Everyday in across the world civilians’ rights are infringed upon by the people who are supposed to protect them. Excessive force by police has been prevalent in society for decades and still remains an issue today. Police negligence is an infraction of basic human rights with thousands of incidents yearly reported.
Misconduct by officers have been presented throughout time through many different types of media; Television, news reports, and even books are used to show this idea. John Steinbeck addresses this in his novel, “The Grapes of Wrath” through his Jim Casy, a preacher. Casy is leading a protest with no malice then is struck and killed by police. “listen, he said. you fellas [don't] know what youre doin’. You're helpin to starve kids.” …show more content…
In 2009 Ian Tomlinson, a newspaper vendor in London England, was making his way home from work when he got caught up in a crowd of during the “G-20 Protests” and was forced to take a different route. Once turning onto a different street, He is struck by a police officer witha batton on the top of his head. He collapsed to the ground in shock, then stood up, stumbled, and falls to the ground again dead. This situation may have been justifiable by the officer if he had been provoked, but reports from ameteur videos proved this was not the case. “In the video, the newspaper seller is seen walking with his back to a group of police when the officer lunges at him.(Ian Tomlinson’s Death, BBC News)” The problem that arises, and what makes people skeptical about the incident, is that Tomlinson did nothing wrong. He was not even addressing the officer at all when he was ravaged by the cop. To make this vile story worse, days later more witnesses came forward with imperative information, “Other witnesses come forward to claim Mr Tomlinson was also hit by police in the minutes leading up to when the footage was filmed.(Ian Tomlinson’s Death, BBC News).” Even with these newly discovered testimonies, the offending officer, Simon Harwood, is not charged with the murder, but worse, not charged with any wrongdoing at all. Officers with tenure are often viewed as more credible than witnesses and therefor
Misconduct by officers have been presented throughout time through many different types of media; Television, news reports, and even books are used to show this idea. John Steinbeck addresses this in his novel, “The Grapes of Wrath” through his Jim Casy, a preacher. Casy is leading a protest with no malice then is struck and killed by police. “listen, he said. you fellas [don't] know what youre doin’. You're helpin to starve kids.” …show more content…
In 2009 Ian Tomlinson, a newspaper vendor in London England, was making his way home from work when he got caught up in a crowd of during the “G-20 Protests” and was forced to take a different route. Once turning onto a different street, He is struck by a police officer witha batton on the top of his head. He collapsed to the ground in shock, then stood up, stumbled, and falls to the ground again dead. This situation may have been justifiable by the officer if he had been provoked, but reports from ameteur videos proved this was not the case. “In the video, the newspaper seller is seen walking with his back to a group of police when the officer lunges at him.(Ian Tomlinson’s Death, BBC News)” The problem that arises, and what makes people skeptical about the incident, is that Tomlinson did nothing wrong. He was not even addressing the officer at all when he was ravaged by the cop. To make this vile story worse, days later more witnesses came forward with imperative information, “Other witnesses come forward to claim Mr Tomlinson was also hit by police in the minutes leading up to when the footage was filmed.(Ian Tomlinson’s Death, BBC News).” Even with these newly discovered testimonies, the offending officer, Simon Harwood, is not charged with the murder, but worse, not charged with any wrongdoing at all. Officers with tenure are often viewed as more credible than witnesses and therefor