Controlling Police Brutality The police have served an integral part in society as out protectors. Throughout the years, however, scholars as well as we citizens have begun to question the use of force, racism and internal corruption as well as other forms of misconduct by our officers of the law. The excessive use of force by police officers persists because of overwhelming barriers to their accountability. For instance, when police do get in trouble, it is normally a slap on the wrist, a lecture or loss of a vacation day as it stated in the article “Good Cop Bad Cop.” This fact makes it possible for officers who commit these violations to escape punishment and then often repeat their offenses. Every report of abuse is often met with denial or explanation of why the abuse was necessary instead of taking any real action like a suspension or removal of their badge in most cases.
We know that police officers use excessive force, and they also use their authority to verbally abuse people. So what causes police officers to abuse their authority, and (or) leads to brutality? One of the challenges with this is that not every citizen reports a police brutality, whether they see one happening, heard of one happening from their friends or family or if they themselves were a victim of one. Another challenging issue too is that we know some brutalities are not reported; therefore it makes it harder to measure those versus what is actually reported. Police brutality wouldn’t be an issue if we didn’t have to police our law enforcement officers.
Police Brutality Law enforcement officer’s credo is, “If you need me, I will be there for you. I will risk injury or death to get to you, because that is my promise” Police brutality remains one of the most serious and divisive human rights violations in the United States. The excessive use of force by police officers persists because of overwhelming barriers to accountability. This fact makes it possible for officers who commit human rights violations to escape due punishment and often to repeat their offenses. Racism, a big part of police misconduct, has become a major problem in the police force.
Police brutality is a growing problem in policing. There are laws that are strict on crime, and many times depending on the situation the officers need to react a certain way. Police brutality is excessive force to a major extent, and is not treated kindly. Police brutality can occur when an arresting officer feels threatened, by the arrestee, the arresting officer will defend him/her self but if something in their head snaps it becomes a beating. Police brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer.
Some officer’s actions have labeled an entire force as racist, rude, and abusive. This ‘bad apple’ theory leads to a community who cannot trust their local law enforcement officers. When a community has distrust in the law, it becomes difficult for those officers to do their jobs. Cooperation is lost, normally compliant citizens question an officers actions, criminals step up their activities, and at this point an officers stress escalates to a level where it has never been before. The behavior, in which a police officer uses his judgment to bring forth the best course of action regarding a situation where an offense has been committed, is the discretion of the officer (Engel, 2003.)
Over the past five centuries, black people have endured violence in many different ways. In history, racist violence, police brutality, has been used to suppress the racial blacks and to preserve power and privileges for the white race. The practice of police brutality has a strong affect on a main segment of the American population. Those affected are minorities and the elderly causing them to have strong hatred towards the whites in America. Police brutality is abuse by law enforcement, where a police officer feels that because he/she has a badge and a gun therefore it puts them above the law and they can use unnecessary force against another individual.
Moreover, the families of fatally injured victims often suffer many of the same psychological tolls. Another psychological effect of police of police brutality is the way a victim views law enforcement after being attacked. Some individuals end up assuming all law enforcement takes advantage of their authoritative positions. In some cases, this creates an even bigger issue concerning retaliation of the victims themselves. In addition to psychological effects, victims can undergo from physical effects.
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
The issues behind police brutality can be analyzed in several ways. First lets discuss various matters that contribute to the allegations. For many years, police officers all over the country have been negligent in taking responsibility for their actions. Many incidents have led to mortal injuries against innocent bystander and fatalities of wrongful deaths. Some of these cases show that the procedure of excessive force was implemented during the time of casualty.
One of the most recent and predominantly exhibited problems of today is the abuse of firearms within the American culture. Since the effects of Illegal use of firearms have been currently rampant in the United States, our government has implemented laws to regulate offenders and format a solution in attempts to eliminate the accidents, misuse, and crime on the rise. Although it seems as if these laws would quickly diminish this problem, they have many repercussions. The rights of Americans, specifically the second amendment, are being questioned by the members of society who obey gun laws and safety regulations. This is creating an enormous debate and concern for many people, not only within our government.