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Different eras of policing in the United States
History of policing in the USA
Police brutality in the usa essay
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Piper Kerman once stated, “Our current criminal justice system has no provision for restorative justice, in which an offender confronts the damage they have done and tries to make it right for the people they have harmed. Instead our system of “corrections” is about arm’s-length revenge and retribution, all day and all night.” The 2016 presidential election and its candidates delved into this theory of the current criminal justice system and the way in which it polices. It has recently gained notoriety due to massive media coverage of police brutality, the privatization of prisons, and the growth of the prison population. This quote epitomizes the idea of polarization of the two parties. In this election Donald Trump advocates for the implementation …show more content…
According to the law dictionary police brutality is defined as the use of excessive and unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians. “Excessive use of force” means a force well beyond what would be necessary in order to handle a situation. In addition, the most obvious form of police brutality is a physical form. In 2016 alone there have been around one hundred and ninety-four unarmed men killed as a result of police brutality. Amadou Dialo, Kendra James, Sean Bell, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Alton Sterling are names of some of the victims of police brutality. As the percentage of minority deaths inclined due to harsh treatment by the police activist from the Black Lives Matter movement began engage in politics. They made their presence known at both Democratic and Republican campaign events by holding demonstrations. Patrisse Cullors, one of the founders of the movement stated that the objective of the demonstrations was not solely to create policy change but they also wanted to convey their message to communities that were unaware of the movements injustices. The issue of police brutality is still harming the minority community and has been addressed briefly in some of the 2016 presidential
African American’s still are thought to be discriminated against by law enforcement, according to recent scenarios which have occurred. For example, Eric Garner was seen to have been physically abused by police and many of the public believe this is because he was African American. Though racism is less common today, it is still relevant and apparent in society. Violence is still used by both individuals and law enforcement, as well as as a form of protest in some circumstances. Though there is still some violent-protests present today, for humanitarian reasons this form of protesting has become less common throughout all of the ethnic
Many changes are made inside the justice system, but very few have damaged the integrity of the system and the futures of citizens and prisoners. Although the story seems to focus more on lockdown, Hopkins clearly identifies the damaging change from rehabilitation in prisons to a strategy of locking up and containing the prisoners. To the writer, and furthermore the reader, the adjustment represented a failure to value lives. “More than 600,000- about 3 times what it was when I entered prison, sixteen years ago. In the resulting expansion of the nation’s prison systems, authorities have tended to dispense with much of the rehabilitative programming once prevalent in America’s penal institutions” (Hopkins 157). The new blueprint to lock every offender in prison for extended sentencing leads to an influx in incarcerated people. With each new person
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.
Police brutality has been an apparent mark on the struggles, trials, and tribulations of people of minorities for years, primarily Black people. From the times of slavery to the present unlawful targeting and murders of black citizens with no justification, police brutality has been an enema in Black American culture for hundreds of years. Seen both in James Baldwin’s “Going to Meet the Man” and in the current happenings of the United States. The hashtag “#BlackLivesMatter” has been a focal point in the current struggle for equality of the races. The current outpouring of support for black lives and
The United States has a larger percent of its population incarcerated than any other country. America is responsible for a quarter of the world’s inmates, and its incarceration rate is growing exponentially. The expense generated by these overcrowded prisons cost the country a substantial amount of money every year. While people are incarcerated for a number of reasons, the country’s prisons are focused on punishment rather than reform, and the result is a misguided system that fails to rehabilitate criminals or discourage crime. The ineffectiveness of the United States’ criminal justice system is caused by mass incarceration of non-violent offenders, racial profiling, and a high rate of recidivism.
Black Lives Matter is a movement founded by Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors in response to the tragic death of Trayvon Martin, at the hands of a police officer. Black Lives Matter focuses on the importance of the lives of black people, particularly black men who are the constant target of police brutality in the United States. Other movements began as a response to Black Lives Matter such as the All Lives Matter movement. The focus of this movement was to combat the exclusive focus on the importance of black lives, claiming it marginalized the importance of other people’s lives. Movements such as All Lives Matter are not only unnecessary, but also harmful to the mission of movements like Black Lives Matter, highlighting the necessity for a
Police Brutality Police work is dangerous. Sometimes police put in situations that excessive force is needed. But, because some officers use these extreme measures in situations when it is not, police brutality should be addressed. The use of excessive force may or may not be large problem, but it should be looked into by both the police and the public. For those people who feel racism is not a factor in causing the use of excessive force, here is a startling fact. In Tampa Bay, Florida, five men died while in the custody of the
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 is rising heavily in the United States. Many cases of police brutality are being reported regularly by the media. There have been victims either physically injured, molested, permanently disabled, killed in the process or even die in the care of officers. Ethnic minority groups are major victims of most cases of reported police brutalities in America. There have been more injustice than justice in these cases and if there’s no serious legal consequences against police’s that engage in racial profiling and brutalities against their victims then it may continue to and eventually they will lose the public’s trust and respect for our officers. And in worst cases may lead to the breakdown of law and order as well as the destruction of lives, properties and communities.
Police Brutality has always been an occurring action throughout history. There has been occurring events from the beginning with the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965 as to now. To elaborate on the subject of police brutality is the act of using excessive physical force upon a citizen when it is not needed. This act occurs both in the United States and multiple countries and unfortunately many of these cases go unreported. This has been a major problem that has been occurring throughout history.
This paper compares and contrasts popular opinions and professional assessment of police brutality and acceptable use of force. This is not only a sensitive subject, but one that proves hard to identify. The main takeaway is that each encounter is different. Within each situation, the details and contributing factors are also different. Police have to serve the public and are entrusted with an inherent amount of power. The line when that use of power becomes abuse of power is not always so easily defined. There are occasions where the evidence shows a clear abuse of power by the police. There are instances where the public opinion views a situation as excessive, however, the police are following acceptable practices and procedures.
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.
Walsh & Conway(2011) suggested standards of police should be to implement transparency be responsive and maintain professional, human rights. The black people and lower class people face this violence in form of deadly force and shootings. In the 2011 publication, Gabbidon, Higgins & Potter suggested police to be more corrupt, unfair , harsh and cruel against black people.The police needs to be accountable to its community and department but by doing these kind of acts they are felt to be unsafe in the smaller communities. The brutality lead to push the black people to slavery in many countries by enforcing racial discrimination on them. In the past brutality was done by police in situations of racial discrimination which is still going on at many places to preserve power of upper class white people and for political purposes. This practice of brutality has a strong effect on minority groups like the blacks. If it is observed in a legal context police brutality is an abuse in law enforcement where a police officer has an upper hand because of the uniform they are wearing and the firearms they use which cannot be used by an ordinary individual. Examples of police brutality can be taken from the United States of America where in reality the black people are being discriminated by violating
Black Lives Matter is not a movement that believes all lives do not matter; nevertheless, it highlights the fact that black lives are taken for granted by the judicial system. Protests around the world have taken place to fight for justice in the black community. The immense number of deaths of unarmed black men and women is a clear sign that they are more likely to be killed by police than white people. Physical violence and excessive use of force by the U.S. police towards African Americans are seen in the news regularly.
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.