The Case Against Police Brutality

In the past and recently, people have been affected by police brutality. The societal issue is apparent in many democratic societies around the globe, and increasingly in the United States. The wide spread of police brutality cases has raised many concerns. On one side, law enforcement supporters have backed the legality of officer’s actions while the opposition identifies police racial profiling, excessive and lethal force. Additionally, police brutality also raises concerns about human rights violations. However, guiltiness has only been proven against a few individual officers, or “bad apples.” Police brutality has proven to have an extensive amount of consequences. For a victim, police brutality can cause fear, depression, …show more content…
However, the fact is that, in a democratic state, police hold the authority to use legitimate physical force necessary to enforce the law, and maintain societal order and peace. Thus, exceeding that authority is an obvious violation of law. One of many standing arguments against police brutality is that, adequate sanction(s) against police who violate their authority of applying “legitimate force” against a person does not exist because the investigative methods can be ambiguous and unclear to the public’s eye. Thus, this controversial issue can be perceived as a systematic malfunction or as an individual officer with alternative motives. However, either perception does not change the fact that police brutality can leave all powerless individuals vulnerable to becoming victimized. Furthermore, the issue of police brutality can also place rightful police officers in negative position with the …show more content…
Law enforcement defenders, for example, make statements like, “These men were murdered because they are thugs,” or “If the police told me to do something, I’d just do it – that’s why I’d still be alive.” While in opposition of police authority, victim sympathizers, mostly individuals who dislike authority figures, strengthen the public’s opinions with statements like, “All police are racist” or “The only reason they were shot is because they’re black.” In any case, assumptions about police brutality are missing all the facts of a situation and therefore will be based primarily on feelings and perceptions. Therefore, without all the facts or an in-depth investigation, the public is forced to follow news with a high risk of biased framework filled with personal feelings and perception, which lacks truth until an investigation is conducted and disclosed to the