Johnson 1

Johnson 2

Destiny Johnson

ENGL 1102

Nellie Cox

February 11, 2020

The inhumane crime of Police Brutality

Normally police are expected to maintain law and order in their given jurisdictions, in as much as this is their sole responsibility to serve and protect; some officers within the authorities have often abused this role to abuse civilians within these jurisdictions. The commander in chief of the armed forces, in most states, being the sitting president appoints the head of the police from the service team. The appointments by the sitting president are usually of servicemen or women who are loyal and can enhance their needs as they require. Nevertheless, the notion that comes with the advancement of the president’s demands has been used in vain, with some officers taking advantage of civilians. In some cases, the police go to the extent of inflicting pain and even death in some instances. For instance, According to Duignan & Moore (2016), between 2000 and 2017, police in Canada were involved in at least 460 fatal interactions. Most of the victims of police brutality are often drug abusers, civilians suffering from mental health, or in some cases, civilians of a different minority than the police officer. In some countries, police brutality is on the rise with higher numbers. For example, in 2018 in Venezuela, over 5000 civilians were killed by authorities, this is outrageous coming from the law enforcement we seek to protect us, not harm us.

Human Rights activists and private citizens have compiled different cases trying to bring the police department into account and seek justice for the victims of police brutality. However, the different cases in one way are disregarded considering the influence of politics in many cases. Although, there exist cases where the victims have received justice for the ills committed against them. However, the rate at which these cases are handled is not in any way appealing and more should be done to reduce the rate of the cases that are being piled on as much as possible. The government in place should Institute tough measures to ensure that perpetrators of police brutality fully meet the wrath of the law (Duignan & Moore, 2016). Police officers main concern is to offer security to the citizens; they should be guided on how better to discharge their duty without causing any iota of pain to the civilians. Governments should put in place measures to bring justice to the victims of police brutality as well as shun the vice.

I. Most police brutality cases that have been reported involve people from minority groups.

A. In the United States, the police brutalize African Americans more as compared to white people.

1. In 2018, police in the United States killed 1,143 people with black people representing 23% of this number despite being only 13% of the population (Lumsden, 2017).

B. Statistics show that police are quick to shoot unarmed black people as compared to white people.

1. Black suspects are 78% more likely to get shot by police officers (Alang et al., 2017).

C. Police associate black with crime therefore taking unnecessary measures against black suspects.

2. For instance, if someone steals from a grocery store and leave the same premises at the same time as a white person, the police are more likely to arrest the black person and charge him/her of the crime.

D. Anti-Black racism among police officers explains the predominance of black victims among law enforcement officers.

1. Police believe that blacks are associated with crime and therefore reach with aggression towards them (Brown, 2019).

E. Prejudices among law enforcement officers have also contributed to police brutality experienced by minority groups.

1. When a crime occurs, law enforcement officers are more likely to brutalize people from minority groups.

II. Most law enforcement officers who engage in violence do not get convicted of their crime.

A. A good number of law enforcement officers have been charged with police brutality but they are still exercising their duties as no action was taken against them.

1. A study conducted in 2015 found out that 99% of cases involving police brutality did not result in any law enforcement officer being convicted of the crime (Lumsden, 2017).

B. This encourages officers to continue brutalizing citizens since they are not held accountable.

1. When a crime occurs, law enforcement officers are more likely to brutalize people from minority groups.

C. When police brutality cases occur police leaders move swiftly to protect their juniors.

1. A good example is a case where a junior officer was not taken to court in California after a shooting incidence as his superiors argued that his actions were within the law (Brown, 2019).

D. Police officers do not conduct their activities in conformity to the constitution as they know they are protected.

1. Officers can violate the constitution knowingly since they know they will be protected by their seniors.

E. While the law is clear on situations where law enforcement officers should use force, they seem to be disinterested in adhering to the law.

1. Officers do not conduct enough research to understand their areas of jurisdiction (Angus & Crichlow, 2018).

III. Police culture motivates law enforcement officers to brutalize citizens

A. Institutional culture among law enforcement departments which stresses “show of force”, solidarity and loyalty when the authority of an officer is challenged is part of this problem.

1. For instance, if a suspect fails to adhere to the directives of an officer, then the later can be aggressive.

B. For law enforcement officers, promotion, acceptance and other forms of success in based on the ability of an officer to adopt the practices, attitudes and values of the department which have been infused with black racism historically.

1. Officers conduct their activities in ways that support the practices, attitudes and values of the department so that they can find favor with their bosses and get promoted.

C. The interactions between police departments and African Americans have been shaped largely by the great migration (Angus & Crichlow, 2018).

1. This integration resulted in various forms of police brutality.

2. Police became complicit in dealing with drugs around within minority groups neighborhoods.

IV. Conclusion

A. In conclusion, Police brutality has increased in the past few years because of racial profiling, lack of accountability and institutionalized systems of police culture.

B. Police are more likely to brutalize unarmed black men as compared to their white counterparts.

C. Law enforcement officers engage in crime as they will not be held accountable by their departments.

D. Institutional culture among law enforcement departments which stresses “show of force”, solidarity and loyalty when the authority of an officer is challenged is part of this problem.

E. More policies need to be developed and implemented to bring accountability law enforcement departments.

References

Alang, S., McAlpine, D., McCreedy, E., & Hardeman, R. (2017). Police brutality and black health: setting the agenda for public health scholars. American journal of public health, 107(5), 662-665. Retrieved from

https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303691

Angus, J., & Crichlow, V. (2018). A Race and Power Perspective on Police Brutality in America. Retrieved from

https://journals.flvc.org/faurj/article/view/106404

Brown, D. (2019). Police Brutality through the Eyes of the Brutalized. In Critical Storytelling in Millennial Times (pp. 13-21). Brill Sense. Retrieved from

https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004396470/BP000012.xml

Lumsden, E. (2017). How much is police brutality costing America. U. Haw. L. Rev., 40, 141. Retrieved from

https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/uhawlr40&div=6&id=&page=