off, he starts moving away from the police cruisers. This is when police officer Van Dyke unloads his weapon and hitting Laquan with 16 shots leaving him for dead on the road. According to the Rules of Conduct by the Chicago PD, found online at the website chiacagopolice.org, it states under Rule 11 “Incompetency or inefficiency in the performance of duty”. This is a rule that should well known to every officer not only in Chicago and it was not followed by officer Van Dyke because the video clearly shows him …show more content…
According to the website killedbypolice.net, they have been keeping track of deaths by police since 2013 and that number is a whopping 2,966 casualties. That is only in three years time, compared to the deaths of terrorism it is still less but this website is only look at three years of deaths. According to an article on cnn.com the deaths of American lives since 2001 by terrorism is at 3,380, while that is high that is information that has been taken over 14 years while the 2,966 deaths by police has only occurred in 3 years time. This shows that we should pay more attention to the policies that are being used by our police departments and officers and make sure the procedures and policies they are going to enforce are better suited than the ones they are using now because things must change and I hope they do for the betterment of everyone in the United
Facts: On October 3, 1974, Memphis Police Officers Hymon and Wright were dispatched to answer a “prowler inside call.” When the police arrived at the scene, a neighbor gestured to the house where she had heard glass breaking and that someone was breaking into the house. While one of the officer radioed that they were on the scene, the other officer went to the rear of the house hearing a door slam and saw someone run across the backyard. The suspect, Edward Garner stopped at a 6-feet-high fence at the edge of the yard and proceeded to climb the fence as the police officer called out “police, halt.” The police officer figured that if Garner made it over the fence he would get away and also “figured” that Garner was unarmed. Officer Hymon then shot him, hitting him in the back of the head. In using deadly force to prevent the escape of Garner, Hymon used the argument that actions were made under the authority of the Tennessee statute and pursuant to Police Department policy. Although the department’s policy was slightly more restrictive than the statute it still allowed the use of deadly force in cases of burglary. Garner’s fathers’ argument was made that his son was shot unconstitutionally because he was captured and shot possessing ten dollars that he had stolen and being unarmed showing no threat of danger to the officer. The incident was then reviewed by the Memphis Police Firearm’s Revie...
Happening in today’s society, there have been countless number of citizens being killed by law enforcement. Some situations may not cause for force and others may. This case can be a reference in regards to making sure that the force you use is appropriate for the situation. As for the justice system, it is all about being fair and listening to both sides and issuing out the right punishment if there is any. Many people in today’s time needs to get educated when it comes to the reason behind why law enforcement uses force to handle the situations they have to deal with. But in the end it all comes down to right and
Police officers are trained by specific rules in the academy how to handle dangerous situations and how to prevent victims. Police officers in dangerous and extreme situations have to make split-second decisions about what to do next: fire their weapon or not. In recent years, many unarmed people were killed by police officers which made US nation to raise questions about whether the police make right decisions or whether the police have too much power. Since people don’t know by what rules police officers are trained to handle certain issues, we wonder why did the police officer killed an unarmed person and why the police officer didn’t do something else to prevent a dangerous situation or a person. Cedric Alexander, veteran police chief, in the interview for CNN said that if someone is causing a danger, police officer has to shoot him in the area where the most important organs are and stop this person (Visser, 2016). Most of the time this dangerous person dies immediately. Alexander also said that a police officer has to shoot at the person’s chest because this is how most likely to take a person down and stop him (Visser, 2016). Therefore, if the police officer will shoot at the dangerous person’s shoulder for example, this person still can shoot at the police officer or people who are the closest to the dangerous person.
On September 21, 2016 an unarmed black male named Terrence Crutcher from Oklahoma was fatally shot by a female police officer as he stood outside his vehicle. Police officers responded to Crutcher, age 40, in response to a stalled vehicle in the roadway. At the moment it was unknown to the officers if Crutcher was armed at the time. Police said Crutcher approached the officers after the officers arrived. Investigators said that Crutcher refused to obey several orders given to him to show his hands. Officials said that when Crutcher reached into his car that is when one officer fired his taser while another officer fired one shot.
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.
The article, Racial Conflict, written by Peter Katel in January 8, 2016, is about racism in the United State and to discuss if U.S. policies are discriminatory. Propelled largely by videos of violent police confrontations with African- Americans, protesters have taken to the streets in Chicago, New York and other cities demanding changes in police tactics. These brutal policing tactics had lead persons to say that U.S. policies are discriminatory. For example, Chicago police officer shot 17-year-old Laquan Mc Donald 16 times in the street. Official kept the video away from the public until a reporter forced its release through freedom of information request. Keeping the video under wrap prove that Mc Donald was killed innocently which also
A father purchased a toy gun as a birthday gift for his young son. His son went outside to play and and encountered a police officer who shot him seven times. This incident occurred in Sonoma County in October 2013. A similar incident occurred in November 2014 when Cleveland police killed a 12-year-old boy carrying a toy gun. Use of excessive force by police is common in impoverished "black" or "brown" communities.
Police investigations of shooting that involve officers are based on facts not opinions. Detectives with years of experience investigate the case and the information is then turned over to a prosecutor. The problem with news coverage and the media is they let emotions get a hold of them for views. Whether a video depicting the shooting was shown or not it is not their job to decide who was in the wrong. Attitudes about the prevalence of racial profiling are susceptible to the way the media construct incidents of police misconduct (Graziano, Schuck & Martin
To be a cop, one must have more than just mental awareness and physical strength. Being prepared for anything, at any time, is just one of the many characteristics that all cops must possess. Unfortunately, New York City police officers were lacking in this department on the day of September 11th. Being that no one was really prepared for such an event to ever occur, police officers were very “lost” that day. Numerous articles reported that officers were not only unaware of who was in charge that day and who they should report to, they also stated that many officers acted without first getting instructions from their superiors. No one can ensure that every split-second decision will be the correct one, however if properly trained and prepared; it’s much more likely that the best decision will be made. Regrettably, our police department was inadequately trained prior to the terrorist attacks in New York City. Before September 11th, no one had ever predicted disaster to strike like it did, and our country was not prepared to handle such an intense terrorist attack. Our country did not perform the adequate drills ...
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
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
Statistics states that every eight hours an American citizen is killed by a police officer. The question is why; however, why is the rate of police brutality rapidly growing? The people put in place to protect and serve are the very people we need protection from. Statistics also state that this year alone there has been 980 police brutality cases in the United States. What is it going to take to get a handle of this situation? The answer may lay within the higher leaders of this great nation. America has too many things to deal with without having to worry about what our police are doing. Police brutality is wrong and the problem needs to be addressed. We need to stop pushing it off and patting them on the back and saying “It is okay, you
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 when to use force or when to use lethal force.
The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri became a controversial media sensation. The shooting created uproar and mistrust towards police officers. Many believed the shooting was unjustified and even an act of racism on the behalf of the police Officer Darren Wilson. The Department of Justice issued an investigation in order to understand the basis of the shooting and to decide whether or not to charge Darren Wilson in the shooting. Despite the evidence and the investigation which portrayed the shooting as an act of self- defense, the shooting still remains controversial.