Police Brutality Essay

Police Brutality
Steven O’Neal
Period 5

There is something that has been on the rise ever since 9/11 and not many Americans know what this is, a sad, but true fact. This is police brutality, where cops abuse their power given to them by law, and mistreat/break rules and regulations. Skateboarders, to wood carvers in Seattle, police around the country have mistreated their power. As many of you know, last year the police officer Ian berk knowingly shot a Native American wood carver named john t. Williams. But what most of you probably don’t know, is that this cop got away with murder, the shooting of john Williams was declared unjustified, and a normal citizen with this charge would do anywhere from 25 years to life in prison. Ian berk was charged with being negligent and got no reasonable punishment from the law, besides a short term suspension from duty. Washington state law makes it extremely difficult to press charges against any police officers around the state, and around the country it is nearly impossible for a police officer to get charged with a crime of injustices. So how will we ever catch the cops doing wrong if we can’t even charge them? Police officers around the country know this is the case, they know they can abuse their power and get away with it. How can we stop officers from getting away with crimes against citizens, some which aren’t alive to defend their case. Why doesn’t our country know about police brutality like they do 9/11? Why do the police hide news when it is negative towards them?