In the short story, “38 Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police” one specific quote really stood out to me. When the author states, “’Good people’ failed to call the police” (671), I instantly thought of a few situations that have happened in today’s society. With this in mind I came up with my thesis: the bad reputation and distrust of the police can turn even the greatest person into a bad Samaritan. I think it will be a great essay because it is a very controversial topic. I personally believe that the police are here to protect us, but there are many that think that cops are their enemy and are out to get them. With all of the negative media coverage of the police, an everyday normal citizen could think twice before getting involved and reporting
Lack of training and policing standards are closely linked to the myriad problems bedeviling police work, especially in small departments (Brodeur, 2010). All over the country, police departments report cases of officers being caught in uncompromising and unprofessional situations, resulting in disciplinary actions such as redeployment, suspension or sacking. These cases of unprofessionalism have led to questions being asked about policing, occasioned by recurring series of questionable and controversial encounters with police officers (Brodeur, 2010). The consequence of such encounters is increasing public distrust in law enforcement agencies.
If you grew up in an average middle-class town in the United States you were probably raised on the premise that the police were there to protect and fight crime, however, in many of today’s urban centers throughout the country, the tension between the police and the citizens has a very different relationship. The term ‘police’ brings many images to mind, while the objective of the police is to prevent and detect crime, this is far from the way so many Americans feel. Far from the original purpose of the police, the use of brutal and sometimes lethal force has evoked questions regarding the skewed system and the relationship between both in the communities. Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the issue in the article, The Paranoid Style of American Policing, often bringing up complex issues, and effectively brings the issues to life through anecdotes. Coates presents a logical, thought out and well-executed argument surrounding the cracked police system in America. Due to the well-supported thesis, the structure of the argument, and lack of fallacies, Coates position is adequately supported through the use
Within the article, “The Myth of Police Reform,” the author points out how police respond to a lot of problems in our society that should not require police intervention. This is clearly an explicit argument because the author states that, “Fear and compliance have their place, but it can’t be every place.” This editorial is meant for everyone because it brings up numerous examples of people being shot, chased, or arrested over issues that shouldn’t involve violence. It also gives examples including different ages, races, and gender. Most of these narrations end up with someone getting shot over a silly reason whether it is someone running around naked or some kid tripping on mushrooms. These examples help us infer that every problem cannot be handled by force. Some may disagree with this, but the police can make mistakes just like the rest of us. Honestly, this paper seems very one sided. As soon as he says something noble about the police, he has something just as bad to counter it.
This essay is not attempting to push the ideology that the main issue isn’t because of them. However, the fear and hatred that is driven behind everyone on both positions is being perpetuated by the amount of negative coverage that this issue is receiving. In psychology, there is a term called confirmation bias, which is used to describe a mindset where people will only seek out information that conforms to their preconceived notions about something they believe to be true. (Fontinelle) Because of this, those who are in that mindset will be unlikely to be convinced otherwise that they are wrong. The fact that police are generally only talked about negatively in the news will almost force an individual who keeps up with mainstream media to see only negative things about police officers, and start to believe that police officers are not as trustworthy as they should be. This creates an immediate confirmation bias in people’s mind, which is a problem when the issue is already heated. Statistically speaking, the majority of officers are not the same as those being covered in the news. Good officers, alongside bad officers, have been seen as problematic because of the excess police brutality coverage, which in return negatively affects the entire police
Police officers are individuals who enforce the law upon their community to ensure that their citizens remain safe. In the past couple of years, officers of the law have been involved in acts of brutality that seem to go beyond the proper measurements of protection for their citizens. Policemen are supposed to protect their citizens from danger and from harm, not impose a threat on them. The fact that officers have a history of abusing their power indicates that their trust amongst the community has been corrupted. Those who have been affected of police brutality feel as though they have been deceived. They no longer feel that police officers will protect them, but rather abuse them, and that is a problem. We have began to live in a community in which an individual feels frightened when seeing a cop, rather than feeling protected. Some individuals may argue that police brutality is not a problem due to the fact that it is not consistent enough to catch the attention of needing a solution. However, that idea means little when the level of brutality has led to the death of several innocent victims in some cases. We must not wait for there to be a pattern of death at the hands of police officials to consider this a problem. One death indicates that preventive measures must be taken to ensure that these officers are no longer put in the position to abuse their power to begin with.
Police institutions depend on being considered legitimate by the public in order to continue working for the public. However, with recent cases such as the streetcar killing of Sammy Yatim, the legitimacy of police has begun to be questioned. For the purpose of this essay, I will focus on how this case has brought forth conversations regarding police culture—including use of force and the visibility of police in the age of technology—and ultimately how this has shaped public perception of police.
In modern day society, the police force is meant to safeguard the lives of those they serve, to eliminate crime, to ensure public safety, and to do so in an honorable fashion. They are meant to be respected and trusted by those they potentially "protect." Children often looked at them as modern day superheroes. At some point however, something changed and the neighborhood hero transformed into the villain. What happens when the ones people reach out to in a time of distress become the ones causing the chaos? Who are people to turn to when those they thought would protect them are becoming the antagonist? Over the years, police officers have committed crimes against those for several reasons, but the main one that will be analyzed is
The text, “Anything Can Happen With Police Around,” examines the several studies that have been constructed about the countless views and interactions with the police, also taking into account the more detailed interactions with the police in a matter of race or gender. These studies have included the importance of how school surveillance, youth perspective, the general public’s perspective, attitudes toward the police and even sexual harassment from police towards females impact the lives and experiences of those around them. Throughout the years, there has been a growing concern of the criminal justice system to secure problems, from troublesome youth to the increasing crime rate that has had an effect on urban cities throughout the nation. Statistics show, from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention website, that from the year 2009 to 2014 the crime rate has steadily increased by 6%. The studies constructed, have detailed responses and experiences of both the minority and majority races that have had encounters with the police or those of higher authority. The perspective of the youth has brought an increasing amount of attention to those concerned about the matter. This survey was created to engage the youth and allow them to express how they felt towards those in higher authority, in a sense of both a safety issue and safety concern. According to the many topics discussed most viewed the adults as untrustworthy, but leaned towards their parents,
This article is explaining how the misconduct of police is different big cities like New York City and Los Angeles. It also brought up when a police shooting happens, what do other races think of the police, with that being said, this is also talking about 2 shootings of Patrick dorismond in New York and Amadou Diall, the author tracks public attitudes toward the police before and after each incident, and they also examine the similarities and the opinions of whites, blacks, and Mexican. For example, they were a few police shootings that happened in the 90s, first was the Rodney King beating which was caught on video tape, but no convictions also numerous police scandal that was reported from 1999 to 2000 in the Los Angeles police department. After each incident the most impactful one was the Rodney King beating of African Americans, which after that the trust in police went down drastically because of that image that was seen worldwide. This article is relevant to my research because it talks about police brutality and cases that has happened over the years, this also gives actual statatics about how many African Americans and Mexicans are more likely to be encountered a police brutality.
Police Brutality is a very serious problem that deals with our personal rights and it happens a lot around our world today. I want to focus this whole paper over this problem all over the world. Today there are many protests, stories, and first hand experiences with police brutality. One thing that makes this problem huge is how kids or civilians see law enforcement. According to one of my articles, natives or blacks were twice as likely to be killed by law enforcement. This being because of stereotypes on their race or ethnicity (Amaya, "Police Brutality in America.”). Police in the U.S. are the ones people are aiming to get in trouble for doing their job, only because they can use excessive force if
Since a very young age we have been taught to put our trust into police officers. If we are in distress, they are always there to help since it is their job to protect and serve the common citizen. So what happens when the individuals we are supposed to trust to bring justice are the ones causing the injustice we see in the news? Recently, several police officers have been under fire for their excessive use of force. The number of casualties caused by police officers in the recent years have citizens demanding a reform in the system that officers work under.
Thesis Statement: While some citizens argue that police officers are doing their job, is police violence more prevalent, because of social media dramatization, lack of proper tactical training, or is it the vigilante attitude that makes the officers’ feel above the law?
These days, police are often stereotyped as aggressive, corrupt beings. The growing hatred for police officers widens the divide between citizens and law enforcement, causing tension and intensely aggressive feelings on both ends. The recent shootings of young African-American men have also added to the societal hatred of law enforcement. Through media exposure, these shootings have been portrayed as cruel, often times revealing the victim to be an unarmed man.
In recent years, society has heard cases of police brutality at an increasingly shocking rate, thus creating a sense of distrust among communities towards police officers and other authority figures. As the first line of defense against crimes such as home invasions or crimes against persons, police officers are expected to be an ally towards victims; however, it seems that society is now viewing officers as the perpetrators of crimes as opposed to the protectors. This has already posed an issue because community members are choosing not to seek police help when needed, and when they do decide to seek help, forgoing police assistance results in being uncertain of where else to go.
Throughout life people face countless decisions; however, making the wrong choice may lead to a catastrophic consequence. As a woman was being brutally stabbed in Kew Gardens near Austin Street, numerous bystanders did not help or act upon calling the police. The choice of the bystanders to not phone the police lead to the death of an innocent woman. Had just one of the thirty-eight people called the police, that innocent woman would still have breath in her lungs. In the article “Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police,” Martin Gansberg expresses his anger and disapproval toward those who left a poor woman to die. If the thirty-eight people took immediate action and did not make excuses, the precious life of Catherine Genovese would have been rescued.