In today’s culture we seem to find ourselves wanting to watch more and more crime movies and television shows. In an article on The Daily Dot by S.E. Smith, he asks the question “Why are we glamorizing police brutality on television?” Smith goes on to say that: “Culturally, we’re fascinated by law enforcement. Long before Telecrime and the later Telecrimes, people were ravenously consuming penny dreadfuls, procedural serials, and detective novels. The police and law enforcement genre dominates pop culture to this day, from the mystery section of the bookstore to every night on television; at any given time, some network is airing a law enforcement show.” After reading further into this article, I found myself wondering, how many police shows …show more content…
We are always to assume that police officers are there for the greater good and or in an emergency when one calls upon them. However, one could say that this is strongly connected to certain communities and the majority race that the community holds. For example, a community such as Malibu, CA might agree that their police are in fact doing their greater good deeds and protecting the city, but in a community such as Baltimore, MD where their percentage of total population of African-Americans living there are 65%, they might have a different view about their police officers. Especially with their recent police shootings, this community and ones just like it, who’s majority are people of color, have learned that when they come into contact with law enforcement, it may come with fatal consequences. Some of these shows like The Blacklist, depict evidence tampering, suspects being beaten in order to get further information, and or direct disregard for Constitutional Human rights and civil rights. But like in this show, and others alike, most of this is said to be done for the greater good of the public and to ultimately catch the bad guy. Is this what really happens in the law enforcement community? And do these shows persuade us that police officers should be allowed to catch the bad guy by any means possible, even if it is by manipulating the criminal justice system? Many people of color feel that manipulating the system is happing to them in order to protect police officers from actions or mistakes they have made. For example, In the case were a young black man named Michael Brown allegedly had his hands up but was still shot by a police officer in Ferguson, MO. After the verdict came in by the grand jury, many questioned whether police officers
Throughout history, there has been very few careers that require such a high degree of an ethical standard such as the one required for law enforcement. There is, however, a multitude of careers that require the dedication and heart such as required for a police member. Where this dedication and heart differs relies solely on the difference in the job. Officers are required to be aware of their surroundings nearly all the time as if something were to happen they would be required to navigate through the situation successfully. Somebody such as a CEO for a multimillion dollar company would not require this same quality due to the fact it is not part of their job description and the only individual that he/she needs to be worried about is themselves. However, in today’s society, and with media being an ever growing aspect, some police officers have decided on their own personal way to handle justice. So unfortunately, this small percentage of police contract a huge amount of negative eyes to the profession. This small number of individuals bring a negative view to the police department as a whole and for this cause an issue in the public’s eye. Regardless of what many individuals believe, many of the police officers decide on the ethical side of the job and are hardworking professionals who seek out to just serve the public. However, being an African American male myself the main issue I have and want to combat is the punishment officers should face if
Viewers of the show Cops may not submit to the messages early on and the effects won’t be too apparent but the more exposure that they receive from the show the more vulnerable they are to the messages that were planted in their mind, which gradually grows and soon begins to cultivate their perception of reality to what is being presented to them from the show. “Heavy television viewers tend to believe the world is more dangerous than it actually is” (Ricci )viewers then becomes affected by the mean world syndrome and starts to view the real world as a place that is infested with uneducated drug addicted criminals that are always going to get caught by these superior beings otherwise known as cops. Not only are their views on criminals biased but also racial, an majority of the criminals that are shown on Cops happens to be African American. After seeing countless images of African Americans being portrayed on the show viewers then begin to view all African Americans as petty criminals that will be, conveniently, captured by cops who happen to be white. Their views on what the real world looks like becomes distorted and twisted into
African American groups, such as Black Lives Matter, have created a false narrative that African Americans in our society are victimized by law enforcement. The media has presented police officers to be murderers, and have created trends and discussions that encourage Americans to turn their backs on the ones that protect them. Police Brutality has become an ongoing conversation as black citizens experience law enforcement related deaths. Although society is blaming the killings of African Americans on white cops specifically, they fail to realize that black and hispanic police officers are more likely to fire a gun at African Americans than white officers. This is according to a Department of Justice report in 2015 about the Philadelphia
Present day America: Ferguson, Missouri; establishments are being burned, “riots” are encompassing all surrounding areas, and the media is ablaze with “Black lives matter too” propaganda. All of the following was a butterfly effect of one situation: A white cop had “murdered” a black boy. “To support the autopsy said a microscopic exam found foreign matter, consistent with products that are discharged from the barrel of a firearm, on the tissue of Brown’s thumb wound” (Barajas, “What”). Does this not prove that officer, Darren Wilson, was in fact wrestling with the assailant at one point in the occurrence? Given our justice system, Darren Wilson, was found acquitted of the crime of manslaughter, although, many believe that this is an act of the government protecting another one of its employees. Could this crisis have been adverted if all police departments wore cameras while on the job? Most likely, although that was not available or policy given this incident. There is absolutely no reason for the
Over the years there have been a large number of police brutality incidences reported in the United States. Unfortunately, there have been a large number of cases where the law enforcement officers have been at fault, but in turn, there have also been cases where the law enforcement officers have been falsely accused. In order to increase the public’s faith and trust in law enforcement, footage needs to be made available to, not only the press, but also the public eye with body cameras. Not only will these body cameras help prevent violence, but it will also show positive footage of good working law enforcement officers, and also hold law enforcement officers liable for their unjustified actions by being recorded.
Police brutality and office involved shootings have sparked national debate and created a strain between police officers and citizens. Recently, there have been more home videos that display acts of aggression by police officers. These police officers often use excessive forces or a condescending tone towards people of color which is why there needs to be a better way to mend police and civilian relationship. People should be able to trust the police in their communities rather than fear them.
Over the years united states of America has witnessed a full-size boom in police brutality, it 's miles one of the most commonplace and extreme violation of the human rights and it occurs greater regularly than we care to recognize in our community. Starting from verbal to bodily abuse in which usually a harmless person outcomes injured as cops lay their known as justice upon the alleged criminals. Cops are confronted with an extensive sort of threatening conditions at the job each day, they undergo an intensive training on the academy to put together them for the protection preserving activity they have got. Using force may also moreover or won 't be a enormous catch 22 situation but it should be seemed through way of the community
The majority of the officers is committed to protecting and severing others and for the most part are very honorable and very virtuous people. However they are the assorted few that make unscrupulous decisions that can affect not only the officer, but also the entire agency. What affects one law enforcement agency affects all law enforcement agencies across this great nation in the world we live in today. Many times these officers will frame the argument in support of public safety over individual liberties. As each of us know we are living in a very different world than we did just a few years ago. It’s my professional experience that many whites have no knowledge or empathy for minorities who feel as though they have been stopped or beleaguered solely on the basis of their race or ethnicity. Equally many minorities sense that all police are predisposed and dishonestly target specific groups based on pigeonholes and incorrect representations. Combine this with the twenty-four (24) hour news cycle that propagates and emphasizes certain confrontations to attract viewership and provoke communities on both sides of the
Police brutality is the use of excessive force when dealing with civilians. Police abuse is one of the most serious human rights violations in the United States. It has been around for decades, which leads us to the thought “Are they keeping us safe from danger or are they the danger?” There are many cases of police using excessive force. Unjustified shootings, severe beatings, tasings, and rough treatment have all contributed to the problem of police brutality in America. According to “MINTpress News”, seven hundred and seventy-six people were killed by the police in 2015. One hundred and sixty-one of the people were unarmed at the time of their death. The leading causes of police brutality are minorities being unfairly targeted, excessive force, police being increasingly militarized, and many departments not providing adequate training in nonviolent solutions.
Television has become a vital aspect of daily life, within modern society; every aspect of television exhibits, to a certain extent, a reliance on genre (Mittell, 2001). Industries rely on genre to produce programs, and audiences use genres as a means of organizing fan practices (Mittell, 2001). According to a 2006 Nelson Media Research study, ratings confirm that aside from prime time shows such as American Idol and Survivor, part-time crime drama’s have been classified as one of the most favoured genre (DeTardo-Bora, pg. 154, 2009). The relationship between the media and criminal justice system is delicate, where more often than not, crimes are portrayed in a false light (Graveline, pg. 1, 2015). These misconceptions lead to
It is no secret that the media is able to influence the general public’s opinion on most anything. Whether the subject is fiction or non, movies, documentaries, and the news especially, are capable of swaying the public’s opinions and perceptions one way or the other. Not even the world of law enforcement is safe from the media’s purview (Barlow, M. H. and Barlow, D. E. and Chiricos T. G., 1995), as media portrayals often romanticize law enforcement as a well oiled machine that always gets the bad guy, and has a perfect relationship with the public. On top of this, the media has displayed a poor habit of portraying crime as predominantly violent and racial, rather than showing the whole picture(Gilliam, F. D. and Iyengar, S. and Simon, A. and Wright, O., 1996). In this paper, the motives driving these depictions, as well as the scope and effect of the media’s influence on public perception of law enforcement, will be explored and discussed.
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.
Hi, I believe that the entertainment field is so obsessed with law enforcement, because people like to watch what law enforcement officers do on their jobs. People get so interested and excited when they see cops involved, they watch all the shows and movies. They see law enforcement as something superior, and they know that when cops are involved is because there is trouble. When people watch the shows the ratings go up and since that is what producers or directors want they keep adding law enforcement. I also believe that this obsession hurts the profession, because in some shows they make officers look bad either when they make them look funny or as the bad people. Shows tend to only add the exciting and awesome moments, but they dont show
What they do or fail to do can affect seriously the span of the damage to life, property, and community spirit. Police officers are required to take an oath when they first join their department. The police oath is a code of ethics. The Law Enforcement Code of Ethics establishes the basic responsibility of a police officer is and I quote: “As a Law Enforcement Officer, my fundamental duty is to serve mankind; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence or disorder; and to respect the Constitutional rights of all men to liberty, equality and justice. I will constantly strive to achieve these objectives and ideals, dedicating myself before God to my chosen profession…law enforcement.” These are the expectations of the citizens, and when they are abused it threatens the faith of all. The most recent case raising unethical questions may be the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, an unarmed black male shot down by police officers. Another reason might be the rise in reports of suspicious deaths of inmates in custody making headlines across the country. These type of situations bring up difficult questions regarding the limits of police authority, are there some inequalities in the way that law enforcement officers treat certain racial, socioeconomic, or cultural groups? Are the factors, such as whether a citizen is ethnic or white, poor or Middle class, making a difference in the type of treatment one is likely to receive from the
When we think of the police, we normally think of the brave men and women out on the street, enforcing the law, catching criminals, helping out the public in cases of emergency and making us feel safe in general. Most of the Police in most of the world is like that which is a good thing, However in the United States of America the police here are a bit more ruthless. Most of the police officers are very nice people and they really do want to help out in their community, but unfortunately there are some bad and corrupt cops in the system that will break the law and do some bad things. In the Modern world most bad cops are seen as racist and trigger happy. They don’t kill for fun of course but whenever they feel threatened they are trained to feel as though they need to take down their target since they are taught to make sure they don’t do something that will end up killing them. While nobody is at fault with these cases it is unfortunate that it does happen. Thankfully most of those cops are not as bad as the actual corrupted ones where they do business with drug lords and take their money just so that the criminals don’t get ratted out and so that they can continue their business. While there are some organizations that are corrupted the people in America do have power and a decent morality to do something about it. There are many organizations and cases that happened in the supreme court that has changed how the police behave and act when they are out on the