Murder is always a tragic crime, but even more so, when it has been committed by a police officer, who made an oath to uphold the law and protect the community. This was exactly the case during the early hours of the morning on June 5th 2010, when off-duty Baltimore police officer, Gahiji Tshamba shot an unarmed, Tyrone Brown, a former marine, repeatedly over an altercation outside of a local bar. The incident occurred outside of a bar in Mount Vernon, where the victim, Brown, touched Tshamba’s female companion inappropriately. The situation quickly escalated, but Brown tried to apologize and he had his hands up, when Tshamba fired thirteen shots, hitting Brown twelve times. Both parties involved had been drinking alcohol, and Tshamba had
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
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.
There have been numerous cases of police using deadly force in the headlines recently, from Michael Brown in St Louis, to Walter Scott in South Carolina, to Tamir Rice in Ohio. All three of these cases have similar story lines, African American males, who have been shot and killed by the police, however, one of them has a key difference that the other two don’t have. That key difference is the fact that Tamir Rice was a 12 year old boy, playing at a park. Throughout this paper, I will address the civil legal issues that the Officers involved with this case face while focusing on the active civil lawsuit filed by Tamir Rice’s Estate.
An Iranian Muslim man living in Sydney, Australia has been charged in connection with the murder of his wife, who was allegedly killed for converting to Christianity.
“See these fists? They’re getting ready to fuck you up,” said Officer Ramos, before he and two other officers began to mercilessly beat a mentally-ill man at a transit station (“Full Un-edited”). Kelly Thomas was a schizophrenic homeless-man who was beaten by 3 police officers in Fullerton, Calif. He died in the hospital 5 days later due to the inflicted injuries (Salazar). None of the officers involved were found guilty of any wrong doing. In America today, use of force, police brutality, and night-time home raids are on the rise. Many of these incidents involve people who have committed no crime, who are violently beaten by law enforcement officers. These officers often suffer no consequences for their actions. It is time
We have heard a lot about criminals who have gotten shot by the police, but we haven’t heard of a case where police officer killed innocent man to death, except in the case of Eric Garner. Eric Garner’s case sparked about institutional racism in America’s criminal justice system because he was killed for minor crime and the grand jury didn’t indict the officer.
Throughout history, abuse of force has been a major issue for those in our country, especially for those of color. The shooting of the unarmed, black teenager Michael Brown by white police officer Darren Wilson has started a global uproar refuting the mistreatment of police authority. However, corruption within the force has been an issue far before the Brown shooting. The shooting of Michael Brown has simply caused an awakening of the unprincipled use of power within law enforcement.
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
Fisch, Harmanpreet Kaur drank alcohol and did cocaine. She then went to Mrs. Fisch’s address,
Although police officers sometimes accidentally take lives, more lives are saved than those mistakenly taken. If officers did not apply some force when opposed, people would have no reason to listen and obey the laws they enforce. Police would gain no respect from civilians, and many officers would end up dead. In many cases, such as Tyron Lewis in 1996 and Michael Brown in 2014, minorities believe that police are targeting certain races when they use a gun as a means to protect themselves. While many people without any law enforcement training think that an officer is only supposed to injure the suspect to stop them, officers are actually trained to use lethal force to stop a threat (Mitchell). Numerous cases of police brutality exist, but just because an officer uses lethal force does not mean it qualifies as brutality. Police brutality is when there is proof that an officer or officers meant to bring harm upon a suspect in custody or anyone in general (Champion). Many cops exist that have bad intentions, but for the most part, law enforcement officers join the force to help protect their communities and families. Lately, it seems that cases are always in the news about some sort of police brutality or riots caused by an officer shooting someone. In reality though, police hardly ever use force; the International Association of Chiefs of Police found that officers use force less than one percent of the time or less than four out of every ten-thousand calls they go out on (Champion). Law enforcement should be commended for their efforts of keeping their communities safe from harm, instead of being under constant attack. Most do this duty while still preventing harm of the
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.
Every year, death tolls by American police officers shooting to kill civilians has reached up to one thousand people. Police claim that seventy percent of these shootings are justified killings, and had proper meaning in defense. In 2015, only 956 people were fatally shot by police officers. In 2016 already, the numbers of civilians and criminals shot by police is already up in the thousands. These
Racial tensions are at an all-time high. Mr. Gray died in custody when being arrested for possession of an allegedly illegal knife because he was not properly secured in the van he was being transported in. There were also eyewitness accounts of unnecessary use of force (Moskos, 2018). There were trials for the 6 of the officers responsible, none of whom were convicted of anything. The only thing the officers faced were suspensions. Protests and race riots across Baltimore and the nation ensued, which caused the police to declare a state of emergency. As a result, hundreds of people arrested, and many injuries were inflicted among both citizens and police officers, therefore, furthering the mistrust between the community and officers (about racial profiling, excessive use of force, etc.). Another way that the police in Baltimore get mistrust from the community is that the Baltimore police are the focus of a federal corruption investigation. The unit at the center of the investigation is the Gun Trace Task Force, which was “a unit that once racked up praise for racking up arrests and recovering hundreds of illegal guns. As it turned out, members of the unit were committing crimes of their own even as they policed Baltimore's streets. Eight officers have been charged. Six pleaded guilty” (Kelly, 2018). One of the officers on
While reading the case about Mr.Hossack 's murder i saw the wife, Mrs.Hossack, as innocent at first. The children all claimed that the two did not argue for over a year, so why would she kill him now verses a year ago? When the youngest child, Ivan Hossack, came to the stand and "told his story in a straight, unhesitating manner" it made it easier for me to believe in Mrs. Hossack 's innocence. The child even said that he saw his mother aiding his father when he called out for help. If she had been the one to swing the axe, why would she help him and risk getting in trouble? Most importantly, if he was conscious and talking, why wouldn 't he say who to murderer was? He could have easily identified his wife in the dark after being married for over twenty years, and yet he didn 't identify who had tried to kill him. Dr. Dean first stated that the axe did not hit the speech portion of the brain, so he could have been conscious and yelling out for his wife. Dean later stated that the fatal blow from the axe would have left Mr.Hossack unconscious. The murder weapon had blood on in and apparent hairs stuck to one side; "Prof. John L. Tilton of Simpson college... was unable to say definitely that the hair had been
In recent years, with easier access to information due to the internet, cases of police brutality and misconduct are appearing at an alarming rate all over the internet. It is in no doubt becoming more apparent to the public eye that the citizens are now paranoid or alarmed not only around criminals, but also around police officers. This paper will discuss situations where lethal methods were used in non-lethal situations, police accountability, and possible solutions to decrease police brutality and misconduct. Police brutality and misconduct can be defined and interpreted in many ways. Different perspectives must be evaluated to properly decide whether the officer performed unlawfully or inappropriately. An officer has a license to kill if,