Police Brutality Essay

In today’s society, the topic of police brutality has been extremely controversial among the citizens of this nation. We have seen horrible cases where police have shot and killed young members of the community like Tamir Rice, all the way to incidents of mistaken identity such as the case when former tennis player, James Blake was tackled and slammed on the street due to the police mistaking him as the suspect to an investigation. According to The Eighth Edition of “Criminal Justice in America”, written by Cole, Smith, and Dejong, Police brutality is defined as “applications of force against individuals by police officers that violate either departmental policies or constitutional rights by exceeding the level of force permissible and necessary

I believe there are many forms in which police brutality or the excessive use of force can occur such as the unreasonable use of physical violence, verbal abuse, discrimination, intimidation, and even harassment. I have developed an understanding that police can use all the force they deem necessary in order to effectively detain the individual from harming both the officers and the public around them. However, police brutality occurs when officers begin to cross the line between safely and ethically using force or language to subdue an

After watching the movie, I saw one very distinct act of psychological brutality occur. Inspector Callahan was having lunch at a downtown burger and hotdog joint when he noticed a brown ford parked outside the bank just on the other side of the street with the engine still running. After he gives the hotdog joint owner strict instruction to call the police department and tell them that there is a robbery in progress, the bank sirens begin to sound. Immediately, Inspector Callahan exits the restaurant, pulls out his 44 magnum and starts walking towards the bank when he sees an African American male in a purple shirt holding a shot gun and trying to get away in the brown ford parked beside the street. Callahan confronts the individual, the suspect fires his shot just before being shot by Inspector Harry Callahan in the shoulder. Almost immediately the brown getaway car starts racing in Harry’s direction trying to escape, however they are stopped dead in their tracks by Harry’s pistol. Inspector Callahan starts casually walking over to the downed suspect in the purple shirt. Callahan walks directly up next to him and informs the suspect that he couldn’t remember if he had shot 5 or 6 bullets thus far, and then points the 44 magnum at the suspects head at point blank range and asks, “Do you feel lucky?” Callahan starts to walk away and the bank robber tells