Eban Stern
June 2, 2015
AP Lang
Ms. Davis
Police Brutality and the Mentality of Police Officers “To protect and to serve.” This has been the motto and duty of law enforcement agencies since their creation. The earliest police forces were established in England during the early 1800’s. These law enforcement agencies were established in order to help the people. However, not long after the first one was established, the first known case of police brutality was documented. Excessive use of force by a police officer dates back to the late 1800’s. Since then, thousands of innocent people have been improperly and cruelly treated by law enforcement officers. The United States has one of the highest rates of police brutality in the world. Though
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These countries include Britain, Norway, Iceland, and New Zealand. Every one of these countries has a lower crime rate than that of the United States (Noack, “5 countries where police do not carry firearms- and it works well”). Norway, the lowest has a crime rate of 29.93, compared to 55.84 of the US. Police in these countries, especially England and Iceland, do their best to serve the people and remain consistent with the belief that their job is to help the citizens of the country. One police officer from Iceland in an interview with the Washington Post said, “She considered every citizen precious because 'we are so few and there is so much to do.’” Police in these countries are polar opposites to what law enforcement officers in the US believe. The image at right confims my worst fears. An anonymous survey conducted on police officers in the United States reported that 43% believe that “Always following the rules is not campatible with getting the job done.” This does not sound like these “public safety” officers are here to “protect and serve” the American people. Instead, they view citizens of America as threats that must be dealt with accordingly because, according to them, the written law does not suffice in punishing a criminal. They believe that justice is done when the law is taken into their own hands. This makes them nothing more than criminals with badges and given guns by the US government. High crime rates in America are due to our lenient gun control laws. High police brutality rates are due to the fact that when police are given guns, they believe the weapon puts them on a pedestal. And this pedestal gives them more rights than the citizens, who are subject to excessive uses of force because the law is not “sufficient” to punishing
2. When the police kill unarmed citizens, the officer is often not charged but cities across the nation pay hundreds of millions of dollars to settle these cases with the families of the victims. Why do cities consistently pay this money? What does the Bill of Rights have to say about police brutality? https://www.thenation.com/article/chicago-has-spent-half-a-billion-dollars-on-police-brutality-cases-and-its-impoverishing-the-victims-communities/
It is pretty evident that America has a problem and it is centered around the police. Police brutality has been going on for years but the advancements in technology helped shine light in the issue sand was suppose to furthermore help combat it. Yet there seems to be little benefits to the introductions of body cameras. Police officers are supposed to wear these devices and record interactions they have in order to help bridge the gap of suspicion between what the officers says and what really happens. The idea wa smet with speculation but the government has invested millions in taxpayers money to get the technology up and running. The current issue now is that officers are not activating them or simply turning the off during altercations.
The term “Police Officer” by definition is [1]“ :a person whose job is to enforce laws, investigate crimes, and make arrests”.[1] For such a straight-forward position there is quite a massive amount of stigma attached to the title. Police officers are supposed to be seen has community heroes or helpers, but it seems as the year 2016 continues the general public have manifested a resentful standing towards the law enforcement system. There are many factors that play into these emotions, but the reoccurring problem is the presence of police brutality.
There are distinctive differences between use of force, excessive force, and brutality. What is meant by use of force, is the force that was essential while making that arrest, for example, an arrestee trying to fight back. What is meant by excessive force is the result of a lack of training and a violation of a person’s constitutional rights. Brutality is the physical violence done by a police officer. It is very important to first understand what each of the terms mean in order to better understand police brutality.
Historically, minorities have been victims of police brutality in the United States. Since the middle of the 19th century a dominant white social class maintained racial injustice through a police force willing to use violence against minorities. This violence expressed itself in the years immediately after the civil war through brutality in various forms. America has a lengthy an disgraceful tradition of police brutality to attain a sense of law and order in its society. Police misconduct can be described as any inappropriate behavior on the part of any law enforcement officer that is either illegal or immoral or both. Law enforcement agents are should behave to a standard that is greater than the average civilian. Police brutality comes from
The topic that I am proposing is police brutality. Are police officers committing police brutality or are they just doing their job? We as a community are hearing more and more about police brutality in the United States. It is really common to see on the news or social media videos of police brutally beating individuals that seem not to resist arrest or even with their hands up in the air as a sign of surrender. My intended audiences are, communities, and police departments. Communities need to understand why this is happening and if there is going to be any change. On the other hand, police departments need to not more a blind eye any more when these situations occur and start disciplining the officers. I am a true believer of
In looking for answers as to why police brutality is such a big issue today, we see that the problem lies in past actions that were not dealt properly. First, Prohibition reduced respect for authority and law enforcement, as the police committed various unconstitutional acts. Next, the War on Drugs and the War on Terror changed the image of law enforcement from that of a peacekeeper to that of a domestic soldier. As a result of this inaction, American society finds itself in a crisis situation, where people cannot trust the police and where police are struggling to regain credibility with the American population.
The media has portrayed Officers in a new light. Rather than protective guardians, they are now unstable, power-fueled workers of the law. It is their choice what they will do with the duty of enforcing the law. Anyone can fall victim to Police Brutality. However, America’s social and economic society is improving at an alarming rate. America is at a time now where peaceful protests and the like are promoted, while aggressive out lashes, unlawful activities, and excessive force is frowned upon. The economy today is a result of the hard work of ancestors who protested and ensured a better future. In the future, it is possible that Officers will no longer be stereotyped as abusive, or unlawful. A united front is required for this future, where there are no more sides, violence, or
Recent Surveys have shown that police brutality typically occurs in areas that are predominately African American and that have police departments that are composed of non-minority Officer. For Example in Ferguson Missouri there is a population of approximately blank. Minorities account for only about 5.6% of the population. White American citizens only made up blank percent. The demographics of Ferguson’s Police Department show that white Officer outnumbered African American officers 51 to 3.
Most people in the United States of America do not realize the harmful effects of police brutality. Police brutality is the use of any excessive force exceeding the reasonably necessary force to accomplish a lawful purpose. Not only are these effects physical, but they are psychological and even moral. The police victimize innocent people based on their ethnicity. The reason this scenario is being stated is to show how police are harming the very own citizens they have sworn to protect.
Police brutality is a very serious problem in the United States. The term “police brutality” has been used sense 1872. According to Wikipedia, it is an act of misconduct done by a member of law enforcement by using an extreme amount of force to physically, mentally or emotionally attack a member of society. The job of a police officer can be a dangerous one and sometimes they are put in situations where excessive force is needed. The problem is when there is excessive force used by the people that have been sworn to protect and serve the Americans. Some are using excessive force when it is not needed. It has created society to have a fear of the police. The officers have power but need to be responsible with that power. It has become a controversial topic among communities. .
Police brutality is police physically, verbally, and mentally abusing the citizens of the community. Police brutality has been the top controversial issue for many decades. When did the police start brutalizing the citizens of the community? The police began abusing the community during segregation times. More specifically, Caucasian police officers brutalized the African Americans of the community in the 1960’s. How so? The police blasted firehoses, threw tear gas, allowed the police dogs to attack, and beat the African Americans with police sticks. This all occurred, because there was a large presence of whites who wanted superiority over African Americans. The increase in the brutality rate in the criminal justice department, brought great
Police brutality is one of the most serious and divisive human rights violations in the United States and it occurs in every community. The job of a police officer is to maintain public order, prevent, and detect crime. They are engaged in a dangerous and stressful occupation that can involve violent situations that must be controlled. In many of these confrontations with the public it may become necessary for the police to administer force to take control of a situation. Sometimes this force takes the form of hand to hand combat with a suspect who resists being arrested. Not all police officers in communities are good cops. At least once a year the news is covering a story about a person
Over the years United States has witnessed a substantial increase in police brutality, it is one of the most common and serious violation of the human rights and it happens more often than we care to know in our communities, ranging from verbal to physical abuse in which usually an innocent person results injured as police officers lay their called justice upon the alleged criminals.
“The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings capable of law, where there is no law, there is no freedom” according to John Locke in Second Treaties of Government. Law is a major building block to a successful society; along with the need for law comes the need of the proper authority to enforce it. This authority, the police force, can be found in some form in almost every country in the world. Some operate as more of a military force using fear and oppression to keep the population in check. In other countries, such as the United States, the police force uses respect from the public to do their jobs. While using fear and oppression as motivators does the job, respect as a motivator is much more effective because people will obey the law and be content with it rather than becoming increasingly discontent to the point that they try to overthrow it; in the United States, however, respect is becoming harder to achieve with the growing animosity towards the police because of the recent stories of police brutality. While police brutality focuses mostly on physical and verbal attacks and intimidation, police overstep their boundaries any time that they misuse their authority, when, really, they are not above the laws anymore than anyone else.