Running head: OUR LIVES MATTER Caridad Pozo May 27, 2018 Professor Emily Smith-Miles Our Lives Matter Campaign Gun Violence and Mental Illness It is evident that there is a low connection between mental illness and gun control, and prevention measures should be put in place to reduce the increased mass shooting incidences. The efforts should work in conjunction with one another to provide a wide safety net.…
Anthony Petruzzi 10/02/14 Jeremy Lakoff English 101 Ferguson Police Force: Just or Unjust? One black man is killed and Ferguson, Missouri turns into a war zone. Peaceful protests turned into angry riots and a whole town is torn apart. Police are sent to regulate these protests and all hell breaks loose. It all started on Saturday, August 9th, when an officer responds to a reported robbery at a convenience store.…
I sat down with my family to watch the 2012 World Olympics, wearing my USA tee shirt I was excited and ready to cheer on my country team. We watched as the broadcasters conversed about the world fastest runners, while the athletes warmed up and took the field for the big race. Journalist snapping their cameras, I focused on there lively expressions of this exciting and memorable event. Suddenly the blistering gun shot signified that the race has begun, and applause spread through the crowd like an electrical current.…
I do not believe white police officers, such as the ones recently portrayed in the media intend to kill African American people. If in the same situation with a white victim officers would have likely done the same action. In order to get a handle on these race issues, the author suggest Police leaders should promote professional norm of not stopping drivers or pedestrians except when justified by clear evidence of criminal behavior. (Epp Et al. Kindle…
Lately, the United States have known a disturbing succession of cases, of Black people, killed by white Police forces. These deaths have led to a series of riots and demonstrations, and especially revived a debate still sensitive about racial tensions in an America where the relationship between the Black community and law enforcement remain marked with a strong suspicion. Indeed, the African-American population says they are still subjected to racial profiling while police deny targeting Blacks.…
In recent years police brutality against unarmed African American males have been a common headline in the news. Unfortunately, with every tragedy it seems as if another one follows shortly after. According to the Businesses insider, “Since 2005, just 11 cops have have been convicted of fatally shooting somebody while on duty even though thousands of people have died from police-involved shootings...54 officers charged in connection with the fatal shootings, only 11 have been convicted, according to the analysis from the Washington Post and Bowling Green State University... Thirty-three of the 49 victims were black, and 43 of the officers were white, the study found”(Gorman).…
Recent cases such as Trayvon Martin (teenager shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer), Freddie Gray (died of a spinal cord injury while in custody), and Michael Brown (shot by a police officer after being accused of robbing a convenience store) have raised our consciousness regarding racial profiling. Black men face greater dangers when dealing with law enforcement and/or the public at large. Some good has come of these high-profile cases, with police reforms taking place across the country. New training techniques and programs like community policing are being utilized to help reduce violent encounters and help protect both officers and citizens. We can support and honor the service of the police community while, at the same time, expecting…
Over the past decade, officer involved violence and occasional killings has been accepted as a rare and necessary happening to protect the general public, but recently the number of these instances have skyrocketed at an alarming rate. Many are beginning to question the intentions of the police, wondering if they’ve taken an unnecessarily brutal and violent twist to their job description. Though many defend current police systems, there has been an obvious rise in on duty shootings ending in severe injury and death of civilians causing a need to mandate harsher consequences for on duty incidents and require body cameras at all times while on duty. Officer involved injuries and killings is an escalating issue all over the nation. Abe Markman…
Recently I have noticed a trend in the responses to the mass shootings in the United States like the recent one in Las Vegas. First, the initial response is that government officials and individuals publicly state that they are saddened by the tragic loss of life. Next, politicians give their opinions on the contributing factors leading to the shooting. Consequently, other politicians will unconditionally disagree with them. A debate occurs with little or no progress.…
Another mass shooting that occurred long before this one was also just as devastating. On April 20, 1999, two teenage boys one Dylan Klebold, 17, and Eric Harris, 18, woke up that day knowing that they were about to commit a mass murder at their Columbine High School and that it was going to be their last day. Before the shooting the pair’s original plan was to blow up the school with their homemade explosives but when that didn’t work out, that’s when they started to go on a shooting rampage. Investigators found out that both shooters arrived in different cars and walked into the school and placed two duffel bags which contained “20-pound propane bomb” in each which was set to explode at 11:17 a.m. According to an article, at approximately…
Four or more, the number of victims that defines a mass shooting (Ingraham). Three hundred and fifty-five, the number of mass shootings that occurred from January 1st 2015 to December 2nd 2015 (Ingraham). One thousand four hundred and twenty, the minimum number of people that fell victim to a mass shooting in 2015. The American offering to the family and friends of victims of mass shootings have become routine (Rhodan), and can be narrowed down to three seemingly random words: Hearts, thoughts, and prayers. These words do not bring back the dead, nor do they prevent the psychological and physical damage done to the victims that survived.…
Power, Violence, and Discrimination an Analysis of the Shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri Austin Dix PSYC 2602-002 Spring 2015 University of Colorado Boulder The shooting of an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown by a white police officer, Darren Wilson, in Ferguson, Missouri polarized the nation and catalyzed a renewed focus on police violence and racial biases in policing. Ferguson, Missouri has 21,000 residents, and is primarily white. Of their 53-man police force, only four are black, and according to the U.S. Justice Department, the Ferguson Police has a highly disparate number of black suspects arrested. Thus, questions were quickly raised after the shooting whether biases or prejudices…
Recent tragedies in the Police Force Peyton McIntire Casey Heath Independent Study Tarleton State University Word Count: 1,152 Through recent months, communities for several different situations have brought down police officers. Some that have led to fatality and some that have left people wounded. Police officers should be looked at as a source of help, not an enemy.…
New York: Urban Institute Press, 2010. Print. The source by Walker offers a comprehensive review of literature of the history of political reformation and public criticism related to police discretion in the United States since the 1960s. It is important noting that Walker, in the source, relies a lot on the research work of Fyfe, and he offers empirical evidence aimed at showing the inadequacy of the conventional approach to controlling the discretion of the police, in mitigating the unnecessary police shooting of racially segregated and unarmed persons. The findings of the study…
Prejudice or racial tensions have become a fore fronting scapegoat for police brutality. Individuals have accused police officers and vice versa of being racists and treating them of lesser quality as other races. “Although black men make up only six percent of the U.S. population, they account for forty percent of the unarmed men shot to death by police this year.” (Kimberly, Fisher, Tate, Jenkins) That means that African-American males create a little over half of the population shot by police officers this past year.…