Police Brutality in America

The rate has increased over the past years. They call America now a slaughter house; killings leading to uproars in the cities and mass shootings. Police brutality does not only happen to African American, but people of all ethnicities. Police officers were once called the peacekeepers of our community, but now we as people are scared to even leave our home. This is a problem beginning to grow more and more each day. The biggest issue right now is that it seems like police officers are starting to abuse the power they have.

Even though we try to place all our problems in the police officer hands, we also have to take in account that they place their lives on the line for our safety. We are quick to blame the police that they are the problem, and they have to solve the situation as soon as we give it to them. But we never take account their emotions, and how they feel as a human being, and they have thoughts as well.

Police brutality started and was first used back in Chicago in 1872 when Tribune Newspaper reported on the beating of a civilian under arrest at the Harrison Police Station. Police brutality is the use of excessive and or unnecessary force by police dealing with civilians. It all started just by one police officer thinking that using excessive force would scare the people, which it did, but it also hurt the community and make them not trustworthy. Following the Chicago incident police brutality started appearing more and more. One article from (USA Today) starts off by stating that in one specific police department that several officers all killed an unarmed person of ethnicity. In,this one precinct a man was only sworn in hours ago and had already killed some-one on his first day. The article also states how after a person of ethnicity is killed the family, or most likely to develop depression, and most families tend not to talk to one another after the said incident has happened. Also, the article states that their mental health starts to become a problem/have phycological distress. An article I read (The Vox) said that police brutality does not mean being killed by a weapon, and the chart they provide along with it stated that the most being killed is African Americans. The article states that America over estimates how many African Americans are killed. The chart shows that only thirty-one percent are African American and killed by the police. But another chart the article provides is one showing data on how many people ae killed with no weapons, and thirty-nine percent are African Americans, twelve percent Hispanics, and forty-six Caucasian.

Another surprising fact I read about was that not only are minorities targeted but also people with disabilities. The number recorded just from last year is well over 165 and the rates keep increasing. The Nation Newspaper even gave a story of a Latino man who was dead and was shot and killed his front porch. This article starts off describing how a Latino man who was deaf, and in the comfort of his home sitting on the front porch was killed. Two police officers approached Magdiel Sanchez, because they got a call earlier that day saying that his father was in a hit and run. Mr. Sanchez is deaf and could not hear when the officers were commanding him to get on the ground. So, the first officer fires his Taser into Sanchez arm, and the other officer then goes on to shoot Sanchez in his chest which kills him. The officers who then were not reprimanded for their action and were let go to walk free. This article shows that the police never get any justice served to them for taking the life of a young innocent man, who only had disability. If officers learn to not to pull their gun on every situation the community, I feel would be more trustworthy towards them. An Article from (CNN) talks about the most recent police brutality, involving Alton Sterling, and Philando Castile. The article talks about how the problems stem from in the community, and state the only way to solve the problem is to send in police officers. The woman who wrote the articulated stated that it was difficult to measure the racial bias in communities. It also states scientifically that African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans are more likely to get arrested than an average Caucasian. Another fact is the article states is that blacks are more likely to be killed by police, because they are more likely to be stopped.Another thing that I found interesting was that the killings of African American men are extremely popular and always published and made in to world news. The National Review first line states how an officer was acquitted of first-degree murder after he had fatally shot a young Black man in 2011. The article then goes on to say that there was a protest in St. Louis where the shooting took place and immediately it was initially a peaceful protest, they soon turned violent. The excerpt also states that black men are still constantly stopped and routinely hurt by the police even if they do not die from it. Another article by The Washington Post goes into detail about another account that happened to another young man. As you start to read the essay a given encounter of an unarmed man being surrounded by police officers. The first officer who grabs the man slams him into the ground. The officer begins to throw his fists at the unarmed man as to other offices hold the man down. A surveillance camera mounted by a nearby store captured the police officer meeting the 22-year-old man. Over the last two years the article states that there has been over 212 people have been shot and killed by American police officers and majority were unarmed.

Even through all the killings and bad things happening we never think about what is going through the officer mind when they are in a situation where they have to use force. I admit here are some time where the force is excessive and there could be another resolution to the problem at hand. One piece of information I found about six police officer who talk about their point of view on police brutality (The Economist). The excerpt says that police feel the media often treats them unfairly and poorly. They believe that the stuff put into the media only portrays the bad in policing. The police in the excerpt also say that people do not know what kind of stress they are put under every-time they get into uniform. Also, it states the police feel that people have unreachable expectations that they can-not solve. One potential interpretation lies in the fact that black officers are often more likely to be assigned to precincts with greater numbers of black residents. While white officers are most likely to be placed near white residents. The excerpt shows that when a Caucasian officer sees a black boy with his pants down and walking a certain way their first thought is, he’s selling drugs.

Another officer talk about their time as a police officer, and what he witnessed through. He goes into detail on how the cops in is city even had a cop page, and every-time they saw a person of ethnicity that they would label them as a, Thug, even if they did not look threatening at all. He also states that the police did not care about their actions and would use force for the smallest of offenses. He even goes on to tell a story about where a police officer yanked a child by his throat and began to punch him, and when the he tried to report it the sergeant just did not pay any attention to the problem at all. His shows a large hole in the police, how are we supposed to trust people who make a page about people of different ethnicities just to bash on them, but their supposed to be the protectors of our homes, cities, and communities. If we cannot trust our own police officers who are we supposed to depend on to help us. Police brutality can only be eliminated if the public and the police work together. The police efforts in stopping these brutalities can only be achieved through its administrative.

References:

D. K “”What The Cops Say””. The Economist, 2015, https://www.economist.com/democracy-in-america/2015/04/27/what-the-cops-say.

Howard, Jacqueline, C. (2018). Police acts of violence unbiased, says study. [online] CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/25/health/police-use-of-force-study/index.html

Hudson, Redditt. “”Being A Cop Showed Me Just How Racist And Violent The Police Are There’s Only One Fix””. The Washington Post, 2014, https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/12/06/i-was-a-st-louis-cop-my-peers-were-racist-and-violent-and-theres-only-one-fix/?utm_term=.8f2a439dbc33

Lemoine, Phillipi. “”Police Violence Against Black Men Is Rare: Here’s What The Data Actually Say | National Review””. Nationalreview. Com, 2017, https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/09/police-violence-against-black-men-rare-heres-what-data-actually-say/.

Lopez, G. (2018). There are huge racial disparities in how US police use force. [online] Vox. https://www.vox.com/cards/police-brutality-shootings-us/us-police-racism.

Lowery, Wesley. “”Police Are Still Killing Black People. Why Isn’t It News Anymore?””. Washington Post, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/police-are-still-killing-black-people-why-isnt-it-news-anymore/2018/03/12/df004124-22ef-11e8-badd-7c9f29a55815_story.html?utm_term=.9544768b53b6.

Perry, David. “”4 Disabled People Dead in Another Week of Police Brutality””. The Nation, 2018, https://www.thenation.com/article/four-disabled-dead-in-another-week-of-police-brutality/.

Stralo, Laura. “”A Psychological Perspective On Police Violence””. Www1. Lehigh. Edu, 2014, https://www1.lehigh.edu/news/psychological-perspective-police-violence.

Suresh, Anirudh. “”Police Brutality: A Statistical Perspective | Harvard Political Review””. Harvardpolitics. Com, 2017, http://harvardpolitics.com/online/statistical-police-investigation-viewing-police-brutality-data-driven-lens/.

Thurau, Lisa H. and Johanna Wald. “”Police Brutality Is Damaging Black Community’s Mental Health””. USA today, 2018, https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/policing/spotlight/2018/09/14/police-brutality-damaging-black-communitys-mental-health/1218566002/.

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