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Minorities and police brutality
Police brutality in minority communities
Media playing a role in police brutality essay
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There has been controversy in the world about police brutality and whether police have used excessive force to apprehend a subject is increasing. Police brutality has been around for a long time, but it just now televised. In the late 19th century, the issue of police brutality was often tied to business owners’ efforts to break up strikes by workers attempting to organize and form labor unions, also on a day known as Bloody Sunday where a group of peaceful protesters were literally beaten to the ground, sprayed with tear gas, and water hose by the police (“Police Brutality”). Even in 2015 in Baltimore Freddie Gray, 25-year-old African-American male, died while in police custody due to injuries in the spine and in some parts of Baltimore the …show more content…
The minorities are vulnerable to the media because the minorities are shot and killed by the police. In the case of Michael Brown, who is a minority, being that he is a young black male, who allegedly was walking illegally in the middle of a street was shot by Darren Wilson a white police officer. In the accounts of what transpired Wilson the police officer said that Brown attacked him in his car, but an eyewitness alleged that brown was shot while holding his hands up in the air and was unharmed(“Police Brutality”). However the headlines in the media are emphasizing race, black vs. white, which is a controversial topic due to the history of black and white people. Do to events like slavery and segregation, yet the media seem to play on race instead of facts. Next, People don’t process or take in the truth. For example, in the case of Eric Garner, people bypass the part of Eric selling illegal cigarettes and all people hear is the Eric was put in a choke hold. The media realize how to exploit the minority faults. For instance the minorities have a low literacy rate. That means a most of the minority population don’t know how to read and write. The media know how to use their power to get an emotional reaction without providing a considerable amount of information and that can cause people to make irrational decisions. Lastly, how the media is affecting minorities because what …show more content…
Department of Justice has investigated the police forces of several large cities for systemic police misconduct, including, harassment of racial minorities, false arrests, and excessive use force. (“Police Brutality”); however this can often be difficult when the media come into play can often misinterpret facts about a case. This is media’s way of using their power to add on even more pressure on U.S. Department of Justice to the pressure that they are already under to make sure to victims get justice. The first thing the U.S. Department of Justice have to do is investigate and a majority of complaints against of police are thrown out upon further investigation. For examples A 2006 Justice Department report, stated that only 2,000 of the more than 26,000 citizen complaint of police brutality filed nationally in 2002−less than 8 percent−were found credible("Police Brutality"). The U.S. Department of Justice also have find evidence which includes testimony, documentary evidence, and physical evidence. The media can often twist people in to saying thing that are not true, and twist videos into only show what they want people to believe. In recent new, In South Carolina a female student was slammed on the ground and throw a cross the classroom. The media didn’t display the entire video where the teacher tells the girl to leave, then the assistant principal, and the officer tells her to leave. When she doesn’t leave he tries to grab
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
Police brutality is when a police officer causes serious bodily harm to a civilian. Police brutality is shown by the increasing amounts of Taser deaths each year. A chart created by the Seattle Post Intelligencer shows how during the year two-thousand only one Taser death occurred, but in two-thousand-four that number climbed to a staggering thirty-nine. In Baltimore, Maryland Freddie Grey was found dead while under police supervision. The night of Freddie Grey’s funeral Baltimore erupted in protests and riots. The chaos went on for days, the National Guard eventually came in to restore order and peace to the city. Media in recent months has increased focus on racial police brutality. Incidents of young teens dying have created uproars everywhere, media abuses this continues to fuel the fire and spark more
Police brutality against minorities has been a problem over the years. Police brutality is the use of excessive physical force including beating citizens with hands or batons stun guns, teargas and even lethal weapons (Walter, 2014) Police brutality has caused severe physical harm over the year but it may also involve psychological harm through the use of intimidation tactics beyond the scope of officially sanctioned police procedures. Police brutality has been a major problem in many areas among law enforcement officers through the mistreatment of unarmed citizens. Although police brutality is illegal in many areas, many incidents of police brutality go unreported and prosecuted. The Police Misconduct Provision
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.
It is one of the several forms of police misconduct, which include: false arrest, intimidation, racial profiling, political repression, surveillance abuse, sexual abuse, and police corruption. Although illegal, it can be performed under the color of law. The term "police brutality" was in use in the American press as early as 1872, when the Chicago Tribune reported on the beating of a civilian under arrest at the Harrison Street Police Station. The origin of 'modern ' policing based on the authority of the nation state is commonly traced back to developments in seventeenth and 18th century France, with modern police departments being established in most nations by the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Cases of police brutality appear to have been frequent than, with the routine beating of citizens by patrolmen armed with nightsticks or blackjacks. Large-scale incidents of brutality were associated with labor strikes, such as the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, the Pullman Strike of 1894, the Lawrence textile strike of 1912, the Ludlow massacre of 1914, the Steel strike of 1919, and the Hanapepe massacre of 1924. Portions of the population may recognize the police to be persecutors. Also, there is a view that victims of police brutality often belong to relatively powerless groups, such as minorities, the disabled, the young, and the poor. In March 1991, members of the Los Angeles Police Department harshly beat an African American suspect, Rodney King, while a white civilian videotaped the incident, leading to extensive media coverage and criminal charges against several of the officers involved. In April 1992, hours after the four police officers involved were cleared at trial, the Los Angeles riots of 1992 commenced, causing 53 deaths, 2,383 injuries, more than 7,000 fires, damage to 3,100 businesses, and nearly $1 billion in financial losses. After facing federal trial, two of the
Police misconduct is as rampant as ever in America, and it has become a fixture of the news cycle. Police brutality is the use of any force exceeding that reasonably necessary to accomplish a lawful police purpose. The media is inevitably drawn toward tales of conflict, hence why there are so many crime and police stories on the news. Despite the increasing frequency of misbehaving cops, many Americans still maintain a high respect for the man in uniform. Still, police misconduct is a systemic problem, not just an anecdotal one. Here are some reasons why it is a problem. First, many departments do not provide adequate training in nonviolent solutions. With this, police are unfamiliar with what to
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
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
Background and Audience Relevance: According to the Human Rights Watch 2012 report on Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States; police brutality has become one the most serious human rights violation. As citizens of the United States it is our duty to make sure that those with authority don 't take advantage of their power.
Police brutality has become one of the hot topics within the media within the past few years. It’s always been around but its being discussed and speculated now more than ever, because of technology like cell phones, people are able to record what is happening, which furthers the attention of the police’s over excessive force within their communities. Still even with cellphone footage of cops killing these innocent people, they get acquitted and get put on leave from their job with pay until all of it blows over and they begin working again. Some cops believe that because they’re hiding behind a badge, they get a pass at murdering people and call it self-defense and refuse to take responsibility for their actions, which is a technique of neutralization. Minorities, especially African-Americans suffer many injustices from law enforcement especially in terms of being killed, brutalized, and longer jail sentences
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.
Chaney and Robertson, (2013) stated that “The Department of Justice office of Civil Rights has investigated more than a dozen police departments in major cities across the country on allegations of racial discrimination or police brutality”. Police brutality is defined as the use of excessive physical force or verbal assault and psychological intimidation. White police officers who grew up in the south and were raised to see African Americans in a negative way have a lower opinion of them. However, not all white police officers are from the south, some say that police officers are just abusing their power. When we look at what is going on around the country, it appears racism plays a part in police brutality. Even during this new digital age, there are video cameras in police cars facing the front of the vehicle, but that still does not hinder police using excessive
The streets of Baltimore were flooded in protest from April 18, 2015 to May 3, 2015. Many people were angered over the death of Michael Brown and many other incidents involving racial profiling in law enforcement cases, with many of the officers not receiving proper punishment Before the protests, many of the Baltimore’s 620,000 citizens were already angry with the rising debate over police force and brutality. Following the death of Freddie Gray, An unarmed black man who was arrested and then transported in a police
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.
One of the primary reasons being the fact that police departments are not required to report incidents of abuse at the federal level (Reisenwitz, 2015). Another reason why police brutality is a problem is because most departments do not provide adequate training in nonviolent solutions. Therefore, without this specific training, police officers are less likely to view violence as their last resort (Kristian, 2015). Nevertheless, as stated in Seven Reasons Why Police Brutality Is Systemic, Not Anecdotal, police deviance is a problem because consequences for misconduct are minimal. It has also been stated that in central New Jersey ninety-nine percent of police brutality complaints are never investigated, and only one out of every three accused cops are convicted nationwide. Meanwhile civilian convictions are double that(Kristian, 2015). Believe it or not, In Chicago, the numbers are even more skewed: It has been reported that there were 10,000 abuse complaints filed against the Chicago PD between 2002 and 2004, and just 19 of them ”resulted in meaningful disciplinary action (Kristian, 2015).” According to USA Today, due to juries being conditioned to believe cops, on a national level, upwards of 95 percent