In current events cases of police brutality, or alleged police brutality, are controversial issues. The world is full of good people and bad people and this is the same in the police department. Just as police officers sometimes stereotype civilians by their skin color society has begun to stereotype police officers.
Police use of excessive force is a big problem. There are many different cases in which police use unnecessary force while on the job. A research paper written by Rachel Harmon identifies two cases that have been considered when trying excessive force cases. These cases are Graham vs. Connor and Scott vs. Harris. In the first case, Graham vs. Connor, Edward Garner was sighted running from a house that had reported a prowler. Officer Elton Hyman saw Garner jump a fence and …show more content…
Robert Staples article entitled “White Power, Black Crime, and Racial Politics” gives details into one very infamous account of racial prejudice in the police force. This was the beating of Rodney King. In the 1990s some police officers chased King for speeding. When they finally pulled King over they began beating and kicking him. This was caught on camera and went to trial where the officers were found innocent by an all white jury. When this decision was reached, riots broke out in Los Angeles causing at least two thousand and four hundred injuries, sixteen thousand arrests and a billion dollars in property damage. The trial was later reconvened and the officers were found guilty. While what happened to Rodney King is probably the most infamous incident many racial minorities have been wrongly treated by the police, yet few cops are brought to trial. This goes on even within the police force. In New York as of 2011 twenty black cops had been shot by their white colleagues while either undercover or off duty (Staples