Examples Of Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely

Decent Essays
“Absolute power corrupts absolutely” is a very true statement first made by John Dalberg-Acton. This quote can describe the way police officers have evolved to be. We live in a society where police officers don’t always respect the lives of others. Many police officers use their power in corrupt ways. Law enforcement is an important aspect of our society, but sometimes moral obligations are not taken into consideration when punishing somebody for a crime. Police officer are given great power to enforce the law, but many times they use their power to hurt others, knowing that they won’t be given a harsh punishment for their actions because of the simple fact that they are police officers. Their absolute power makes them corrupt. Many Americans …show more content…
But should we really kill people for insignificant reasons such as speaking loudly to a police officer? That is the only thing Grant did to the police officer. Everybody should follow the law equally, and everybody should have the same rights. If a police officer has the right to kill somebody just because he doesn’t like the way that person is talking to him, then I have the right to kill anybody who talks to me aggressively. If an officer has the right to kill somebody just because of his or her skin color, then what society do we really live in? We are all human beings. It shouldn’t matter if you are a civilian or a police officer; everybody should follow the law equally and should have the same rights. But we don’t have the same rights; we are not punished equally for our crimes. If you commit murder, you should be imprisoned for at least ten years. The officer that murdered Oscar Grant only spent eleven months in prison, and this officer is not the only example of corruption.
Another example of police brutality is Darren Wilson, the officer that killed Michael Brown. I am someone who rarely watches the news, so I heard about the incident from a classmate. I found out he was unarmed, defenseless, and he was shot by a white officer for unjustifiable reasons. What is even worse is that the officer that killed Michael Brown spent zero years, zero months, and zero days in
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This kind of police behavior is morally wrong. When I hear about these incidents, my chest starts burning because I cannot believe this is happening in our country. We are supposed to feel protected when we are near officers, but that is not always the case. The way police officers sometimes react toward a person who doesn’t cooperate is unacceptable. If you try to run away, you would probably be shot in the back. Resisting arrest is not a crime that deserves capital punishment, not when you are unarmed. Police officers should first search your for any lethal weapons, and if a person does not cooperate with this search, then the officers should use brute force, but not shoot you with a gun. Police officers should use their Tasers when somebody is resisting. Using a gun in these cases is unacceptable. It scares me when I hear that somebody was killed because he tried to run after being stopped for speeding. When an officer kills somebody it scares people to not commit crimes, but it is morally

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