Race, religion, ethnicity, and color have been a constant struggle for societies throughout history. Those of authority at times have used their power to prove a point, destroy the underdog, or just to be plain ole mean. People in the minority have always struggled with acceptance and equality and have often lived in fear of the majority just for being different. The following situations seemed, from the outside, to have been another case of racial profiling and possible excessive use of force. During this case study, the discovery of the entire story will be attempted. Going into it, there is not a right or wrong side but only the facts.
On August 9, 2014 Officer Darren Wilson with the Ferguson Missouri Police Department was on his way to a reported strong-arm robbery at a local convenience store in the city. While on his way, he observed two African-American males walking in the middle of the roadway (#1). Officer Wilson realized the pair matched the description given of the suspects from the robbery call in which he had been dispatched. While still in his patrol vehicle, Officer Wilson drove up to the males, and began speaking with Michael Brown. Officer Wilson told Brown to not walk in the lanes of traffic (#1).
While speaking with Brown, the incident grew heated, and as Officer Wilson attempted to exit his patrol vehicle, Brown punched Officer Wilson in the face through the window while he was still in the police vehicle. Because did not have access to another
the significance of this incident? Brown was an African American, Wilson was a white police
In the Justice System there are a lot of flaws that affect many people of color, and from past history, it has shown how these practices can lead to very unfortunate events, one of these practices is racial profiling. Racial profiling is when law enforcement uses race and ethnicity as grounds to determine if someone, typically of color, is guilty of doing something illegal. Racial profiling is a major problem in this country, this as well affects many citizens that are mainly of color because law enforcement usually sees them as targets, and it is important to improve and fixed this issue because there are many tragic incidents that have been caused of racial profiling.
Beginning in late summer, this country became bombarded with stories in the news about police officers involved in some types of controversy. The controversy that started it all was an incident that happened in Ferguson, Missouri. Since August, there has been much discussion and public debate over whether a police officer’s use of deadly force against an unarmed teenager was justified. On August 9, 2014 a young man named Michael Brown was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson after he was stopped for walking in the middle of the street. Was the shooting of an unarmed teenager in Missouri an example of police using excessive force? Who decides what force is recommended or when it becomes excessive? To determine both these questions, we first must define what constitutes specific circumstances as excessive force. Officer Darren Wilson was not guilty of using excessive or lethal force if he felt his safety or the safety of others were in danger or if Michael Brown had surrendered peacefully and without resisting arrest.
The most visible source in a racial profiling case is Title 42, U.S.C. section 1441 under the Crime Control Act of 1994 (Hemmens, 2014). Other sources such as the Fourth Amendment, and Fourteenth Amendment provides some relief in the issues of racial profiling, but Title 42 section 14141 is more effective. Title 42, section 14141 seek to end misconduct of law enforcement officers in their pattern and practice (Hemmens, 2014, p. 53).
From the discussion, it is clear that the police officers employ more deadly force than African- Americans males. This discussion has provided many incidents that show that police use deadly force against African-American males. The shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed African-American male by police officer Darren Wilson is a case in point. Chief of police, Tom Jackson initially refused to acknowledge use of excessive force by his men by, instead, preaching reconciliation. He later apologized to the Brown family, a gesture seen as an admission of guilt, before tendering his resigning soon afterwards.
Around 11:54 AM, Surveillance catches Mr. Brown stealing some cigarillos. Shortly after 12:00 PM, Officer Darren Wilson arrives, alone in his police vehicle. He starts speaking through his window and tells the two men, “Move to the sidewalk.” (Officer Wilson). He sees that Mr. Brown fits the description of a suspect in a convenience store theft. Somewhere in where Officer Wilson moves his vehicle out of traffic and to the side, he gets in an altercation with Mr. brown, who is right next to the window of the vehicle. Officer Wilson fires 2 shots from the inside of his vehicle. One barely hits Michael Brown on the thumb and the other completely missing him. “Mr. Brown runs east. Officer Wilson pursues him on foot. Mr. Brown stops and turns toward Officer Wilson, who also stops. Mr. Brown moves toward Officer Wilson, who fires several more shots. Mr. Brown is fatally wounded.” (Officer Wilson). After further investigations with this report, Officer Wilson said, “Mr. Brown reached into the vehicle and fought for my gun.” Some witnesses said Mr. Brown never moved toward Officer Wilson when he was shot and killed. Most of the witnesses said the shots were fired as he moved toward Officer
The shooting of African American teenager Michael Brown by white officer Darren Wilson has been a hot topic of debate. Those in support of Michael Brown believe that Darren Wilson racially profiled Brown and that the shooting would have never occurred had Brown been white. Those in support of Darren Wilson state that he acted in self-defense. This argument has more evidence supporting it than the argument that Brown was racially profiled.
In today’s day and age, it is no secret that police brutality is alarmingly increasing. For example, Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, MO on August 9, 2014. Many believe that Wilson had no right to shoot Brown especially because he was not possessed with any harmful
The two specific cases above show the misuse of police force in situations that may or may not be racially charged. However, racial profiling and stereotyping does enhance the probability of police officers behaving in an unjust way towards minority groups. According to the National Institute of Justice, “creating a profile about the kinds of people who commit certain types of crimes may lead officers to generalize about a particular group and act according to the generalization rather than specific behavior” (National Institute of Justice). Therefore, if officers continually face criminals of a common race, every subsequent person of that race may be seen as a threat.
I spoke with the claimant and explained to him when to file his claim once he has been laid off. I was able to pay him for the week he was off due to the fact that he used to be on our partial system, in which the employers filed and certified for the employees, and had never filed a claim for himself before. I advised him that next time he would need to file during the week he was laid off or we would not be able to back-date his certifications. I closed the escalation tickets. Please let me know if you need any other assistance.
“On August 9, 2014 at 11:51 a.m., a 9-1-1 call from a convenience store alerted police about a robbery, in progress. CCTV had pictures of Michael Brown as the suspect of the robbery. At 11:52 a.m., a suspect was spotted near petrol station. At 12:00 p.m. officer Darren Wilson responds to call and leaves a nearby home where he had been responding to an emergency call about a sick child. At 12:01 p.m. officer Wilson encounters Michael Brown, but not in regards to the robbery, but to walking down the middle of the street stopping traffic. At 12:01-12:04 p.m. Michael Brown shot dead, details unknown” (BBC News).
Brown, Michael known as a “gentle giant” by his mother, was shot up to 8 times for simply not walking on the sidewalk. The police officer stopped Michael and his friend Johnson as they were walking to Harris’ house when a police officer yelled for them to “Get the f*** on the sidewalk.” The entire dispute could have been avoided by not harassing them, as they were not harming anybody, however the police officer felt the need to force them onto the sidewalk. The officer, who has yet to be named, drove forward and then stopped and backed up, almost hitting the pair of boys. What his intentions were after he got out of the car is unknown, as well as why he didn’t leave them in peace once realizing their destination was but a few feet away, what
Has one ever sit down and thought about the use of racial profiling in our country today? Many individuals have a role in racial profiling and do not realize it. Racial profiling is using one’s race or ethnicity against them as a foundation of suspecting someone to committing an offense of some sort. For example, racial profilers could say that Pit Bulls are more likely to bite than any other breeds of dogs, and to keep this from happening, all Pit Bulls should be euthanized. Of course, like all breeds of dogs, some Pit Bulls may bite, but not all of them deserve the punishment of being euthanized. The main problem with racial profiling is that innocent individuals are targeted due to past cases with their race. This leads to 36 year old Shoshana Hebshi, who is half-Jewish and half-Arab. She was targeted on a plane in Detroit due to her race. Although Shoshana Hebshi was targeted through racial profiling, the use of iron triangles saved Shoshana from unlawful accusations.
On August 9, 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot by, Darren Wilson, a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. In this case, Wilson received a report of a robbery and Brown had fit the description. Officer Wilson told Martin to put his hands up to avoid an altercation. Brown puts his hands up, while he is charging the police officer at the same time. He was not a
The other officer wasn't as understanding “I could have shot you” was the first thing this officer said to my friend after he told him his side of the story, the officer proceeded to get up in his face and verbally berate him. Now as much as this officer was very aggressive, it may have something to do with how both of us acted in the face of this interaction.