DALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY
CRIMINAL LAW & ETHICS
ESSAY SUBMITTED TO
DR. LAMBERT
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS OF THE COURSE
ETHICS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT
CRJS 4301
BY
JOSHUA HUNTER CAIN
DUE: 16 NOVEMBER 2014
Abstract
Police brutality has been around ever since police officers have been around. There are good cops and bad cops that live their days to day lives deciding whether to have an itchy trigger finger, or to deliver justice to those who abuse its foundation. Not only is this issue a solo job, but groups of officers abuse their power and deliver severe punishment when it is not deemed necessary or even remotely needed. There needs to be fine line when defining and developing the issue between brutality and issuing …show more content…
But, the word brutality has several meanings before it was deemed fit to law enforcement. The obvious definition is that brutality is the savageness of one human to another. This word was put into the word ‘police’ as far back as at the 1917 during the slave movements; police captures the runaway slaves and beat them without hesitation before sending them back to their masters. There is an issue when it comes to brutality; law enforcement crosses the line when it comes to drawing the line on a peaceful engagement and an aggressive engagement when dealing with potential armed/unarmed criminals/citizens. The biggest and most popular issue arose with the civil suit with Rodney King. As we all know, this case involved Rodney King, and two friends: Bryant Allen and Freddie Helms who were involved into a high speed chase while Rodney was under the influence of alcohol. At 12:30 am, Officers Tim and Melanie Singer, (husband-and-wife of the California Highway Patrol) noticed King 's car speeding on the freeway. The officers pursued King in a high-speed chase, all while King refused to pull over for the cops. King later admitted that he attempted to outrun the police at high speeds because a past charge of alcohol abuse in which would would violate his parole for a previous conviction from robbery. Eventually, King pulled over, after several cop cars, and helicopters were on the scene chasing him down. Officer Tim Singer accompanied by 5 other officers: Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Theodore Briseno, Timothy Wind and Rolando Solano ordered King and his two passengers to exit the vehicle and lie face down on the ground. Bryant Allen was manhandled, kicked, tramped, mocked and threatened; while Freddie Helms was hit in the head while lying on the ground; his bloody baseball cap was turned over to police. Helms was given to paramedics for a cut on his head. King remained
CRIMINAL LAW & ETHICS
ESSAY SUBMITTED TO
DR. LAMBERT
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS OF THE COURSE
ETHICS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT
CRJS 4301
BY
JOSHUA HUNTER CAIN
DUE: 16 NOVEMBER 2014
Abstract
Police brutality has been around ever since police officers have been around. There are good cops and bad cops that live their days to day lives deciding whether to have an itchy trigger finger, or to deliver justice to those who abuse its foundation. Not only is this issue a solo job, but groups of officers abuse their power and deliver severe punishment when it is not deemed necessary or even remotely needed. There needs to be fine line when defining and developing the issue between brutality and issuing …show more content…
But, the word brutality has several meanings before it was deemed fit to law enforcement. The obvious definition is that brutality is the savageness of one human to another. This word was put into the word ‘police’ as far back as at the 1917 during the slave movements; police captures the runaway slaves and beat them without hesitation before sending them back to their masters. There is an issue when it comes to brutality; law enforcement crosses the line when it comes to drawing the line on a peaceful engagement and an aggressive engagement when dealing with potential armed/unarmed criminals/citizens. The biggest and most popular issue arose with the civil suit with Rodney King. As we all know, this case involved Rodney King, and two friends: Bryant Allen and Freddie Helms who were involved into a high speed chase while Rodney was under the influence of alcohol. At 12:30 am, Officers Tim and Melanie Singer, (husband-and-wife of the California Highway Patrol) noticed King 's car speeding on the freeway. The officers pursued King in a high-speed chase, all while King refused to pull over for the cops. King later admitted that he attempted to outrun the police at high speeds because a past charge of alcohol abuse in which would would violate his parole for a previous conviction from robbery. Eventually, King pulled over, after several cop cars, and helicopters were on the scene chasing him down. Officer Tim Singer accompanied by 5 other officers: Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Theodore Briseno, Timothy Wind and Rolando Solano ordered King and his two passengers to exit the vehicle and lie face down on the ground. Bryant Allen was manhandled, kicked, tramped, mocked and threatened; while Freddie Helms was hit in the head while lying on the ground; his bloody baseball cap was turned over to police. Helms was given to paramedics for a cut on his head. King remained