For over ten years, the actions of the police have made people wonder, “Are the officers of the law really doing justice? Are they fairly doing their jobs?” Unjustified shootings, number of beatings, unreasonable thoughts of suspicion, severe choke holds and numerous of rough treatment have lead and contributed to an uprising epidemic of police brutality in America. Many of these incidents aren't always placed on headlines therefore go unnoticed and unrecognized. Racial discrimination is said to play a huge role in police brutality. Two criminals committing they the same crime, but yet and indeed the black man is always sentenced more years to imprisonment than the white man. What types of training do these officers get? Do they take advantage …show more content…
Minority groups have been subjected for decades to many violence by those in the law enforcement in the United States. This violence is commonly known as police brutality. For years, police brutality has been a major issue and still remains a major concern for the minority community. Minority groups are most likely to become victims of discriminatory police treatment. Americans as a group are divided over how they think police in their confined communities treat racial and ethnic minorities. Forty-three percent say police treat all races and ethnic groups the same, but a majority, fifty-seven percent say they sometimes treat minority groups more harshly. African-Americans, eighty-one percent are especially likely to say police sometimes treat minority groups more harshly compared to Hispanics, sixty-three percent and whites, forty-seven percent. “A vast majority of whites (forty-seven percent) think police treat all races and ethnic groups equally” (NORC). Race has continued to play a central role in police brutality in the United States. Many studies show that police use excessive force to minority groups while others believe the use of excessive force is “reasonable” and necessary, only to prevent additional crimes to …show more content…
Race has always been an ongoing controversy in the US for years. (race history) . According to the New York Times, police have physically and verbally used discriminatory treatment against minorities. Many studies have shown that the most notable racial profiling happening with Hispanics and African-Americans are in highly urbanized areas. In such allegations of racial profiling which drivers are detained for driving in certain areas or simply because of the type of car they’re driving. In some cases, it's a reason of suspicion. In an article by Michael A. Fletcher, Race Factor, “because if their race, minorities have been arrested for little offenses to some degree and have been treated with unjust treatment for those offenses.” I related this statement to a documentary I watched, The Skin I’m In as an example supporting this claim. If two men, one caucasian and the other african-american committed the same crime, the black man would most likely be given more time to sentence in jail. This shows that race plays a huge part in our justice system and is contributing factor to police brutality.
Not only is race a central role in police brutality, as well as the abuse of authority. Fatal shootings are now becoming common and remarkably, police officers who are responsible for the killings are not being held accountable. Instead, they are given an administrative leave and released from their normal duties.
The justice system is in place in America to protect its citizens, however in the case of blacks and some other minorities there are some practices that promote unfairness or wrongful doing towards these groups. Racial profiling is amongst these practices. In cases such as drug trafficking and other criminal acts, minorities have been picked out as the main culprits based off of skin color. In the article “Counterpoint: The Case Against Profiling” it recognizes racial profiling as a problem in America and states, “[In order to maintain national security] law-enforcement officers have detained members of minority groups in vehicles more than whites”…. “these officers assume that minorities commit more drug offenses, which is not the case” (Fauchon). In relationship to law enforcement there has also been many cases of police brutality leaving young blacks brutally injured, and even dead in recent years, cases such as Michael Brown, Dontre Hamilton, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and Freddy Gray just to name a few. Many of these young men were unarmed, and the police involved had no good justification for such excess force. They were seen as threats primarily because of their skin color. Despite the fact this nation is trying to attain security, inversely they are weakening bonds between many of its
Holmes, Malcolm D. "Minority threat and police brutality: Determinants of civil rights criminal complaints in US municipalities." Criminology 38.2 (2000): 343-368.
To illustrate, majority of blacks are stop by police more than any other racial groups. Police brutality is base on ethnicity. Officers seem to target black communities for many reasons. Racist cops might view blacks as less innocent compared to whites. Growing up as an African American you witness hearing your parents telling your male siblings to respect officers and to interact with them differently than they would do their families and friends. After the fatal shooting of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The public wanted justice because the incident was not handled properly. The people wanted to express their concerns. After this incident I remember more allegation from black communities begin surfacing that the police use excessive force against them,
There is considerable evidence that minorities and police are not in agreement on many issues, and the blame is being shifted from all parties involved. The police feel that they are fair in their treatment of minorities, but the evidence in many instance prove otherwise. When we view articles on the arrests of minorities versus whites, you will notice a variation in how various nationalities are treated. When reading the newspaper, you will see the photograph of a minority with previous criminal history and other issues outlined. This to me is done to paint a picture that shows the accused is already known for violating the law.
There have been many studies and case reports involving racial profiling, particularly racial profiling issues involving traffic stop and seizures. In a study done of reports on the stop-and-searches done on Interstate 95 in Maryland, it was found that 28.4 percent of black drivers and passengers and 28.8 percent of white drivers and passengers stopped were found with illegal contraband. (U.S. Department of Justice) The disparity between the two statistics is a mere .4 percent and shows that race is not an issue. Further reading into the seventy one page report written by the U.S. Department of Justice sho...
Police brutality and racial profiling dates back to the 1700’s in the United States(Rushing). Unfortunately, such treatment by police continues today when police are expected to hold the civic duty to protect and serve. Mistreatment by police is just the start in most cases, when citizens fight back it becomes “brutal”. Police brutality by definition means “The use of any force exceeding that reasonably to accomplish a lawful police purpose.” Police brutality can occur in many different ways with the most common being physical harm. Although that is a big problem, there are other cases of Police brutality that involve acts of false arrest, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, intimidation, etc. An act that can be seen as police brutality could be a criminal running from the cops and an officer shoots a victim with a taser. Many cases of physical harm are police using excessive force to contain and arrest any individual. Since many accounts of police brutality have been directed towards minorities, these cases turn into acts of racial profiling. Racial profiling is the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having committed an offense. Let 's say for example Trayvon Martin, a simple 17 year old black male walking home from a gas station was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch member. This being one of the many
Racial tension has been a part of America ever since the Civil War. Today we have a different issue with race, which is called racial profiling. Over the years, the relationship between the police and community of color has gone bitterly racial profiling. America’s society today tends to be tainted by racial profiling and stereotypes. These issues can have great effects on our society.
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
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
Some people think that the police are targeting minorities, because there is more police activity around minorities; however, police officers are not targeting minorities. Accordingly, one reason people might think minorities might be being targeted are because of the color different races of the individual and the police officer. Based off recent events the public believes that if the police officer and the suspect have different color of skin, the officer is targeting that suspect. However; the literature does not agree, “In addition, officers’ race and racial interaction effects between officers’ being white and arrestees’ being non-white did not produce a significant relationship” (Lee Jang, Yun, Lim, & Tushaus 2010). The police are not looking at the suspect’s skin color before the officer justifies the arrest, police judge the arrest justified if there is probable cause that the suspect broke the law. Police officers look for criminal activity, and people who match the description of a criminal, but the police do not just go after people of an opposite race. Additionally, people believe that the police use more force around people of color because those individuals are being targeted. “Police officers use deadly force when they believe they have no choice in order to preserve human life, their own or that of other citizens… Police officers characteristically restrain their use of force with citizens, sometimes at the cost of their own safety. However, certain types of attitudes, personalities, and job experiences may make some officers more prone to use force in police-citizen” the types of attitudes are common in minorities (Miller, 2015). This is not true though, police officers are not targeting minorities. Minorities might be more aggressive because many might think the police are racially profiling. Police officers do
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
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.
“People, including police officers, hold strong implicit associations between blacks, and probably Hispanics, and weapons, crime and aggression," said Jack Glaser. Police brutality statistics show that African Americans are three times more likely to be murdered by cops than any other race. Racial disparity in the United States is a coherent reason for the increase of criminal injustice in the United States. Whenever you hear about an African American being killed by the United States police, you never see All Lives Matter supporters protesting.
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.