Category: Police Brutality

Police Brutality In The Book The Hate U Give

Imagine seeing your best friend getting killed by a police officer in front of your eyes for no legal reason and doesn’t get in trouble for it. The Hate U Give is a fictional book by Angie Thomas, about a boy named Khail and a girl named Starr, that is inspired by real life police brutality situations. Angie Thomas was interviewed by the Chicago Humanities Festival and explained why she decided to write a book about police brutality. Thomas stated that when she was a senior in college, Oscar Grant lost his life because a cop shot him and did not get in trouble for it(“Angie Thomas: The Hate U Give’) She also stated that she was inspired to write a short story to explain why people were so mad at the police who shot Oscar Grant (‘Angie Thomas: The Hate U Give’). Oscar Grant was a 22 year old African American man who got fatally shot by an officer and was unarmed, and sadly passed away leaving a 4 year old daughter behind in 2009 (Head). Angie Thomas stated that the hardest part of writing this book was the ending because it was in the same week that Philando Castile and Alton Sterling lost their lives (‘Angie Thomas: The Hate U Give’).

Philando Castile was fatally shot and killed by an officer Jeronimo Yanez who stated “that he had no choice” because he was scared that Castile was going to grab his gun and shoot him (Berman). That was not the case, Castile was pulling out his I.D to show the officer that his firearm is legal (Berman). Officer Yanez also stated that “I thought I was gonna die. And, I was scared because, I didn’t know if he was gonna, I didn’t know what he was gonna do” (Berman). So officer Yanez decided to open fire on Philando Castile because of the fact the he was reaching for something in his pocket. This explains why Angie Thomas decided to write a book about police brutality. Police brutality can show a horrible inhumanity and unkindness toward people. Philando Castile was an African American man who was shot, and killed by a police officer who had an assumption that Castile was going to shoot him because of the color of his skin (Berman). The officer who killed Philando Castile was sent to jail a year after he fatally shot to death (Berman). Even though Officer Yanez was imprisoned for his fault, his action still showed police brutality against race and made an awful assumption that ended up killing an innocent person.This is a connection to The Hate U Give because Khail was an African American who got shot while unarmed and so was Philando Castile due to the cause of police brutality.

Furthermore, police brutality inspired Angie Thomas book The Hate U Give by the death of Trayvon Martin in September 2012. Trayvon Martin was an African American teenager who was killed because of his race. Volunteer neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman shot and killed unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin after a confrontation in February. Georage Zimmerman was suspicious of the teenager, because he was walking in the gated community and talking on the cellphone doing so ( “Racial Profiling”). People accused Zimmerman of targeting Trayvon Martin because of his race.“Trayvon Martin was an African American teenager who was serving an out-of-school suspension at the home of his father’s fiance on February 26, 2012. Upon returning from a trip to a nearby convenience store, Martin was noticed by George Zimmerman, a volunteer neighborhood watchman. Driving in his car, the 28-year-old Zimmerman trailed Martin as he walked throughout the gated community, talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone”( “Racial Profiling”).Zimerman also stated that he called the police and told them that he believed that Martin was up to no good and was going to get out of his car and follow Martin on foot ( “RacialProfiling”). The dispatcher told Zimmerman that they did not need that to be done , however Zimmermen did not listen to the dispatcher and eventually confronted Martin( “Racial Profiling”). “At some point, a physical altercation between Martin and Zimmerman occurred, which ended when Zimmerman shot Martin in the chest, killing him” (“Racial Profiling”). Zimmerman claimed that Martin attacked him first, Martin’s family states no such attack has happened (“Racial Profiling”) . “A surveillance video of Zimmerman at the police station on the night of the shooting later showed he had no visible injuries or blood on his clothing, casting further doubt on Zimmerman’s claim he had been attacked by Martin”( “Racial Profiling”). The Police found out that Martin was unarmed and intaily did not arrest Zimmerman, that did not last for long, because the police “bowed to public pressure” and arrested Zimmerman in April ( “Racial Profiling”). This is yet another example of police brutality and why Angie Thomas will be so annoyed and triggered enough to write a book about it.

To conclude, That is why Angie Thomas chose to write a book about police brutality to tell the people what’s going on and how it is being taken care off. Also, she is trying to raise awareness about police brutality toward racism, so in the future hopefully police brutality toward people with different races will decrease and the pain of losing a loved one for no legal reason. Police Brutality can show unfairness and cruelty to the people of different races because of the fact that lives are being lost and hearts are being broken. The Hate U Give was a way Angie Thomas was saying that police brutailty is wrong and needs to be immobile and stopped because it is simiply wrong.

Racism And Prejudice As The Factors For Police Brutality

Although many people believe that police brutality is possibly warranted and justified, it’s often linked to racism, and prejudice. Some consider police brutality to be only towards black people, because four out five people shot by police were black. Causing movements to begin one for black people and police. Showing that there is A common belief against police officers across America is that they harass and discriminate against black people, and but are fair and kind to white people.

A problem with police brutality is that officers face no punishments for killing unarmed and young black people, who have yet been convicted or of proven guilty of a crime. In the cases involving the police shooting of black person, they say it was self defense. Which judges are quick to believing a police officer’s claim of self defense, especially when there is no other evidence besides the word of the officer involved because the person they killed can’t speak. For example a Georgia cop shot and killed a young black boy, and the grand jury declined to indict Euharlee police Cpl. Beth Gatny for involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct in the death of 17-year-old Christopher Roupe. Even though the teen’s family said he was holding a Wii controller when he went to answer the door. The police, however, allege he had a pistol in his hand when he was shot in the chest, which was false. There was discrimination by the police officer in the first place when he assumed that the young black boy had a gun, when he was opening the door to his home without warning was immediately shot in the chest. Then the officer was not trialed for involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct for the murder an of 17 year old black boy Christopher Roupe (Krayewski).

Just knowing about police brutality and prejudice towards black people causes problems for many people including the police. It also greatly affects the youth just knowing or hearing police the shootings affects the young black community (Thurau and Wald). Making them learn at a young age to hate or fear the police. Because the police have killed or arrest their; fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends in there community. Making it very difficult to trust the police as adults when you have a fear that they will just be arrested, beaten or even killed for being black.

Social media and the internet have be bringing awareness to the police brutality towards Black Americans. It is a the reason why these issues have been brought to attention in recent years. Making many acts of police brutality much hard to try to conceal. Also dash cameras have been installed in police cars across america for years which records what happens front of the vehicle. But body cameras also allow for more footage and audio (Wiley). Which all played a huge role in the case of a white police officer in Lorain, Ohio who was fired for stopping his daughter’s 18 year old black boyfriend Makai Coleman for no reason other than him being black. And admitting that he was going to make up the reasons to arrest Makai (Branigin).

Prejudice against black Americans is a very real problem in today’s society. Making police brutality a serious and horrible thing that affects many black people in Americans. By making many live with the fear of potential racism and prejudice among the police officers. Which strongly affects the black community, which makes them think that they will be stopped in harassed possibly for simple being black. This could be simply because some police officers are racist, or a common prejudice in the police force. But there is so much that still needs to be done about police brutality, and treatment of black people in America. There is still justice that needs to be given to the families of those wrongly murdered or harassed by police due to police brutality. Also the officers that wrongly took so many lives of young black Americans need to be held accountable for their actions and prejudice.

Work Cited

1. Branigin, Anne. “White Ohio Cop Fired for Detaining Daughter’s Black Boyfriend for No Reason: ‘We’ll Make Shit Up as We Go’.” The Root, Www.theroot.com, 22 June 2018, www.theroot.com/white-ohio-cop-fired-for-detaining-daughters-black-boyf-1827045783.
2. Thurau, Lisa H., and Johanna Wald. “Police Killings, Brutality Damaging Mental Health of Black Community.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 15 Sept. 2018, www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/policing/spotlight/2018/09/14/police-brutality-damaging-black-communitys-mental-health/1218566002/.
3. Wiley, Maya. “Police Brutality: Body Cameras Help Citizens and Police.” Time, Time, 9 May 2017,
4. http://time.com/4771417/jordan-edwards-body-cameras-police/
5. Krayewski, Ed. “UPDATED: Cop Shoots 17-Year-Old Boy Who Answers Door, Nothing Else Happens GBI Says ‘Case File’ Still Open.” Reason.com, Reason, 17 July 2014,
6. https://reason.com/blog/2014/07/17/cop-shoots-17-year-old-boy-who-answers-d

Police Brutality Impact On Public

In recent years, police brutality has surfaced social media exposing those who serve us to stop people from making the wrong choices. Now, we not only have to worry about criminals running around but also those with the responsibility to protect us “police officers.” In an article published by the Washington Post, last updated Aug 3, 2017, states, “Since 2006, the nation’s largest police departments have fired at least 1,881 officers for misconduct that betrayed the public’s trust, from cheating on overtime to unjustified shootings.” Citizens who have been attacked have been left with physical and emotional scars that can never go away; in some cases, it has even caused death. In addition, they have broken the public’s trust and are now seen as a threat to the people. There are countless numbers of police officers who work in the force to seek joy from killing.

Many reports have been filed relating to police brutality because of excessive force, racial profiling and threatening comments. For example, New York City’s police officer Daniel Pantaleo, who used a combat move that is not permitted within the NYPD, ended Eric Garner’s life with a chokehold death. Many witnesses have said that Garner did not resist and that Pantaleo was using excessive physical force to bring Garner into custody. Not only was Garner’s death unjustified but has opened the public’s eyes on the threat policing can become for the public. Furthermore, a group of men consisting of black and Hispanic ethnicity, in Connecticut, were stopped by Stephen Barone, a Hartford police officer, after receiving a dispatch on a group of men suspicioned of trespassing. They were verbally attacked by Barone saying, “ If anybody wants to fight or run, I’m a little trigger-happy, guys.” The group of men were concerned about his comments and were later told that he had a gun after telling them they needed to be checked for narcotics or weapons. However, not only was he investigated for this encounter but as well as a traffic related incident. While we acknowledge that not all officers are like this we should not overlook the fact that many officers aren’t fit for the title due to their way of thinking when confronting suspicions or danger. Moreover, one can say that many of those who fall victim to police brutality consist mostly of blacks, Hispanic, Latinos and African Americans. In an article, by Huffington Post, last updated, Aug 12, 2018, implies that, “Cases in which black people were killed by the police or died in their custody have risen to national prominence in recent years, often prompting protests nationwide.” That same year, Botham Shem Jean who mistook an off-duty Dallas officer’s apartment for her own was fatally shot by, and Stephon Clark was shot dead in his grandmother’s backyard by the police in Sacramento.” Police officers had no reported difficulties with the victims. This only demonstrates the kind of people that are allowed into the police force and because of this many police officers should be relieved of their jobs.

Unfortunately this is not the only way police brutality has affected the public. Citizens who have been attacked have been left with physical and emotional scars that can never go away; in some cases, it has even caused death. One solution for police brutality would be suiting officers with body cameras to prevent the occurence of misconduct and generate a record of any tragic or unprovoked encounters. For instance, an unarmed black teenager by the name Michael Brown was shot to death by a white police officer in Ferguson. Witnesses later reported that the actions taken by the police officer were unjustified. After the ruling that the officer not be charged, the Brown family later pressed the grand jury to ensure that every police officer in the country be suited with a body cam. This led to the White House funding state and local police with $75 million in order to purchase the body cam devices (Weise 46).

Works Cited

1. Alang, Sirry1, sma206@lehigh.ed., et al. “Police Brutality and Black Health: Setting the Agenda xxxxxfor Public Health Scholars.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 107, no. 5, May 2017, pp. 662–665. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.303691.
2. Burbank, Chris. “Opinion | Ending Police Brutality Starts With Firing Dangerous Cops.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 12 Aug. 2018, xxxxxwww.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-michael-brown-ferguson-police-shootings_us_5b6b3859e4b0530743c67bd2.
3. Gold, Michael. “White Police Officer Fired After Telling Group of Mostly Black and Hispanic Men He Was ‘Trigger-Happy’.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 Oct. 2018, xxxxxwww.nytimes.com/2018/10/18/nyregion/trigger-happy-police-fired.html?rref=collection/timestopic/Police Brutality and xxxxxMisconduct&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=collection.
4. Lee, Jasmine C., and Haeyoun Park. “15 Black Lives Ended in Confrontations With Police. 3 Officers Convicted.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 May 2017, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/17/us/black-deaths-police.html.
5. WEISE, KAREN. “Will a Camera on Every Cop Help Save Lives or Just Make a Tech Company Richer?” Bloomberg Businessweek, no. 4483, July 2016, pp. 44–51. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mth&AN=116811052&site=ehost-live.

Police Brutality Essay

When innocent people are killed by a police officer, we tend to get very upset, angry and in some cases retaliate against the police department. Many families in the United States alone have been unfortunate in this matter and left to bury a loved one due to this the careless behavior of a police officer. In the eyes of the community, the police department is looked to be its protector. They are viewed as those who take an oath, put their lives on the line and do what need to be done to save lives and keep criminals off the street. There is no such thing as a perfect policeman or woman but there are about 75% who take the job serious and try to do it right daily. The other 25% start out with great intentions in mind but allow power to take over. Being a police officer has it advantages and disadvantages like many jobs, but learning to work the job with dignity and respect for everyone is a whole different ball game.

Police officers who take the law into their own hands and choose not to handle each case with care are putting themselves in the characteristic of the 25%. These are the times when the unlawful activities start to take a rise. Victims of police brutality come in a wide range of methods. Many times the police are not made to take responsibility for these actions because these cases are often hid from the public eye. In a few cases, the victim is willing to bring a case forth but tend to back off when they fear retaliation. While other cases, the victim does nothing because they feel that nothing will be in the first place. One prominent example of this is Betty Shelby. She is a white female police officer from Tulsa, Oklahoma. She was on duty one day when she came in contact with Terence Crutcher. Long story short, she called him “a bad guy” and fatally shot him even though his hands were in the air, and he was obeying her command. This incident is just one of the many cases were people have lost their lives due to a police officer being trigger happy. These incidents have brought about the feeling of fear, insecurity and hatred towards an office that was designed to protect us. The first known case of police brutality was the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles, California in 1992. This case made national headlines when the police involved in his beating were not found guilty of their acts even when the beating was caught on tape. King, an African American man was ordered to get out his car. He complied with the orders of the officers and deliberately beaten and kicked just because of the color of his skin. Police brutality has taken many different shapes since this time but the fact still remains the same. Many people are losing their lives for absolutely no reason and the saga continues.

The violence among the U.S. citizens prompts the violation of human rights. This is a national and institutional problem because police are protected by the United States with the use of guns, beating their victims, using techniques of choking along with the use of brutal pressure. For example, a man was stopped and beaten by the police. According to (3) “police body cameras show Johnnie Rush being beaten, choked and stunned with a taser”. The acts of these police were very cold-hearted and only make up a small portion of the force they represent. In some cases police brutality is not always a physical act. There are many forms of police brutality such as, false arrest, verbal abuse, psychological intimidation, sexual abuse, racial profiling, political repression and improper use of pepper spray. Many victims choose to avoid the drama that comes with making accusations because they feel that it is only going to add more problems to their life. People feel that in most cases they are going to be fighting a losing battle. They don’t want to subject their families to all the scrutiny, news reporters and people in the community who don’t agree with them. Many don’t feel that it is important enough to go through all of the back and forth to get nothing done. Other keep quiet out of fear that they will be attacked again which has happened in some cases. According to some other reading, one guy has disappeared and his family believes that the city police kidnapped him and killed him to keep him from ruining their careers.

Police violence in the United States has become a hazardous pattern. Many may wonder and speculate but no will every truly understand the negative attitudes these police officers have developed. It has been noted that these officers react towards specific races, genders, and religion. The Civil Rights Movement is just one of the many aspects of history that still causes many in the police force to act bitterly towards minorities. Even though it seems so small it still plays a major part in the general public today. Statistics show that in 2019, 992 people were shot and killed by police officers. Whereas in 2017, 980 people were shot and killed, and the number is constantly growing. African American and Hispanics have endured more brutal vitality from law enforcement than any other race. There is no logical explanation for this but it happens more than many actually report. The genre that is affected most are men. There have been some reports of women getting into altercations with police officers but not many wrongful deaths have been reported.

Many police officers got over and beyond the call of duty to make sure the things they have done related to police brutality are covered up. In most cases, these incidents are revealed through video surveillance, online activist, civil right advocates and protest. Regardless of how it is revealed, it brings closure to the victim’s families and brings an end to corrupt policing. Many cases are handled this way while others are able to escape punishment, hide behind their units and get away with some very heinous crimes. Racial and sexual abuse has been a major subject of police violence for a very long time. 1% of complaints about police using this type of force have been recently reported in Central New Jersey. According to the News Tribune and Courier News the departments have put in place programs that are designed to make sure that police brutality becomes history. Policies should be put in place such as trainings to let officer know that if they engage in such crimes, they will be held accountable. Trainings such as these will show police how to de-escalate situations instead of fuel them. These trainings will also show the police how to engage and become a part of the community in which they are patrolling. They should include cultural diversity, mental illness training, youth development, biases and racism. To totally understand the people they serve, they have to take the time to get to know them first. It takes a special officer to go into the community, stop at the local basketball court, shoot some hoops with the youth and find out about them. A community is as strong as its leaders and some police officers have forgotten that they are leaders due to the power that has clouded their brains. The misuse of power can be a dangerous thing and many people in high position forget this.

Conclusion

In conclusion, regardless of what the law requires of officers, police brutality and wrongful deaths have to change and drastically come to an end. The developing numbers of casualties is on a rise and very disturbing. Disturbing to know that police feel they have to right to take a life or beat a person just because they know they can justify it by covering up the truth. This is unjust, not right and need to be stop with haste. Human rights are being violated every time an officer commit these crimes and get away with it. It is up to the people to stand on what they believe, march and make their voice heard when injustice surfaces. Justice starts with the people and the people are the ones who will have to do everything in their power to make sure the law if followed by everyone included law enforcement. Overall, the saying “if you do the crime be willing to do the time” goes for everyone.

Solutions to the Police Brutality Essay

Introduction to Police Brutality: The Michael Brown Case

On August nine two thousand fourteen, Michael Brown, an eighteen year old African American was shot to death by a white police officer in Missouri. After a surveillance camera captured a man shoving a clerk and walking out of the store with a box of cigarettes, nine one one was called. Michael and his friend Dorian are walking in the middle of a street and are suddenly confronted by an Officer, he tells them ‘Get the f*** on the sidewalk’ or ‘Get the f*** out of the street,’ and they both replied, ‘not but a minute away from our destination, and we would shortly be out of the street”. Michael and Dorian begin to run, Dorian hides behind the first car he can see, he said. The officer gets out of his car and grabs Michael by his neck and Michael tries to pull away. ‘My friend, Big Mike, very angrily is trying to pull away from the officer,’ said Dorian. Then the officer takes out his gun and says ”I’ll shoot’ or ‘I’m about to shoot.’ Dorian then saw the gun being pointed at them and he moved seconds before he pulled the trigger. ‘I saw the officer proceeding after my friend Big Mike with his gun drawn, and he fired a second shot and that struck my friend Big Mike,’ Johnson said. ‘And at that time, he turned around with his hands up, beginning to tell the officer that he was unarmed and to tell him to stop shooting. But at that time, the officer fired several more shots into my friend, and he hit the ground and died.’He then looked at his friend “Big Mike” and saw that he was struck in the chest or upper region. Michaels wounds included a shot to the hand from close range, the official autopsy found, according to a report in the St.Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper. Michaels blood was found on the officers uniform and in his police car. At least one of the wounds demonstrated that there was a struggle inside the police car.

Root Causes of Police Brutality

The cause of police brutality is that police officers abuse their powers. Many believe that because they have a badge, they are the ones that are always right. Additionally, there is a lack of training in many police departments and a lack of enforcement of consequences and this further empowers officers to exert their power over people. They never give innocent people a chance to talk and explain their side of the situation really is no other cause than that because officers often use their powers excessively against innocent people, specifically people of color.

Consequences of Police Brutality on Communities

The effects are innocent lives are being taken away. Most African Americans and Hispanics live in fear. Police officers are seen as bad people and not all of them are bad. African American parents have the “talk” with their kids but not about the birds and bees but about what to do when a police officer approaches them. “ As a result, the black community is injured to police violence. Abusive behavior on the part of the police has become commonplace; we are used to the small harassments. According to a nineteen ninety seven joint report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Institute of Justice while men, Whites and persons in their twenties were more likely to have face-to-face contact with the police, Hispanics and Blacks were about seventy percent more likely to have contacts with the police as Whites were. An estimated five hundred thousand people were here hit, held, pushed, choked, threatened with a flashlight, restrained by a police dog, threatened or sprayed with chemical or pepper spray threatened with a gun or subjected to some other form force. “ (Nelson)

The Global Issue of Police Brutality

Police brutality is a huge issue in our community, for innocent lives are being lost. According to the Washington Post this year alone 896 people have been shot and killed by police officers. Instead of feeling protected by police officers they feel afraid to leave their homes because of the fear of not coming home alive.

Police brutality is a huge issue not only in Los Angeles but also around the whole world. Innocent people get wrongfully attacked for no reason. Police brutality is caused by police officers abusing their powers. It is also caused by the officers not being trained for certain situations. Police officers usually target African Americans and Hispanics. Police brutality is not only when officers abuse innocent people but also when officers fail to help people. The law fails innocent people by wrongfully sentencing people to jail for stuff they didn’t do.

Examples of Police Misconduct and Its Impact

Police officers think they can do whatever they want because they are the law but in reality they need to realize that people have different sides to their stories. For example Oscar Grant, who was shot dead in two thousand nine in Oakland, California. Police officers had been reported about a fight and started having a confrontation with Oscar and his friends. Grant was handcuffed, with no gun and his face was being pushed down onto the floor when an officer pulled out his gun and shot him in the back. In court the police officer who shot him claimed he thought his gun was his taser (“Officer punched Oscar Grant”). Oscar Grant had his life taken away while the police officer who shot him was sentenced to two years in jail and let out early in nine months. Oscar never got the chance to get his life back together after struggling to have a stable life he was finally doing good. He never got to watch his daughter grow up and it’s something that could’ve been avoided if the officer had not shot him.

Police officers fail when they accuse innocent people of things they didn’t do and because they are on top of the law they get to accuse who they want. For example “ Nearly two decades ago, Richard A. Jones was convicted of aggravated robbery after being picked out of a lineup by witnesses who said he stole a cellphone in a Walmart parking lot in Kansas. But while Mr. Jones, who maintains he is innocent, was serving his 19-year sentence at Lansing Correctional Facility, inmates told him he looked like a prisoner named Ricky. That resemblance would eventually lead to his freedom. Last year, a judge threw out Mr. Jones’s conviction after the original witnesses were shown side-by-side photographs of the two men and said they could not tell them apart. Now Mr. Jones, 42, is trying to get his life back on track.“ ( Hauser ) It is not fair that innocent people have to go through these types of situations, his life was stolen from him and there is nothing the law can do for him to get all those years back.

The Cycle of Police Brutality and Its Reproduction

Police brutality happens because new officers often seek to continue with traditions and standards of police behavior. These standards require new officers to imitate older officers and comply with superior’s commands or otherwise face criticism, or job loss. According to “ BAD CHICAGO COPS SPREAD THEIR MISCONDUCT LIKE A DISEASE”. “Recently released data from the Chicago police department shows that misconduct spreads from officer to officer like an infectious disease. And the same behavior that leads cops to violate the rules often predicts whether they will participate in a shooting.” This supports my claim because officers look up to each other and seek advice from older officers and if they act a certain way they will follow into their steps of police brutality. This matters because if officers show a bad example on how to act there will be no one to help innocent people in situations that are complicated.

The Broader Impact of Police Brutality on Law Enforcement

Police brutality does not only affect the victims but it also affects the police officers because it gives them a bad reputation. People are afraid to follow their dreams of becoming police officers because they fear the judgment they will get from doing that. “ Let’s be clear, my decision to become a law enforcement officer did not go unnoticed by my family. To my father, I was a disappointment, so much so that he made the following statement after he learned of my decision: “How could you? Boy, you are a traitor to our race. Not only that but you are a white man’s ni****.” Think of that, your father, the man you most wanted to be like, calling you out because you chose to be a law enforcement officer.” (Thomas) Thomas’s father was disappointed that his son wanted to become a police officer’s because of such a bad view he has on police officers and also especially because his son is African American and it is known for police officers to target blacks. This is important because people should be allowed to follow their dreams without having the fear of being accepted.

Personal and Societal Consequences of Police Brutality

Police brutality is a huge problem around the world because innocent people are losing their lives. How would you feel if you found out one of your loved ones died in the arms of police officers. “I know that it’s hard to believe that the people you look to for safety and security are the same people who are causing us so much harm. But I’m not lying and I’m not delusional. I am scared and I am hurting and we are dying. And I really, really need you to believe me.” ( Oluo ) Picture a knock at your door and its two police officers giving you news that you just lost a family member due to police brutality. Police brutality is a situation that must be controlled so more innocent lives are not being lost. I cannot imagine losing someone to police brutality. It’s hard to find a solution because police officers are the highest part of authority if police officers don’t help you who will you go to then, unless you take it to the government and they can try to help you. I feel terrible for the people that lose loved ones in their life due to police abuse, I know they wish they could do something about it but they also fear for their own lives. Police officers often do get away with their murder because they always mention that they feared for their own lives even though they are the ones that have the power to attack with weapons.

Proposed Solutions to Address Police Brutality

One solution can be officers get punishments for what they do, not just jail time but also money for the families who lost their family members. Sometimes officers should relax and consider different sides of stories. Another solution can be when police officers are training they should be trained on what to do in situations like police brutality. Instead of just hazing them or shooting them they should just get handcuffed, that is why there are many officers so they can help.

Police Brutality As Racial Profiling

From trying to cash a check at the bank, to mowing lawns, to sleeping in the college dorms or even coming home to an apartment building, there are numerous stories of African-Americans being harassed. Women, men, and even children going about their daily lives only to be intruded by strangers provoked by their presence and this provocation often ending in police involvement. Advancement in technology has made it easier to capture these incidents and reveal how African-Americans have become targets of hate crimes. This disgusting practice of racial profiling has resulted in numerous people of color forced to live their lives in fear of being thrown into the sunken place by white people and created a stigma for law enforcement toward them. Police brutality is an inheritance of African-American suppression, enslavement, and legal inequality.

Racial profiling refers to the use of race, gender, ethnical background or even religion as police reasoning for stopping, searching, or arresting without probable cause. In Jordan Peele’s movie GET OUT, Chris is racially profiled when instead of investigating the crash, the police immediately asked Chris to see his driver’s license. Racial profiling is based on those who are victims of discriminatory acts. Racial profiling appears to be more effective when the group being profiled are oppressed. Police officials refer to complaints on racial profiling as merely citizens misinterpretation on the precaution and procedures performed by law enforcement on a day to day basis. The term “Protect and Serve” is an apprehension in reference to predominantly white neighborhoods, while minority communities rather receive the “Law and Order” approach.

For years African-Americans have been stereotyped into being criminals; young Blacks have been portrayed as thieves, abusers, and even biological mistakes. Someone who has been affected by this racial profiling is Earlene Miller, a former CSUN student. I had the privilege of interviewing her on her experience of obtaining a credit card and overcoming identity fraud. She explained to me the judgmental look the bank employees gave her and even the rude remarks she received upon discovering she was a victim of identity fraud. What fascinated most about my observation came from my workplace, where I viewed racial profiling first hand by employees solely asking Black students to verify their credit cards with another form of identification.

In the article by Richard J. Lundman and Robert L. Kaufman labeled, “Driving While Black: Effects of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender on Citizen Self-Reports of Traffic Stops and Police Actions,” they explain how African-Americans have become the most popular suspects in improbable police stops, “although African Americans made up only 8% of the city’s population aged 15 years and older, 12% of all traffic stops involved African-American drivers, as did 14% of traffic stops for equipment violations” (R.J. Lundman and R.L. Kaufman 120). Racial profiling falsely stops and sometimes convicts innocent Blacks solely based on the color of their skin.

Throughout the movie GET OUT, Peele shows common stigmas linked to the African-American community. The protagonist Chris finds himself being faced with many stereotypical questions concerning both his physical aspects and perception view in being a Black man in modern society. The elder Lisa squeezes Chris’ bicep, which then leads to her question, “A bit too familiar. So, is it true? The love making. Is it better?” (Peele 48). This quote unfolds how racial profiling and theories tied to African-American communities occur. The assumption is made that Chris would, of course, be strong because he is Black and that he gives great sexual experiences. Over a decade ago the assumption was accepted that African race was superior and that their genitalia size correlate to their shoe size. With few planning and procedures, this myth formulates into a misconception that sticks to our Black men. No matter how hard we fight for change, the systems silence us into the sunken place.

Peele is one of many Black activists staying woke to this racial profiling tossed onto Black communities to juggle. The caucasian artist known as Eminem raps in his song Untouchable, “Why is there Black neighborhoods? / Cause America segregated us/ Designated us to an area/ Separated us/ Section-eight’d us’ — and criticized bad cops who ‘fu*k it up for good cops,” (YouTube). The artist places himself in the shoes of a racist white cop who antagonizes Black people by gushing hateful slander such as “Black boy,” a frequently used term by slave owners to belittle Black men during the slavery period in America.

For many Americans, a simple traffic stop is a regular incident that occurs. On the other hand, for racial minorities, a routine traffic stop has a completely different meaning. Historically, relations between law enforcement and people of color have been uneasy, and numerous members of the Black community have come to believe we are prey for law enforcement because of the color of our skin. It has become widely aware that Americans, more specifically African-Americans, conclude that police use race as a justification for criminal involvement. In Ron Finley’s Ted talk “ A Guerilla Gardener in South Central,” he states, “To change the community you have to change the composition of soil” (Finely). He meant in order to bring awareness to the suppression weighed on people of color, we must first address that we are suppressed. For centuries African- Americans have been in continuous battle that police officers scrutinize their behavior constantly and countless reports have captured the fear people of color have of being arrested even when foul play isn’t present.

Racial profilings in contemporary debates focuses on whether it exists in concern to an officer’s intentional discrimination or if they have a policy or custom of racail profiling. It is unlikely that an officer will admit his or her bias or that an agency will produce their racially-biased policy, thus making definitive proof of profiling difficult to ascertain. The U.S. Department of Justice defines as a decision by law enforcement that “rests on the erroneous assumption that any particular individual of one race or ethnicity is more likely to engage in misconduct than any particular individual of other races or ethnicities” (Kami Chavis Simmons “Beginning to End Racial Profiling: Definitive Solutions to an Elusive Problem”). Race has justified social inequalities as natural. Although race is biologically meaningless, white people make it socially and culturally significant.

Overall, racial profiling is a problem with the solution within it. While efforts to gather data on racial profiling have been attempted, the focus must shift from trying to prove it is occuring to changing the perceptions Blacks have tied to them and building trust between those who protect and serve and the people who need the protecting and serving. In America, Blacks are only free in battle never in rest leaving them with no choice but to sink in. There is inequality because of discrimination, oppression,, privilege, and opportunity- NOT because of biology. Being colorblind will not end racism.

Works Cited

1. Peele, Jordan- GET OUT File:///home/chronos/u-f21888ec51b1394c01a3f324aa50e1bd64f0559f/MyFiles/Downloads/GET-OUT%20(1).pdf Accessed 23 September 2019.
2. Lundman, J. Richard, and Kaufman, L. Robert- “Driving While Black: Effects of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender on Citizen Self-Reports of Traffic Stops and Police Actions” http://urbanaillinois.us/sites/default/files/attachments/04-social-science-subcommittee-report-part-1.pdf Accessed 28 September 2019.
3. Marshall, Emine- Untouchable https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56KYMMGudcU Accessed 30 September 2019.
4. Finley, Ron- A Guerilla Gardener in South Central https://www.ted.com/talks/ron_finley_a_guerilla_gardener_in_south_central_la?language=en Accessed 26 September 2019.
5. Simmons, Kami Chavis. ‘Beginning to End Racial Profiling: Definitive Solutions to an Elusive Problem.’
6. Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice 18.1 (2011): 25. Web. Accessed 1 October 2019.

Police Brutality in The Hate U Give

Novelist Angie Thomas and her novel “The Hate U Give” expresses the life of a sixteen year old girl named Starr, who was a witness to her best friend Khalil get murdered by the police in cold blood. Thomas purpose for writing the “The Hate U Give” is to convey the message of being able to stand up against important issues such as racism and police brutality. The loss of Starr’s best friend Khalil was the major event in the book that brings about the issue of police brutality in the book. Thomas describes how people can fight for justice by coming together, which in turn establishes the theme of being able to speak up and fight for justice against racism and police brutality. The novel is mainly identified as pathos, uses several figurative languages, and also uses a cautious tone in dealing with the ongoing issue of police brutality in the novel.

With regards to the use of repetition in the novel, Thomas creates emphasis on the situations that develop within the characters in the novel, which in turn leaves the reader to identify the novel mainly to be pathos. Thomas makes the reader feel connected to the characters by describing the types of emotions the characters go through. When Khalil had just been shot, it became very difficult for Starr to breathe because she was in complete shock and was also really terrified about what had just happened to the point that she “gasp. And gasp. And gasp (Thomas 21).” Seeing that Khalil was killed by an officer that was supposed to be protecting the citizens, Thomas intends on making the reader pay attention to the events that were occurring, the reason being that the reader can only use their imaginations to figure out whatever is going on in the passage with the help of context clues. After Khalil was shot, Starr knew that the same fate could await her if she did anything, but she could not do anything about it because her “Instincts says don’t move, but everything else says check on Khalil (Thomas 20).” which then explains why people react because most of the times, the feeling that are going through the human body would overthrow the actions of the body making the person do the things that they fear. The use of pathos in the novel is an effective method of engaging the reader, which then helps prove to the reader that Thomas is trying to express the emotions of the characters, such as, being terrified, being in shock, and the feeling of being helpless, to allow the reader to be more attached to the characters. In the novel, Thomas also applies various figurative languages to bring the novel to life, such as similes, metaphors, and so on.

Additionally, Thomas exerts various figurative language such as similes, metaphors, personification, and so on to draw connections between the after effects that Khalils’ death such as the riots and protests concerning the issue of police brutality. In respect of Khalils’ death, the community went on a protest which then turned into a riot which in turn brought back memories to Starr because “It sounds like the Fourth of July behind us; pop after pop after pop (Thomas 257).” The use of this simile impacts the way the reader views Starr because the riots reminded her about Khalils’ death even though that was the reason for the protest. But, this is also a striking comparison between the sadness and confusion of the riots, and happiness during the Fourth of July celebration. The simile also emphasizes the violence of the occasion by drawing a similarity between the flares and fireworks, which are often very loud and frightening. Thomas also exerts simile when Starr was on her way to the courthouse and saw all the press and journalist outside to the point that she thought it “looks like the circus is setting up in town (Thomas 217).” Thomas uses the simile of a circus to describe the amount of media trucks that surrounded the courthouse. This simile also reflects the national attention that cases of police shooting such as Khalil’s receive. It also reflects how much Starr had to overcome to testify to the grand jury. She felt the pressure of an entire community on her shoulders, because she was the main one fighting in Khalils’ case against police brutality. Just as Thomas uses figurative language, tone and diction was also a major aspect of the novel.

Although Thomas uses a lot of tone in the novel, the main tone in the novel was cautious. When Starr and Khalil were being pulled over, all Starr was thinking about was what her parents told her to do and not to do if she ever got pulled over and hoped that Khalils’ parents did the same, “I knew it must’ve been serious. Daddy has the biggest mouth of anybody I know, and if he said to be quiet, I needed to be quiet. I hope somebody had the talk with Khalil.”(Thomas 20). Khalil’s shooting is also described in intensive languages that emphasize the terror and horror of the situation. His blood is described as spraying from his body as he jerks around and his eyes go lifeless when he passes away, “ Khalil’s body jerks. Blood splatters from his back. . . His body stiffens, and he’s gone (Thomas 20).” The minimalist description, coupled with horrific imagery, clearly conveys the tragedy of the situation, which left Starr very heartbroken. It was not until after Khalil died that Starr began to start to show people that she could stand out as the person to get justice for Khalil.

Thomas was very effective in demonstrating the ongoing issue of police brutality. The novel also represents how ineffective the United States justice system is in relation to people of color. Police brutality, which is the abuse of authority by the unwarranted infliction of excessive force by personnel involved in law enforcement while performing their official duties, still goes on in today’s society, police still using unnecessary force against people of color, and racially profiling them. The message of the novel is still relevant in today’s society because the issue of police brutality and racism still exist. Although citizens are allowed to use force to defend themselves from police brutality as long as that brutality is used in an illegal way, the U.S. justice system would still always find a reason or way to put the person who killed the officer away. Citizens are allowed to use lethal force to preserve their lives from any criminal. Police, by legal definition, present lethal force or the potential of lethal force, at all times while on duty. In conclusion, the novel conveys the message of police brutality in a very enticing way that would make readers more interested in the issues regarding police brutality.

The Aspects of Police Brutality in the United States

As an administration of justice major I have had to analyze a long list of potential police brutality videos in order to determine whether or not the officers used a justified amount of force to stop what they perceived to be a threat. The beatings and killings of African American individuals are definitely something we are all aware of, which is why I chose this topic; I plan on becoming a police officer in the future. Police brutality gained recognition in the early 90’s when the Rodney King beating, one of the first public assaults by a police officer caught on camera, was videotaped by a bystander and released as proof of hurting and degrading a Black individual. This sense of racial differentiation dates back to early American history when enslavement was in practice, and was brought back in the nineteenth century with lynching laws. Many people (including myself) believe that the excessive use of force at the hands of the police against African American individuals mirrors racial profiling and the historically bad treatment of People of Color. It should not shock anyone that Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans are disproportionately killed by the police; police brutality is a significant topic transcendently influencing African Americans that should prompt changes in law implementation. Others have contended that police brutality is more unpredictable and that there isn’t enough evidence to say that it is actually racially motivated.

One particular police brutality case that struck the nation was that of Rodney King, in which some argued that the force implemented by the police was justified. Lt. Dan Marcou argued in his article “A Cop’s Perspective” that “If King would have just pulled over and complied with the officers there wouldn’t of been 2,000 injured people, 53 dead, and 1100 buildings wouldn’t of been destroyed due to the riots” (Marcou 2012). Although he has a valid perspective, I believe that the officers could have handled the situation in a more professional manner without calling King racial slurs and beating him repeatedly after he had clearly given up. If the officers had not behaved the way they did that night, there would not have been 2,000 injured people, 53 dead, and 1,100 buildings would have not been destroyed due to the riots; people protested because of the lack of professionalism shown by the police. Due to that, I disagree with Lt. Dan: especially since it took place in Los Angeles, where they have some of the most intensively trained officers in the whole nation. That said, we have to take into consideration that when cops are assaulted or fear for their lives, especially when they are separated from everyone else and believe a firearm is involved, they run the risk of lethally shooting someone potentially innocent, yet they are supposed to be trained to not make any mistakes because they can cost someone’s life.

I strongly believe that Mr. King’s arrest was motivated by police racism and was a very clear scene of police brutality. If he had been white, police likely would not have considered him to be such a risk. However, I can see why some people think that the officers’ use of force against King was justified since he did not comply with the officers’ commands, and he could have killed someone during the high speed chase he provoked. The video served as concrete evidence of King’s arrest, and you can clearly see that he gave up at one point. Instead of the officers arresting King right away and putting him in the back of a patrol car, the officers at the scene continued to beat him when he was already down and allegedly called him names and racial slurs. One actually Stomped on King’s head, and another kept beating him with his baton, striking multiple times while King was defensively on the ground with his hands above his head. To me, that is a very clear use of excessive force and police racism.

Although some studies have pointed to the idea that there’s no racial bias present in policing, the majority of real life data proves otherwise. Lisa Thurau’s article “Police Killings, Brutality Damaging Mental Health of Black Community” states that in 2015, Berkeley Law Professor Franklin Zimring broke down “1,100 deaths by Officers and found that the passing rates for African Americans were increasingly higher than the rest of the population” (Zirming 2015). An analysis done by Roland G. Fryer, an African American economics teacher at Harvard University, found that “African Americans are bound to be cuffed, pepper spray or pushed to the ground by a cop, even subsequent to representing how, where and when they experience the police”(Fryer 2016). However, his study concluded that there was no racial bias in police shootings. I have to disagree with that since Fryer himself mentions that African Americans are more likely to be treated poorly by an officer, so it would not stand to reason that there are no racial biases if African Americans are more likely to be involved in police confrontations.

Although the incident with Rodney King happened almost 30 years ago, cases dealing with police brutality are still prevalent. For Example, On the morning of New Year’s Day of 2009, 22-year-old Oscar Grant was fatally shot in the back at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland, California by BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle. The officer claimed in his statement that “he confused his gun for a taser.” (Tucker, Zeto, Knight 2009). A variety of

witnesses filmed the incident on their camera phones and posted it on social media: it instantly went viral. Grant died in the hospital the day after the occurrence, and Oakland erupted in protest and riots: many believed that the officer was acting out of racism. The officer Johannes Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and got the minimum sentence of two years in prison, but he was released 11 months later on parole. John Burris, a civil rights attorney specializing in police brutality cases, explained why cases like these are hard to win. “The vast majority of people who serve on the jury are basically pro police and it’s very difficult for them to rule against a police officer for conduct that has happened in the course of their work” (Burris 2017). The case gained so much attention that the film Fruitvale Station featuring Michael B. Jordan was made in 2013 to explain the incident and spread awareness for the prevalence of police brutality against African Americans.

Grant, along with Rodney King and many more, are all symbols of the ongoing battle against police brutality in the United States. The similarities between the cases, most notably the fact that they are primarily directed towards People of Color, proves that it is time to make a change. The riots prove that the people of the United States are ready for a revolution: it is now up to the government to fulfill their end. It also showed people (in a very extreme way) that they have the power to stand up, come together, challenge governmental decisions and make a change towards a less racist and brutal community.

Police Brutality and Justifiable Violence

American police brutality and use of excessive force in the 1990s was a major problem, primarily because of the racial prejudice that has come with it. By definition, excessive force refers to force in excess of what a police officer reasonably believes is necessary (Legal Information Institute). Officers of the law would attempt to justify these immoral actions by claiming that they might have feared for their safety or something of the sort. It has occurred many times throughout the past couple of decades and throughout the history of America. This type of conflict is base, much like Macbeth’s conflicts are laid out in ‘No Fear Shakespeare: Macbeth’: “Creating conflict from base, immoral feelings rather than for the greater good of oneself or others is unjustifiable”.

There is an extremely important psychological component in police brutality and excessive use of force. There are many police officers possess implicit biases toward minorities (Weir). An implicit bias is a subconscious “identity trap” where you automatically feel a certain way about someone or something. This bias is usually negative and does not allow officers to have complete control over some of the actions they may commit on the job. They influence attitudes and behaviors “without the officer consciously aware of it” (Weir). Considering this, one could surmise that there is a way to justify particular violent crimes involving police officers and members of a minority community. Experiments have also been conducted by the American Psychological Association to further demonstrate the effects of this implicit bias. People were brought in and were instructed to push a button to “shoot” when images were flashed in front of them. Images of people that were holding either a weapon or a harmless object. The likelihood of “being black, unarmed, and shot by police is about 3.5 times higher the probability of being white, unarmed, and shot by police” (Weir). This implicit cognitive process also applies to something as simple as a name. It takes White Americans a longer time to associate good thoughts when presented with a black sounding name such as Darnell, than when presented with a white sounding name such as Chad (Weir). Part of why police brutality due to racial prejudice occurs is because it is a cognitive process that is extremely difficult to break. Much like trying to break a habit, except it is far more difficult because it is an innate function of the brain. Police departments have not provided adequate training to officers with implicit biases, and because of this lack of training “police are less likely to view violence as a last resort” (Kristian). When the door is left open for unnecessary police brutality, then there are sure to be people that walk through it. Officers also have a rule of thumb that enforces ingroup bias, where they favor their troupe more than they do any other (Weir). Police officers have an unwritten code or pact with each other that warrants the behavior of other officers engaging in misconduct. This pact, in addition with stereotypes and perceptions, foster situations of brutality and use of excessive force on the members of minority groups. No one likes a tattletale, especially when the expected consequences of one’s actions can be severe and life changing.

Officers in Nineties America may have often found themselves in a situation where a minority group appears to be hostile, giving those officers the ability to wrongfully exercise their power to abuse and oppress that minority group. For example, in 1989, a group of five young teenagers were wrongly charged with a crime they did not commit. They were all part of a minority group, four African Americans and one Hispanic American. Because they were located near the scene of the crime, they were taken in, abused, coerced into confessions, and finally charged with assault, robbery, riot, rape, sexual assault, and attempted murder. The interrogation techniques used on the minors was an abuse of power and excessive force. The detectives were able to intimidate the minors by “confronting the suspects with assertion of guilt yet minimizing the perceived consequences of the confessions” (Sleek). The primary detectives were White Americans, and the prosecutor on trial was White American. The victim of the attack, Trisha Meili, is a White American. Since all of the suspects were a part of a minority group, there is reason to believe that they were wrongfully abused partly because of the lingering prejudice in America. Not because of a sense of justice that should have led to further investigation and the capture of the actual culprit of the rape and assault. The one who committed the crime, Matias Reyes, confessed to raping the jogger after the convicted five served varying prison sentences.

Police brutality and excessive use of force have not been as prevalent in the past decade than it has in the past couple of decades. Primarily because new laws and countermeasures have been created to avoid these kinds of cases. However, it still does occur on occasion and the reasons have not changed. There is still a great division between the minorities and majorities. In 2016, a Pew survey found that “33% of African Americans said police do a good or excellent job of using the right amount of force in each encounter” (Santhanam), this compared to the “75% of White Americans who believed in the judgement of police” (Santhanam). This division is a clear indication of why cases that involve excessive force and brutality occur in the first place. African Americans largely feel that they are the primary targets for police brutality and excessive force, they feel this way because of the clear and vivid images that come to mind where a White American police officer(s) is brutalizing an unarmed African American. Racial prejudice is an attitude that a lot of people still have to this day. It will always be a lingering aspect of America’s future; it was an extremely large and important part of its past. The brutalization of African Americans has been around since Americas conception, a part of its culture for centuries. The problem of brutality and excessive use of force has been “intimately interwoven with the country’s history of discrimination against non-White people” (Weisburd, David, and Malay Kiran Majmundar, 251). But by learning from the past, America is able to minimize police brutality and excessive use of force toward a minority group within the last decade. However, it does still occur, and it occurs for the wrong reasons. An American citizen of a minority group should never have to be subjected to immoral actions taken by officers due to attitudes that the officer may hold toward that citizen. Such actions taken by an officer of the law could never be properly justified in that context. There is no excuse for racial prejudice ruining someone’s life or even someone’s day.

There have been many cases in which lots of people will believe that there is more to it than just doing the job of an officer. From Amadou Diallo, Rodney King, Timothy Thomas to Michael Brown, one could surmise that there are some aspects of racial prejudice involved. The case of Rodney King for example, looking at the viral video footage of this beating, it is not hard to see that there are racial components involved. A bystander of the event recorded “five officers pummeling Rodney King with batons more than 50 times as he struggled on the ground outside his car” (Flatow). With the help of digital technology, police brutality became a nationwide dilemma. One African American individual laid out on the ground surrounded by several white American police officers being ruthlessly attacked. The Rodney King case sparked outrage in the community, and many Americans were appalled at the fact that such an event can take place. Why was such an excessive amount of force used against a defenseless African American man? It is an unjustifiable act of aggression with roots of racial prejudice and discrimination. This type of conflict is malevolent and selfish. There is no justifiable reason to commit such acts of aggression towards any individual, especially one of a minority group.

Exactly how Macbeth would operate, out of malevolence and for his own satisfaction would initiate conflict with other characters such as Banquo and Macduff. Macbeth sought to gain power at the expense of others welfare. He betrayed his king and his own friend in order to become the king he was prophesied to be. Although it is not for the same exact reasons Macbeth and officers that commit brutality in America start these conflicts for the wrong reasons, and they are hardly justifiable. And unlike how Beowulf would operate, he mostly initiated conflict because of the purity of his heart and to protect his people. He was a genuine hero that wanted to be remembered as one, he respected all of those around him. He fought with monsters so that he could save people from despair. Beowulf was also never the one to initiate conflict, he only ended conflicts. For example, his conflict with the monster Grendel and it’s mother. He slayed both of them using his own strength at the request of the king of the Danes. And in doing so he would the people avoid further tragedy at the hands of Grendel. He fought hard even in old age solely to protect his own people. Officers that commit brutality and use excessive force against a minority do not do so in order to protect the community, they do so mostly because they hold a prejudice against that minority.

Works Cited

1. “Excessive Force.” Legal Information Institute, Legal Information Institute, https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/excessive_force. 19 Nov. 2019.
2. Flatow, Nicole. “What Has Changed About Police Brutality In America, From Rodney King To Michael Brown.” ThinkProgress, 11 Sept. 2014, https://thinkprogress.org/what-has-changed-about-police-brutality-in-america-from-rodney-king-to-michael-brown-e6b29a2feff8/. 19 Nov. 2019.
3. Kristian, Bonnie. “Seven Reasons Police Brutality Is Systemic, Not Anecdotal.” The American Conservative, 13 Nov. 2019, www.theamericanconservative.com/seven-reasons-police-brutality-is-systematic-not-anecdotal/?utm_source=feedly&utm_reader=feedly&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=seven-reasons-police-brutality-is-systematic-not-anecdotal. 30 Jan. 2020.
4. Santhanam, Laura. “After Ferguson, Black Men Still Face the Highest Risk of Being Killed by Police.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 9 Aug. 2019, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/after-ferguson-black-men-and-boys-still-face-the-highest-risk-of-being-killed-by-police. 19 Nov. 2019.
5. Sleek, Scott. “The Science and the Injustice of the Central Park Jogger Case.” Association for Psychological Science – APS, 30 July 2015, https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/the-science-and-the-injustice-of-the-central-park-jogger-case. 19 Nov. 2019.
6. Shakespeare, William, and John Crowther. No Fear Shakespeare: Macbeth. Spark, 2003. 30 Jan. 2020.
7. Weir, Kirsten. “Policing in black and white” American Psychological Association Dec. 2016 https://www.apa.org/monitor/2016/12/cover-policing.
8. Weisburd, David, and Malay Kiran Majmundar. Proactive Policing: Effects on Crime and Communities. National Academies Press, 2018.

The Rodney King Case as a Prime Example of Police Brutality

As an administration of justice major at CSM, a topic that interest me was one of the biggest cases of police brutality that has ever happened in the United States and how an event like this will affect the whole nation not just the city where the event took place. People of the United States are outraged over police brutality and police shootings in today’s society. As of today, police misuse has gone to the consideration of the overall population. While people of the United States are watching out for criminals, it has now been demonstrated that they should likewise watch out for individuals who have been given the duty to protect and serve. Police brutality is one of the biggest human rights violations in the United States, and it happens everywhere in the West Coast of this nation to the East Coast, South, and North. The motivation behind why I picked this topic is because police brutality goes on all the time all over the nation and still stays unrecognized by many. African American individuals have suffered brutality in a variety of ways. Today, cops utilize lethal deadly force that leads to shootings and beatings. The introduction of technology such as camera phones and easy access to the media has brought even more attention to this issue: people are able to see the severity of what actually happened, which allows them to develop a personal connection to the victim. Although there is an endless number of cases related to police brutality like the Amadou Diallo case, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell and many more this paper will primarily be focusing on one of the biggest that really struck this nation, which is the Rodney King Case.

The documents filed by the FBI explore Rodney King’s case, which opened many people’s eyes to the reality of police brutality. At around 1 A.M in Los Angeles on March 3, 1991, a traffic stop happened that would change history. 25-year-old Rodney King, who was on parole at the time, was pulled over for driving over 100 miles per hour. “Police believed he was on drugs, and they planned to arrest him on the felony charge of evading the police” (FBI, 2013). The officers proceeded to tase King, beat him repeatedly, and kick him when he was already helplessly lying on the ground. He was injured so badly that he had to be transported to the hospital for severe injuries. The officers on the scene can be heard laughing when trying to call for the ambulance (FBI, 2013).

The article ‘Los Angeles in Flames’ by New York Times editor Neil Genzlinger explains that “All four cops were tried and the verdict returned as not guilty of assault in their first trial on April 29, 1992” (Genzlinger, 2017). Three out of the four were acquitted of any excessive force charges, and there was a hung jury for the fourth officer. At least one juror in the case justified their decision by claiming that King was squirming to “get away from the officers”, so she thought the police were justified to use that amount of force. The ruling infuriated the people of Los Angeles, who viewed the incident as a very clear example of police brutality. In turn, riots started breaking out in South Central LA. Police forces believed that their presence would make the situation worse, so they ordered all officers to go out of the area. This basically created a lawless society (which Yale Professor Beverly Gage reported to be historically the biggest domestic problem according to many Americans): everyone that was not African-American was targeted and beaten (Gage, 2016). Rioters started fires, broke anything and everything, and stole from stores. Governor Pete Wilson declared this to be a local State of Emergency and ordered all officers to go on the scene. As the news spread, the riots started spreading to other cities like San Francisco and New Orleans. In addition to over $1 billion of property damages as a result of the riots in Los Angeles, which is one of the worst riots in U.S history to date, there were over 50 people dead, 2,300 people were injured, and over 12,100 people arrested (Wallenfeldt, 2019). This caused pressure on the Los Angeles police department– they did, however, make some changes by adding more diversity to what was then the 60% White force, and the city got a new police chief: Black male Willie L. Williams. CNN writer Rachel Wells confirms this by saying, “More than 60% of the department was white when residents rioted in 1992. Today, it’s just over 30% white” (Wells, 2017). This was a step in the right direction for the police department, but that did not stop the reality of the events that caused all of this.

Rodney King begged for the violence to stop: he did not want people to riot over what happened to him. Since there was so much backlash in regards to the original ruling, officials were able to find a way around double jeopardy laws to try the officers again. Two of the officers involved were eventually found guilty and had to serve 30 months in prison.

Many believe the police involved in Rodney King’s case used an excessive amount of force: a common theme among police brutality cases (Sastry and Grigsby Bates, 2017). United States law affirms that officers should only apply the minimum amount of force necessary to get the suspect under control, but the police continued beating King after he was very clearly unable to fight back (US Legal). One of the officers on the scene even admitted that they overreacted, and the judge in the second trial stated that it was unreasonable since they continued to beat him when he was already on the ground.

The media coverage of the incident played a huge role in the public view of what happened. Given the fact that this was in the early 1990’s and there were no camera phones, it was very rare to capture footage of an event like this unless you were at the scene. The video, which was filmed by George Holliday on his new video camera, was shocking for many people because it was the first time that there was widespread concrete evidence that police brutality was real (“The Rodney King Beating”, 1991). This caused many people to pay close attention to the case after the video aired on TV- they wanted to see how the judicial system would react. When the verdict came back, many people were already following the case and felt a connection to it. People in cities all over the US rioted on King’s behalf since the footage gained nationwide attention. For many, the fact that the officers would not face consequences for their actions was a sign that they had no personal security and that we still live in a society filled with racism. The final trial provided some relief: people saw that they had the power to ensure that law enforcement is responsible for their actions.

While many claim that the amount of force used in the Rodney King case was a very clear example of police brutality, some argue that the amount of force used in King’s case was justified because of his belligerent behavior when officers tried to arrest him. This case was unique in that there was a videotape of the incident, which allowed people to form their own opinion as to whether or not the police were justified in their actions. Many experts viewed the video and agreed that the police used an unnecessary amount of force; the general public believed so strongly that this was a case of police brutality that they started history-making riots. This shows that the people are willing to take more responsibility into matters and are willing to stand up and give consequences to those who believe they are above the law. They say Police brutality has really gotten out of control, making it one of the biggest human rights violations in the United States. Society is attempting to make a change, and they can only hope for a safer justice system in the future.