Police Brutality Issue

It is no secret to America that police brutality has been a rising issue in the current news. Police brutality really “came to light” when Michael Brown, 18, was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Many issues following Ferguson have raised questions about the morals and ethics of police departments all over the nation. It has brought up issues of brutality, race, and profiling. Close to home, the Los Angeles Police Department has been under fire for issues closely related to the ones listed above. The LAPD does not have a spectacular reputation, which has caused them to be the topic of conversation quite often in national news. This essay will discuss some of the issues that have been occurring recently in the …show more content…
Police Officer Sharlton Wampler has been under fire in the media after stating that he was “in a life-and-death struggle with Ezell Ford, wrestling over the officer’s gun on a summer evening last year” (Ezell Ford’s shooting violated LAPD policy, police commission rules, www.latimes.com). After the shooting, the angry response and call to action from the public sparked a thorough investigation of the shooting. Following other issues similar to this shooting in the United States, all police departments have been urged to seriously investigate all cases involving an officer/pedestrian shootings. After thorough investigation and a lot of debate between the public, media, and the LAPD, “the commission decided he did not have a reason to stop and detain Ford in the first place. His handling of the encounter was so flawed that it led to the fatal confrontation.” Multiple instances, like the two mentioned above, have placed the LAPD in the light of the media, blaming the LAPD for their failed trainings, tactics, and that they are racist and use profiling. This year has been an extremely controversial year for law enforcement, following the strings of officer involved killings around the county and around the …show more content…
Issues around the nation, new and old, have made them the subject of public scrutiny against police brutality. Even with progress comes opposition, which makes this extremely unfortunate for the department because the public is failing to recognize their accomplishments and growth over the past couple of years. The boys in blue are extremely important to law enforcement and they keep us all safe at all hours and minutes of the day. It is important as a nation to remember all the good that they have done for us, and to not constantly scrutinize mistakes or corrupt officers within the department. Mistakes and bad people are inevitable, it is all about how we, as a nation, choose to address this