Undoubtedly the most controversial topic in the recent past is police involved shootings. Although not specific to a police officer, the Trayvon Martin case in 2012 gained national media attention surrounding Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law. The case of Michael Brown Jr. sparked the 2014 riots, protests and civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri when shot and killed by Officer Wilson. Areas of the country witnessed the same response by large populations supporting inaccurate facts and circumstances involved with these cases. An instant gratification society coupled the court of public opinion and widespread media coverage yielded disastrous results in many of these cases. Community relations are hugely impacted while investigators attempt to
The Michale Brown shooting has forever changed policing in the United States much like the Rodney King beating by the LAPD in 1991. History will show that the death of Michael Brown will prove to have longer and more dramatic influence on how law enforcement officers do their job than the Rodney King incident. The reasons for this are many, to mention a few, society has become more sensitive and less tolerant of police misconduct weather the misconduct is real or perceived. The public is also better informed because of the speed that the modern news media, and social media, are able to disseminate pictures, video and other information. Facebook has probably had a greater affect on the way law enforcement agencies operate that any high profile
The current incident I would like to talk about is the shooting of Michael Brown story in Ferguson, Missouri that was occurred on august 9, 2014. Michael Brown was unarmed Black man who was shot to death by a white policer officer, Darren Wilson on Missouri street. The uncertain situations of the shooting, and resulting objections and civil conflict have caused significant argument in the United States. Eyewitness says that Brown was killed while he was trying to surrender himself from the police, but they say Brown attacked Wilson past to the shooting. In addition, they also say that Brown was in robbery before that day, but Wilson did not stop him for robbery, he stopped him for jaywalking.
the last few weeks, there have been some terrible shootings. It seems like lately, there is another violent occurrence that takes place almost weekly. The most recent shootings have created a lot of commotion between African Americans and law enforcement. It had created quite an uproar in some of the public. A 32-year-old man in Minnesota named Philando Castile had been pulled over in a suburb and was shot by an officer while reaching for his wallet to show his license. His girlfriend and her young daughter were in the vehicle with him when it happened. Many individuals formed groups and began protesting within days over the matter because they believed that it had a lot to do with racism and law enforcement treats some individuals different
In the past year, the whole world has had its attention drawn to domestic conflicts between white police officers and black civilians. Since the invention of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag in 2013, there have been over 50 million posts on Twitter alone under the hashtag. The recent incidents, largely prompted by the shootings of Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, and the murder of Eric Garner by white officers, has brought both the topics of racism and the militarization of the police into public discourse. Arguably, however, it is the treatment of these cases in court, and the non-indictments of Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo in their respective grand jury proceedings, that have ignited protests and riots from many across the nation who insist
Within the past decade there have been several accounts of fatal police shootings. Law enforcement deems deadly force as a justifiable homicide. Not all cases are investigated in its entirety. Stricter laws on police officers should be forced to prevent riots, senseless killings and promote equality.
For decades, civilian deaths caused by police have been a reason for concern in the United States. However, the police are not entirely to blame for their image after these events. Media plays a crucial role in how the public view law enforcement. More often than not, people form their views and opinions of police based off of what they hear and see from others; mainly the media. Stories told by press make up a small percentage of actual events. For example, an African American being shot is more likely to become a big story, even though Caucasians have actually been shot more. The media should release all information they received in as unbiased a manner as possible, to allow the public to form their own opinions. Although white privilege
In the video, Samantha Bee is a reporter, who is trying to find out the statistics on police shootings. Samantha wanted to know the actual number of police shootings that happen annually. Samantha interviewed many people, who are a part of the criminal justice system. Every person she interviewed didn’t know the statistics on police shootings but had statistics on other crimes. All the people Samantha interviewed didn’t know the national statistics on police shootings. The Individuals didn’t know where the statistics were sent to and how the information was recorded. Samantha asked various people the same questions, but no one knew the answer. Everyone who was questioned didn’t have an answer to the actual number of police shootings.
In the past year, the issue of police brutality has become one of the most controversial issues in the United
Yes I do feel that our police departments generally do a good job of screening applicants. The Knoxville Police Department employees 397 police officers to protect the city of Knoxville, which had a population of 185,638 in 2015 (UCR, n.d.). According to the statistics on officer involved shootings from the Knoxville Police Department there showed to be no shootings in 2015 but in 2014 there were five officer involved shootings, three of which were fatal for the suspect (knoxvilletn.gov, n.d.). In each of these cases the officers were exonerated from liability as their actions were found to be within departmental policy (knoxvilletn.gov, n.d.). I feel that the psychological testing of incoming officers is an important aspect to ensure we hire the most professional officers for our police forces but sometimes individuals with behavioral or mental issues can be missed and any individual who exhibits such traits or bias should be dealt with or dismissed from the force to avoid issues that could impact the entire
In many cases, a man was slaughtered subsequent to displaying some sort of toy firearm, notwithstanding directing it at officers, a beyond any doubt welcome toward gunfire. Many individuals, at any rate, passed on in the wake of being stunned with electric immobilizers, some from pressure or stifling, and some from reasons that stay baffling. However, most were shooting. The slaughtering of an outfitted individual prompts dissents and is called unjustified, or the executing of an unarmed individual is viewed as advocated.
Throughout the country, law enforcement serves to protect the nation and its people. However, throughout the past years, many disturbing cases come up and people question the true authority and power of those who call themselves protectors of justice. Within the past 30 years, four major events have caught the media’s eye: L.A. Riots, the Trayvon Martin case, and recently, the Michael Brown shooting case and the Eric Garner chokehold case.
Throughout the recent years many incidents have occurred between citizens and law enforcement agents that has brought light to police brutality. The media has played the biggest role by focusing mainly on negative actions that law enforcement agents take rather than the positive ones. Law enforcement agents across the country have received a bad name and continue to receive negative backlash for the many incidents that have occurred. No not every officer is perfect and yes there are bad apples, however because the media has focused on the negativity, people across our country are quick to jump to conclusion when they see or hear what is in the media. Although most incidents may seem similar in the media, in light of the fact that they involve officers shooting “innocent victims”, every incident and case is different and the media does not always show or tell both sides of the story. In this paper I will be investigating two incidents that have occurred in the past year regarding black suspects being shot and killed by white police officers. One case happened in South Carolina and the other in Illinois. After investigating and finding facts I will then compare both cases to the Supreme Court case: Tennessee v. Garner 1985, and determine what case is the most alike to it and why.
This type of death presents a unique set of problems because of the constant media attention and the public debates that often occur surrounding the shooting, and if a trial ensues it is often highly publicized, as is the verdict. Consequently, media attention can lead to friends and families constantly reliving the tragic event over and over, thus compounding their grief. The untimely death of young Black males by police shootings also has implications for social work practice and particularly for social workers who practice in the realm of social justice. Death by police shooting can lead to a distrust of law enforcement officers and the criminal justice system within the Black community; moreover,
A new study confirms that black men and women are treated differently in the hands of law enforcement. They are more likely to be touched, handcuffed, pushed to the ground or pepper-sprayed by a police officer, even after accounting for how, where and when they encounter the police.
One community that stands out the most for the conflict between law enforcement and their community is Ferguson, Missouri. On August 9, 2014 Darren Wilson, 28, a white Ferguson police officer fatally shot Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African-American male (McLaughlin). This case started one of the biggest uproar the nation has ever seen between community and law enforcement. When the incident first occurred there were many pieces of information missing to paint a scenario of how and what occurred between Brown and officer Wilson. Apparently Michael Brown was walking home late at night when officer Darren Wilson and Michael Brown got into a confrontation that lead to Wilson shooting Brown, the case goes