Introduction
According to the Cato Institute, in 2010 an estimated 4,861 cases of police misconduct were reported. Within a year, the local police report to the Federal Bureau of Investigation that there are at least 400 cases of suspects being killed by police (Hoyer & Heath, 2014). These killings can be classified as police brutality. According to the Department of Justice, police brutality is the use of excessive force to accomplish a lawful police purpose (“Addressing Police Brutality,” 2015). In 2015, there is speculation that as of September 28, about 891 people have been killed in police brutality related cases and this number continues to grow (“Killed by the Police,” 2014). These statistics are representative of an on-going conflict …show more content…
For a period of about 15 years, the amount of police brutality cases are most likely consistent on a yearly basis. As that policy was not well enforced over time, I speculate that the number of police brutality cases began to grow and peaked recently in the last three to five years. Lastly, I hypothesize that the difference in the number of police brutality cases from 1991-1995 and 2010 to 2014 are not significantly different. Media sources provide bias in the opinion of the public as more police brutality cases are being reported to the public. I also hypothesize that police brutality has been a consistent tragedy for decades, and the media only recently brought these crimes to the public’s attention. There is no data at this point to support any of these actual claims, but there seems to be a pattern in police behaviors that will be elaborated upon in the literature …show more content…
This does not mean that the number of police brutality cases are actually growing in comparison to the media attention these crimes are receiving. In the long run, disbelief in the legal system aided by structural violence through law enforcement could manifest a race war or other structural issues. This statistical analysis of the number of police brutality cases compiled from every state will provide evidence of the effectiveness of police policy. This research will be used as an informative tool to de-escalate the potential conflicts regarding the effectiveness of police brutality
According to the Cato Institute, in 2010 an estimated 4,861 cases of police misconduct were reported. Within a year, the local police report to the Federal Bureau of Investigation that there are at least 400 cases of suspects being killed by police (Hoyer & Heath, 2014). These killings can be classified as police brutality. According to the Department of Justice, police brutality is the use of excessive force to accomplish a lawful police purpose (“Addressing Police Brutality,” 2015). In 2015, there is speculation that as of September 28, about 891 people have been killed in police brutality related cases and this number continues to grow (“Killed by the Police,” 2014). These statistics are representative of an on-going conflict …show more content…
For a period of about 15 years, the amount of police brutality cases are most likely consistent on a yearly basis. As that policy was not well enforced over time, I speculate that the number of police brutality cases began to grow and peaked recently in the last three to five years. Lastly, I hypothesize that the difference in the number of police brutality cases from 1991-1995 and 2010 to 2014 are not significantly different. Media sources provide bias in the opinion of the public as more police brutality cases are being reported to the public. I also hypothesize that police brutality has been a consistent tragedy for decades, and the media only recently brought these crimes to the public’s attention. There is no data at this point to support any of these actual claims, but there seems to be a pattern in police behaviors that will be elaborated upon in the literature …show more content…
This does not mean that the number of police brutality cases are actually growing in comparison to the media attention these crimes are receiving. In the long run, disbelief in the legal system aided by structural violence through law enforcement could manifest a race war or other structural issues. This statistical analysis of the number of police brutality cases compiled from every state will provide evidence of the effectiveness of police policy. This research will be used as an informative tool to de-escalate the potential conflicts regarding the effectiveness of police brutality