Exploring Causes and Consequences of Police Brutality

The responsibility of a police officer is to maintain public order, prevent crime, and to detect crime as well. It is a very stressful job that comes with many pressures and expectations from society. Police officers are often engaged in situations that require them to think critically and fast. They undergo many dangerous obstacles and difficult situations that many of us would fear to handle. In some of these harsh situations police officers tend to use brutal force which can ironically lead to the criminal to becoming the victim. Police brutality is the wanton use of excessive force, usually physical, but also common in forms of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation. There are two main common factors that cause police officers to engage in brutality towards an innocent person or a suspected criminal. An officer can either be taking advantage of their authority or be discriminant against a certain ethnicity/racial profiling. Police brutality is a very controversial topic. Police officers should not

On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner was seen in Staten Island selling loose cigarettes in the streets. Police officers over intensified the situation when in attempt to arrest Garner, they placed him in a chokehold. “Police escalated the situation as they were more accustomed to kicking ass than to deescalating conflict, and force was used, as it is disproportionately against blacks(Passsavant 335)”. The officers in this case had a different ways they could have handled the case more appropriately. For example, they could have frisked the suspect to immediately ensure that he was unarmed to further handle the situation more appropriately. As Garner was in a chokehold, he whispered “I can’t breathe…”, the three last words he uttered before his sudden death. This case presents clearly exemplifies officers using too much force in cases where it is not