Police Brutality

Over the recent years, police have been one of the organizations to be associated with the largest cases of misconduct. Police brutality can be termed as the process of misuse and abuse of authority by the police. The rising cases of police brutality are causing more harm to the public, compared to the actions perpetrated by real criminals. Although police claim that It's sometimes necessary to curb crime, the process Is Illegal and police officers should be charged Just like any other criminal offender.It should be the responsibility of the Justice system to establish effective tragedies to deal with the rising Illegal satellites In order to restore public trust In the law enforcement authorities. The police, the group with the responsibility of protecting citizens, commit Illegal satellites. Individuals engaged In law enforcement satellites can define police brutality as the process of using excessive force.In addition to the abuse of power by the police force, the term is also use d to illustrate the misuse of power by individuals in the municipal, correctional facilities and other facilities subjected to reforming and retaining criminals. In a case reported in the ear 2011, SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team, killed a 31 year old man in a mistaken identity (Roberts 1). It is evident that several law enforcement individuals have been conducting careless investigations.It is evident that these cases are rarely reported either because the victims are uninformed of their rights, or the victim is afraid that same police who committed the misconduct in the first place will also be involved in investigating the abuse cases. By the year 2011, there were over 470, 000 reported cases of police brutality, that could be easily located on the internet Roberts 1 Although people are gradually being encouraged to report abuse cases, the numbers have not decreased.Compared to the level of crime and the reported criminal activities, it shows that the public is usually at risk of being attacked by a police officer than a real criminal Monsoon 365). This means that police are becoming some of the individuals highly involved in criminal activities. Various Forms of Police Brutality The longstanding perception is that police brutality Involves only physical assaults. However, the term can also mean psychological assault, abuse and other forms of issue of power.Some of the remarkable forms of police brutality Involve false arrests and accusing the wrong person. In Dalton, Intimidation and police profiling can also be considered police brutality, since It Involves Intrusion Into the rights and the property of Individuals. Physical brutality Is one of the most widespread, and In most cases, Individuals are subjected to torture and other physical harm. Ordinarily, people do not consider the various harsh treatments, being hit with police batons and being pressed by the police shield as part of police brutality.In most cases, people sustain very bad injurie s from some activities of the police. Psychological brutality is mostly brought about by verbal abuses and subjecting the public to inappropriate conditions. Psychological intimidation may also occur in situations where the police are holding a suspect and they subject him or her to threats on temporary psychological breakdown. In most cases, the reported cases are only those involving physical assaults, mostly because there is usually enough evidence to charge the involved personnel.Causes of brutality One of the main causes of police brutality is the authority vested in the police officers y their superiors, to ensure that law is enforced when necessary. When police officers are given the option to chose when to, and when not to, use excessive force, they end up abusing the power of choice by making the wrong decisions even when dealing with petty crimes. In addition, police may gradually develop some dislike for lawbreakers, especially in situations where the surroundings are ful l of criminals.Police officers in a crime prone region and in areas with extreme rowdy criminal behavior may develop some degree of dislike for the law breakers and their approach to dealing with the criminals may be brutal. In such situations, the police officers enforcing law and order act based on their emotions rather than their professional expectations. The gradual dislike leads the police officers to always contemplate on ending the rising crime and in the end; they find themselves using excessive force, even in situations where force was not needed.The SWAT team is one response unit that is trained and psychologically prepared to deal with tough and resisting criminals. In addition, the response team is issued with specific orders to use excessive force when necessary; especially if they note that, the criminals are ungenerous and may harm others. The above reasons police have also been known to use excessive force is because they think that they are above the law. Due to th e power vested in the police to deal with all types of crimes and to carry weapons, they soon develop the notion that they are above the law and end up misusing their powers instead of protecting the public.In addition to the feeling of being above the law, there are no practical and effective internal accountability mechanisms to regulate the excessive use of force by the police officers. Many police officers take advantage of the fact that many member of the public are uninformed of their rights and they therefore subject themselves to harm, on the basis that they are above the law. Lack of internal investigation procedures, especially due to solidarity, makes the police force lack effective internal investigative structures to check the misuse of powers by the police officers.In most cases, police may feel mandated by the blue codes to protect fellow police officers in case they are involved in criminal activities (Isoclinic 7). Blue codes is a code of silence amongst police offi cers. In such instances, the criminal is always perceived to be wrong and any action taken by the police is justified based on the existing police cultures. In most cases, police departments are established under tight and strong hierarchical models that make it hard to implement ethical decision processes (Owens and Prefer 7).This means that the decisions to engage, or not to engage, in brutal activities when dealing with the public are not clear, In addition to the faults in the system, the other issues that lead to police brutality may include psychological and behavioral backgrounds of the law enforcement officers. In most cases, police are left to deal with criminals, while still suffering from psychological and sociological disengagement. Some of the reasons committed. In addition, some officers claim that they act under authority of the senior police officers.Although these reasons can be possible, they do not Justify the actions on the public, who trust the police officers f or protection. Civil rights Some of the legislations protecting the public against police brutality include the Fourth Amendment that protects citizens against unwarranted searches and seizures ND if an individual feels that the rights have been violated, they should immediately report to the relevant authorities. In addition to the fourth amendment, the Civil Rights Act 1871 protects the public from being harassed or mistreated in anyway whatsoever by the police.The law, which was enacted to protect the minority groups fighting for their rights, however exempts the public from making claims on brutality in section 42 of the 1983, edition (Civil Rights Division 1). The other legislation protecting the public against police brutality is the fourteenth amendment that establishes equality irrespective of responsibility vested by the law. Citizens have the right to have a fair trial and the police should not take it upon themselves to pass judgment and incriminate a suspect without goin g through the appropriate Justice process.The above legislations protect the public from police brutality by stating the rights of an individual, even when they perpetrate a crime. In case an individual is armed, it should be the responsibility of the police officer to disarm the criminal with minimal possible injury. This civil rights establish the boundaries and ensures that Alice act within their vested powers. In case of any brutality, individuals are encouraged to report the incident like any other crime in order to get the required support.Solutions to police brutality One of the groups that have come forth to protect the public against police brutality is the Amnesty International. This organization has been vibrant in identifying the rampant cases and in pressuring the government to establish internal strategies to deal with the ever-rising police brutality. The organization also identifies and releases reports indicating the prevailing police brutality in different regions. The external agencies notwithstanding, it should be the responsibility of each member of the public to ensure that they understand their rights and to report abuse cases as soon as they occur.In addition, the societal based cop-watch group should also ensure that the crimes are reported and conduct a follow up on the reported cases to ensure that Justice is served. The police departments should also establish flexible and effective accountability strategies that incriminates any police officers abusing power, and ethical guidelines should be enacted to prevent the police officers from purporting their own based on the existing cultures (Civil Rights Division 1). The justice system should also be strengthened to ensure that police law breakers are not left unpunished.The investigators of police brutality should be from independent bodies to avoid biasness during investigations. Since it has been a common trend for police officers to support their fellow officers over the criminals, the Justice system should set up an independent body to evaluate the operations of required. The government should also start an awareness campaign to educate the public about their rights and to explain about the appropriate channels for airing grievances associated with police brutality. Police Brutality ?Lucy Sanchez English 1302 Mr. Gonzalez 8 April 2009 Police Brutality Draft Who can forget the Los Angeles riots and the Rodney King beating in 1991? This case of police brutality was the most widely known. Over the years, it seems that police abuse remains one of the most serious human rights violations in the United States. It makes the people wonder if in fact police officers are doing their job and if they are here to protect us. Police officers get away with unjustified shootings, fatal choking, rough treatments, and severe beatings. Police brutality needs to be addressed and there has to be harsher punishment to minimize the amount of police brutality that happens. A punishment that they can receive for their brutality is harsher sentencing and job dismissals. If such a case should go to court the judge and jurors should sentence the police officer. If the case was minor then the chief of police or someone in charge. There is not a day that goes by that somewhere in the United States that an innocent civilian gets beaten from a police officer for no apparent reason. Sometimes the reason is because a police officer is racist. Racism, discrimination, and police brutality all go hand in hand because police officers usually do not go around beating civilians up for no reason. Usually the motive is because they are racist. The most major race that was affected by police brutality seems to be Caucasian people but according to the â€Å"NAACP, they say that between 1976 and 1987, officers killed about 1,800 blacks and 3,000 whites. Since blacks comprise approximately 12% of the general population, the data suggest that blacks are about three times more likely to be killed by officers than whites†. These appalling numbers are probably on the rise. It seems that there is no escape for police brutality because it can happen to anyone not just African Americans or Caucasians. Although, mostly Africans Americans are targeted it can happen to any other race. Police officers feel because they are the law they can do whatever they please. They feel that they are above the law. My father, who is now deceased, was a victim of police brutality. It was about eight years ago when the Garden Grove police department of California barged in my dad’s apartment around three in the morning with a warrant. The first thing I remember was when he was slightly beaten with their hands to arrest him. My younger brother and I were watching the whole thing and the police new we were there. So how could they even think about doing this in front of us? I asked my father when I visited him in jail,† Why do cops treat people this way? † He simply said,’’ they think they are above the law and they have no respect for Mexicans†. (Ruben Paz). When he told me this I never liked police officers no matter who they were. I hated them with a passion. I assumed they were racist. This kind of police brutality may not have been that severe but the case with Rodney King it was without a doubt. One reason that this incident of police brutality is so famous is because it was captured on tape. Watching this tape may be hard to watch because it is obviously seen that Rodney is defenseless and has no weapon, yet he is surrounded by six or seven police officers that are beating him to death with their nightsticks. Many agree that this was no regular traffic stop. The police officers that took part in this brutality at first were not punished at all. That is what caused the riots because people were very angry that those police officers could get away with such a crime, especially because it was caught on videotape. Later, according to Los Angeles Times, after taking a second look at the tape, two officers were sentenced to prison for violating Rodney King’s rights. The aftermath of this videotape was that people were not safe. African Americans were afraid of police officers and knew they were a target every time. While driving, walking, or even standing on a corner they are a target no matter where they go. When a victim has evidence that a police officer had assaulted or beat them in some way, that is proof and all they need to convict the police officer. In many cases, when this is brought to court or police department the punishment they give the police officers for their brutality is verbal reprimands, reprimand letters, suspensions, or dismissals. These punishments should be harder depending on the severity of the case. For example, according to facts. com, a police officer was not charged for the brutality he caused on an innocent civilian. His only punishment was a couple days suspension and he was back to work. Many police officers get this type if treatment. It is rare that an actual police officer gets convicted and sentenced to jail. Police officers should serve time behind bars to teach them a lesson. They should be treated just like the rest of the civilians. One right punishment an officer received for his brutality is eighteen months in jail and three years of probation. Michael Singleton, which was a police officer for Maywood police Department in California, rammed a civilian’s head against a wall. The victim Jose Bernal was knocked unconscious, his nose was broken, and suffered temporary paralysis to one side of his face (Los Angeles Times). This type of punishment that Michael Singleton received is very rare because he was actually convicted. After so many cases reported of police brutality many cannot beat he system. Because police officers are above us in law we cannot win. We can if we have hard evidence o them, but sometimes even that cannot help us because of the corruption inside police departments. In order to decrease the amount of brutalities we have to first define the barriers of what is brutality and what is their job as police officers. Another way can result in more constant training and better use of force training and policies. When people are in trouble and the only number they can call for help is 911 we sometimes think about it twice before we call. How can we be afraid to even call the police department? Has it in fact changed the way we think about police officers? They are supposedly here to serve and protect but how can we believe that when they are committing crimes themselves? Police brutality is no joke. One question I have been asking myself for a very long time is, â€Å"Who can police the police? † it may not make sense but to me it does. How can they be trusted when they are the law? They should not be above it but they act as if they are. Of course not all police officers are bad. Some are police officers because they are here to serve and protect those that cannot protect themselves. It is safe to say that there are some good cops but more sure that there are more bad cops. It is a sad thing but only my opinion based on the experiences I have encountered with them. In the past I used to hate cops but I learned to know that some could be trusted. Even though, police brutality will never stop and that is a known fact, I will always keep my guard up. Works Cited Los Angeles Times. 18 October 2008.. â€Å"Police Brutality. †   Issues & Controversies On File   3 Oct. 2003. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services. 9 Apr. 2009   . â€Å"Police Corruption. †   Issues & Controversies On File   30 Apr. 2004. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services. 7 Apr. 2009   . Rodney King. 2007. video. 12 April 2009. .