In the Frontline documentary Policing the Police, writer and historian Jelani Cobb investigates the problems facing the Newark Police department. The film specifically follows the gang unit whose main focus is getting guns off the street. In the background Cobb explains what he is witnessing and what he’s learning from it. Cobb explains how the police can only stop people with legal justification, but 75% of the time there was no legal justification. There is no trust between the members of society and the police and vice versa. There is definitely a double standard in the way in which police follow through in their stops. Social inequality and power definitely play a large part in the interactions in the film.
Although the film only showed …show more content…
He pulled back because four officers basically rushed at him at once and he explicitly asked not to be touched. He was not doing anything against the law, so he has the civil right to ask that. Each time Jelani Cobb questioned actions like this, they immediately defended themselves no matter how unjustified it seemed. After the Bad Stop incident, Cobb decided to show the footage to SRT. Conzentino, the unit supervisor. He even agreed that the stop seemed unjustified but strictly emphasized that was just by “perception” and nothing else. He then began to figure out how to justify their actions even though he did say they were not justified in the beginning. In the end from a sociological standpoint, it is all just abuse of power over …show more content…
People who are being punished because of stigmatisms surrounding the color of their skin. Society treats minorities with little to no respect and because of this it’s as if their civil liberties don’t apply. In the film cops would swear and chase the men as if they were no better than animals. There is also a large double standard when it comes to guns. The community has a right to carry a gun if they have a permit just like the police do, yet the cops do not hesitate to pull their weapons before they even find one on a person. The officer explained to Cobb, “Our main objective is to get home at the end of the night.” But what about those who don’t get to go
Although the film only showed …show more content…
He pulled back because four officers basically rushed at him at once and he explicitly asked not to be touched. He was not doing anything against the law, so he has the civil right to ask that. Each time Jelani Cobb questioned actions like this, they immediately defended themselves no matter how unjustified it seemed. After the Bad Stop incident, Cobb decided to show the footage to SRT. Conzentino, the unit supervisor. He even agreed that the stop seemed unjustified but strictly emphasized that was just by “perception” and nothing else. He then began to figure out how to justify their actions even though he did say they were not justified in the beginning. In the end from a sociological standpoint, it is all just abuse of power over …show more content…
People who are being punished because of stigmatisms surrounding the color of their skin. Society treats minorities with little to no respect and because of this it’s as if their civil liberties don’t apply. In the film cops would swear and chase the men as if they were no better than animals. There is also a large double standard when it comes to guns. The community has a right to carry a gun if they have a permit just like the police do, yet the cops do not hesitate to pull their weapons before they even find one on a person. The officer explained to Cobb, “Our main objective is to get home at the end of the night.” But what about those who don’t get to go