Police Brutality In The United States

Police brutality is one of the most serious human rights violation in the United States. The excessive use of force by officers including severe beatings, fatal chokings, and unjustified beatings against innocent civilians persists today. On June 8, 2011, a 34 years-old man named Ernest Duenez was shot and killed by Manteca, CA police officer, John Moody. Moody was waiting for Duenez in a corner, when he saw Duenez’s truck he followed him to his driveway. Moody yelled at Duenez to drop his weapon, despite the fact that no weapon was visible. As soon as Duenez stepped out of the car, Moody fired 13 shots, striking Duenez 11 times in his back, head and chest. After months of attending court, Duenez’s family obtained a video, which does not show …show more content…
The job of an officer is to confront violence, to solve and detect crime. Their job is one of the most stressful and dangerous occupations involving violence that must be controlled such as the use of drugs, gangs and mass murder. In many of these cases it may be necessary for the officer to administer the use of force to control a situation. In many of these confrontations, an officer may use physical force with a suspect who refuses to get arrested or to cooperate. Officers are individuals who are expected to behave at a standard higher than that of a civilian. There are many bad officers involved in law enforcement. Very frequently news stations are covering stories about a civilian being beaten by the …show more content…
The officers’ actions are often perceived as racial profiling, where a person of a certain race is more likely to engage in criminal behaviors as a result of his or her race. “25% of officers surveyed claimed to be witnesses of fellow officers harassing citizen most likely because of his or her race” (Police Brutality Statistics). An individual may be accused of committing a crime even when there are no evidences to prove these claims. African Americans are one of the most vulnerable, minority groups targeted by police officers. This is the result of officers’ beliefs that if they are disrespected by a person of a certain race then people of that same race, sex and creed will behave the same. For example, Innocent people are pulled over because they are black; they are also believed to be drug users and traffickers. Officers have been known to detain black drivers for the type of cars they drive or for the area they are driving in. Arab Americans are another way to depict racial profiling. Officers often assume most Arabs are terrorists. Statistics shows that “white officers shoot black suspects twice in a week for an average of 96 times a year” (McKay). The racial stereotypes used causes officers to suspect the wrong group people for certain crimes. This lead to officers ruling out people who have committed these crimes but did not fall under the stereotypes. Racial profiling against minorities creates a feeling