The Negative Effects Of Police Brutality

Great Essays
Putting someone in a choke hold, causing them to lose consciousness and die doesn 't some like something that a police officer would do. Unfortunately, an officer did do this to a man, and there are many more similar situations . Police, authorities known to maintain civil order, (appositive), have recently been shed in the public eye due to many instances of brutality. Specific incidents of brutality have sparked displeasure from the public. Although the police help maintain a safe environment, at times their presence can have a more negative impact than positive because they demean minorities, use excessive force, and deny charges or accusations of wrongdoing; therefore the use of dash and body cameras by officers must become part of protocol. …show more content…
Officers contend that they “focus their efforts on minority neighborhoods, simply because such areas tend to have higher crime rates” (“Police Brutality,” n.d., p. 6). Police say they they feel that they need to focus on minority areas due to the fact that most are close to or in poverty - and due to this the crime rates tend to be higher. But the fact is, police target minorities such as African American and Latino populations. Race seems to play a role in the way that police handle the public. Joseph Capista, a lecturer at Towson University contends that, “We live in an antebellum society in terms of racial justice” (“The Roots of a Riot”, 2015, p. 3). In other words, Capista is making the point that times have not changed much concerning the topic of race. Police are permitted to use a tactic where they can pull someone over if they seem suspicious. The problem is, “Police have targeted young men from minority groups - indeed, about 80% of the 4.4 million people stopped by NYPD police between 2004 and 2012 were of African American or Hispanic descent” (“Police Brutality,” n.d., p. 4). This is not right as it violates the 4th and 14th amendment of the US constitution which, “protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government” (U.S. Const. amend. IV.) and “addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws” (U.S. Const. amend. XIV.), respectively. Clearly, targeting minorities because police deem that they are suspicious is not a right way to deal with the public. When confronted with wrongdoing, police try to reject or minimize accusations. The article, Police Brutality suggests that, “Police departments cover up allegations of abuse and brutality in order to protect their officers” (2). If officers commit a crime, they should have the same precautions as anyone else. Since this has proved to be a severe issue, review boards for this problem were

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The stop, question and frisk policy emerged from the case of Terry v. Ohio was designed to stop and search individuals based upon reasonable suspicion of an experienced police officer that a criminal activity might be occurring. Yet, the discretions granted to law enforcement agencies have been abused as the enforcement tactics are racially biased toward minority groups. Past analyses showed that police would further determined whether their suspicions are reasonable enough to constitute a stop if the suspect was a Caucasian rather than an African American. Racially discriminatory enforcement of the stop and frisk has important policy implication as race is often viewed as an important factor of suspicion by the police rather than the actual…

    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander discusses the legal mechanisms used by the criminal justice system that contribute to the mass incarceration of African American males. Among sentencing laws and prejudice in jury selection, Alexander (2010) identifies stop and frisk policies as a discriminatory practice that allows police to racially profile African American men when stopping and searching them in the streets at higher rates than White individuals. Though stop and frisk policies are constitutional under the law, as decided by the Supreme Court, these policies can also be discriminatory in practice when police officers disproportionately target people of color in stops and searches.…

    • 1164 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Police brutality is becoming a major problem in today’s society. It has been an ongoing issue throughout the world. As society grows, the existence of police brutality become more of an issue. The issue posed by illegal use of power is ongoing reality for people of a disfavored race or sexual orientation. Police brutality remains as one of the most divisive human rights in the world.…

    • 106 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Response To Moral Panic

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The officers didn’t loosen their grips on him, and he died shortly after. The officer was not indicted even though there were two total amateur videos showing the encounter (Nunes 2015). According to Nunes, a body-worn camera could have helped this case go the other way. If this officer had been wearing a body-camera, there may have been more evidence to conclude that the officer was responsible for Eric Garner’s death without a reasonable…

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to the New York Times one of the judge of the federal district ruled” that the tactics underlying New York City’s stop and frisk program violated the constitutional rights of minority citizens”. Based on the statement made by this judge we can see how those police officers who work in those area did not fallow the rule when they were entitle to stop someone. Also this professional prove the point that we tried to make about Stop, Question, and Frisk, that this program did not have any positive effect in New York City. The purpose for this program was to reduce crime, and make our communities safe by, stopping people with a reasonable suspicion, but instead it made the people believe that police officers only stop some people, and the crime rate still the same. Stop, question, and frisk was not the best program that the city could invent to fight crime, they know that this program was not the wright move, because officers would stop some instead of everybody that look…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Steven Magee once said, “Corrupt and incompetent police officers have a long history of being protected by their colleagues, police internal affairs and the government”. (Magee) There are as much good police officers as there are corrupt ones. There are as many good people in society as there are bad. There is as much good in society as there is bad.…

    • 1924 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Allan Geary Mr.Murphy 7 January, 2015 Police Brutality in America In result of the recent events and heavy media coverage like the case of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, the controversy of excessive force and police brutality has become more renown than ever before. The use of excessive force by police officers has been growing despite the protection offered in the Constitution for citizens against such drastic measures. The term “Police Brutality” and what it encompases appears to have a varying definition with the justice system. Police Brutality is formally defined as the “wanton use of excessive force, usually physical, but also common in forms of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer.”…

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Black Lives Matter” Movement & Police Brutality As much as the subjects of “Black Lives Matter” and police brutality are getting stale and cliché, unfortunately it is still an issue that will not be corrected by hushed complaints and sweeping under the rug. However, this problem is not brand new; it has only escalated. Racial discrimination began in the times of slavery and has been an issue since—well forever. The discrimination has been toughest on minorities—like the African-American community. Along with the racial discrimination from society itself, some police and law enforcement figures have often abused their power and taken advantage of their place in the majority race.…

    • 1106 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Police Brutality in America has become a new plague, it has infiltrated our country, and has exposed a dark side of the justice system. Thousands of cases involving police brutality are reported yearly, and thousands of incidents go unreported as well. Incidents of police brutality go unreported because of fear. The American justice system is being ran by fear, causing uncertainty for citizens of America. The terrifying idea of waking up to a news report stating that a person has died at the hands of a police officer for no logical or specified reason has become a reality in modern day America.…

    • 158 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Police brutality is a very sensitive and controversial topic of discussion in the United States. Police brutality occurs when an officer uses excessive or unnecessary force when dealing with other people. Police have been under a microscope recently to make sure that their actions are necessary and appropriate for the situation that they are in due to the fact that there has been widespread media coverage of police brutality. This media coverage has allowed people to examine how police officers go about their business and determine whether or not they think that the police officer’s actions are just. Police brutality has been the cause for protest and the formation of movements such as “Black Lives Matter”.…

    • 1995 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    88% of those stop and frisk searches resulted in no further action. 83% of the people who were stopped were either Black or Hispanic. The two racial groups combined made up less than half of the population in the city. (Vanity Fair) Racial profiling has been deemed illegal, and according to the underwhelming amount of arrests made after the searches according to this report, it has also been deemed ineffective.…

    • 784 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Stop And Frisk Analysis

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages

    I am in agreement with the court’s decision to block the ruling that deemed the New York Police Department’s stop and frisk policy unconstitutional (Boyette, & Martinez, 2013). Although the ruling will not stop minorities and Hispanics from being targeted unfairly, it is unconstitutional not to protect the safety and welfare of citizens. If this policy is permitted a lot of innocent people will fall into the category of suspect of being stopped. There should be some responsibility to the public interest in protecting the rights of the people by maintaining trust in law enforcement. In my opinion the NYPD’S policy on stop and frisk is unconstitutional because it could possibly harm the citizens in the community and not help them based on personal feelings of the people who are in the dictating positions.…

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The article, “Race, Street Life, and Policing: Implications for Racial Profiling” explains how some of the police’s attention is triggered by criminal behavior or by a biased outlook (Hayle, Wortley, & Tanner, 2016). There was a research that was done that examined two populations. These populations were street youth and black high school students. From these two populations, the black high school students were disproportionate stopped and searched by the police (Hayle, Wortley, & Tanner, 2016). This is overall imperative because it clarifies how there is a greater importance in minority rather than criminal behavior itself.…

    • 1263 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Racial profiling by the police has become a controversial issue in recent years. Racial profiling is the practice of targeting individuals for police or security detention based on their race or ethnicity in the belief that certain minority groups are more likely to engage in unlawful behavior. Examples of racial profiling by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies in legal settlements and data collected by governmental agencies and private groups, suggesting that minorities are disproportionately the subject of routine traffic stops and other security-related practices. Some argue that minority overrepresentation in the criminal justice system begins with law enforcement and the discriminatory attitudes and some officers apply toward members of racial and ethnic groups. Officers admit that an individual’s race and socioeconomic status can lead to unequal treatment and unwarranted physical force by the police.…

    • 1984 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 1673 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays