African American Police Misconduct Essay

“If police had more of the minority in suits and protecting the people just as much as the majority, would the crime rates be different?” Said (Alex R. Piquero from University Of Texas at Dallas). The police already has a very small population of the minority group already on the police force, If you go to California or New Mexico you can see that most police officers are hispanic, and the same for New York of New Jersey most of the police officers are African American. Most people however could very well see a change in police brutality if there was even more of the minority in the police force. In some cases of police brutality it isn’t brutality at all, the civilians have been known in most cases to push the police officers to their “brink” and push them to use excessive force, so basically setting up police officers to continue the persona that all police officers are bad. Police officers are incredibly easy to work with but you also

On September 2, 2014 the Department of Justice (DOJ), Civil Rights Division opened an investigation on the Ferguson Police Department (FPD). Subsequently, after the police involved shooting death of Michael Brown on August 9, 2014. The DOJ revealed that the police department had violated the first, fourth and fourteenth Amendment rights of the United States Constitution of its citizens (6). In addition, the DOJ wants to end illegal and racially-discriminatory policing such as targeting poor and African American people for arrest, in order to raise revenue (6). In the year of 2014, the FPD conducted a total of 4572 vehicle stops (758 Caucasian, 3756 African American and 58 other), which resulted in 409 searches (27 Caucasian, 379 African American

“The African American community is not making this up. It’s not something that’s being politicized. It’s real”

Police brutality is the lavish physical assault or verbal assault during police procedures which can involve interrogating or apprehending a suspect. Police brutality originated from the labor worker strikes in the 1800’s through the 1900’s. The violent brutal act of these officers usually formed around the lower socioeconomic class. Since then police brutality has hit an all-time high in the 21st century. In New York alone there has been reportedly over 72 police brutality reports some reports even ended in the deaf of a citizen. There’s been claim of police officers violently choking citizens at traffics stops and beating citizen up in public. There’s been new technology such as body cameras which are used by most police but not all.

African Americans in modern America have bound together in unity against inequality to help end the unnecessary murders and unjust police beatings. However, where did these tensions between police and African Americans begin? This question can be answered by looking at the history of police in America and why they were originally established. Police first came on to the scene in 1704 when Carolina established the nation’s first slave patrol that would turn into what we know today as the modern police. The slave patrol had the duty of searching for runaway slaves and returning them to their masters. Therefore, the original reason the police force was established was to deal with black slaves and it seems as if some officers today still hold that as their job title. However, this was just the beginning to the negative police encounters that many African Americans would have to endure. With the ratification of the 13th amendment and the freeing of the slaves the slave patrol became what is known as modern day police. During reconstruction the police began a war to create a new form of slavery, this form of slavery was known as convict leasing. Although, the 13th amendment legalized the enslavement of anyone convicted of a crime it seemed as if it was only used against African Americans. This new method of enslavement sky rocketed the rate of African American arrests and created new laws in the south such as the pig laws which sentenced anyone who stole a pig to 5 years in

Social psychologists have studied the cause and effect of biases, specifically by white police officers towards minorities. Implicit bias, specifically racial bias, describes a psychological process in which a person’s unconscious racial belief (stereotypes) and attitudes (prejudices) affect his or her behaviors, perceptions, and judgments in ways that they are largely unaware of and typically, unable to control (Graham).

Over the last two years in the United States the African-American people have been fighting a war within our own backyards. The Washington Post reports that since January 2015, the police have shot and killed over 175 young black men ranging from ages 18-29; 24 of them were unarmed. On the flip side 172 young white men were killed, only 18 being unarmed. With these statistics there are similarities in the numbers but, blacks were killed at rates disproportional to their percentage of U.S population (1.Washington Post). Of all unarmed people shot and killed by police in 2015. With 40% being black men make up just 6% of the nation’s populations. In the wake of the killings of Mike Brown, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling, and many more the world has been made more publicly aware of injustices black people have to handle when dealing with law enforcement. Crime in the black community is nothing new in the black community or should I say black on black crime. There is a bad stereotype that has been put on black people since slavery times that I believe has help fueled the violence between the police and my people.

There are many instances where minorities are not given the chance to prosper in American society. The same system that promises all men equal opportunity has turned its back in the face of minorities. We plan to examine some segments of this system, namely the media and the criminal justice system, exposing injustices burdening minorities in America.

In my opinion, police brutality is the most important problem in the U.S., and people should concern about it. Because the problem is strongly connected to other crucial issues like racism and civil rights violations. Additionally, currently it is the critical moment when we can stop it now, or it is going to practically impossible. Now it is not a secret that people of color are affected the most from a police brutality. This is quoted as, “Since the time that Africans were forcibly brought to America, they have been the victims of racist and discriminatory practices that have been spurred and/or substantiated by those who create and enforce the law” (Chaney & Robertson, 2013, p. 481). It is reported that African Americans to be killed at three times the rate of whites or other minorities (Wong, 2015). In 2015, at least 102 unarmed black people were killed by police at 5 times the rate of unarmed whites (Dallas Shooting, 2016). According to Buehler James’s

Police brutality against African Americans was a huge impact in Los Angeles, California in 1991, and continues to be a problematic situation in America today. On March 3, 1991, a group of white LAPD beat Rodney King. After this incident occurred a lot of negative events started to transpire. A lot of African Americans were angry and demanded justice. The relationship between the LAPD and the Los Angeles community in 1991 were horrific and still continues to be awful today. Police brutality just seems to be increasing more overtime, which means the increase in the community not trusting the police. Police brutality can be a huge disadvantage when it comes to community policing.

What is police misconduct? It can be defined as any action performed by a law enforcement officer that is unethical by established employment guidelines, unconstitutional, or a crime with in itself. When people hear the term “police misconduct” they automatically think of a police officer using unnecessary force against a civilian. While that is a form of police misconduct it is not only form. Throughout this paper I will bring light to the many types of police misconduct that can happen in the law enforcement industry.

Throughout the last one hundred and fifty years, there has been a history of tension and conflict between the police and minority communities in the United States. In principle, the police exist to enforce the law and protect all citizens regardless of race or ethnic background, yet police departments across the country have been repeatedly accused of targeting and harassing racial minorities, and of failing to root out racist attitudes and practices within their ranks. In recent years, high profile cases such as the beating of Rodney King in Los Angles and the assault on Abner Louima in New York have only served to heighten concerns over the mistreatment of minorities by the police, resulting in widespread calls for major legal and institutional reforms. The recent shootings of Michael Brown, Ezell Ford, Eric Garner, and Terrance Crutcher underscore the danger Black men and boys face when they cross paths with law enforcement officers. In the absence of a coordinated national strategy, state and local police departments have largely been left to develop their own solutions to the problems of policing minority communities and improving cultural sensitivity amongst their officers. Many departments have sought to reform recruitment and selection policies in the hope of attracting greater numbers of minority applicants, while others have instituted diversity training and education programs aimed at improving police understanding of minority cultures and communities. To date, however, these efforts have yielded mixed results. Some departments have achieved notable successes, but on the whole, relations between the police and minority communities across the country remain strained. of cultural diversity and the police.

Ever since the Civil Rights movement, police brutality, specifically against young black men, has been a rising issue in the United States. Unfortunately, police officers are usually acquitted from their charges, even in the worst cases. The reasoning behind this is police officers are commonly seen as trustworthy and accountable. Another root behind this issue is citizens are more likely to perceive black people as ‘criminals’ or ‘dangerous.’ This gives an advantage to the police officer and leads them to being dropped from all charges. However, how do we defeat the issue of police misconduct? What approaches must be taken to reduce the number of unarmed citizens being shot and killed? There’s no explicit answer. A combination of several techniques can help aid the issue of police brutality. One approach to reducing police misconduct in changing the police training at the academy. Police in training are taught that the goal of each day is to go home after their shift. They’re shown gut wrenching videos of police officers being killed, gunned down, beaten, and disarmed. This shows officers the threats they can face on the daily basis. Every officer thinks the same thing; they will never allow that to happen to them. This gives the police a sense of instinctual defense. They will take every precaution possible to prevent them from being killed. Although this method of training has been proven successful, it increases

Police misconduct is a broad term; it can potentially include anything from a police officer making a stop without even a reasonable suspicion justification to the use of lethal force in an altercation that does not warrant it or could have been resolved without it. Police misconduct is not limited to the use and abuse of lethal or nonlethal force at the hands of law enforcement. Police misconduct is defined by the Cato Institute as: “any action performed by a law enforcement officer that is unethical, against established employment guidelines, unconstitutional, or criminal in nature.” (Packman, 2009) Police misconduct has been an unresolved issue for generations, but in the recent few years it has received an uptick in coverage by scholars, mainstream media, and certain demographics that may not have been necessarily affected by it in the past. This is largely due in part to the outstanding technological advances that we have seen in the recent years. Smart phones, Twitter, Facebook, and the ability to live stream police misconduct and brutality at any given moment has allowed communities across the nation the ability to share their grievances and experiences with law enforcement. The fact of the matter is law enforcement agents are the first line of defense, and the criminal justice system’s direct line of contact with the communities it supposedly exists to serve. If there is an issue regarding their relationship with their communities or any kind of abuse of power, and

By no time in the future, our actual police force will be controlling the society like in Harrison Bergeron´s. I can say for sure that this is going to happen as a consequence that nowadays the police is abusing of their power as well as responsibilities they have with society to do whatever they want.