A Better Understanding of Police Brutality and How It Still Exists in Today's Society
In society, there is a set of rules and regulations we must follow in order for everyone to be at peace while allowing society to function properly; this concept is called the “law”. Laws are set to keep everyone in check without one civilian thinking he/she has more rights than the next. These laws are enforced by a force specifically designed to take care of the people while keeping order; this force is known as the “police”. However, some within the police department take advantage of their position and act unlawfully and brutally toward civilians knowing their department is where they file a complaint regarding the law being broken. Understanding this, unlawful police take advantage of civilians’ rights; this is known as “police brutality”. Police brutality comes in many forms such as unlawful beatings, racial profiling, unjust shootings, false arrests, sexual abuse, etc. As corrupt as it may appear, this is the reality we currently live in.
Any unlawful, unnecessary force by the police when engaging with civilians can be looked at as “police brutality”. Police brutality occurs more often than you may think. Out of all human rights that are consistently violated, police brutality stands at the top of the list. This is because police brutality is the hardest to crack down on. When laws are broken and people wish to report the situation, most of the time they contact the police. However, if a police officer violates you, where do you go? Report to the police? Many times this will fail due to the close ties within the police force. Many police officers have each others’ backs, so if one is reported unlawful to another then it may never reach where it needs to be seen. Sadly, acting unlawfully in return will only worsen your situation. Thus, it’s hard to successfully report this crime, making it the worst among human rights violations. If all the police crimes that go unreported every day continue, then society will eventually take matters into its own hands; the worst-case scenario lead us into a civil war. Nevertheless, although unlawful, there are many forms that police brutality exists in. One reason worthy of taking note of is racial profiling. It is a proven fact that the black community has dealt with more police violence than the white community. According to “Mapping Police Violence”, a black person is three times more likely to be killed by the police than white people. Twenty-one percent of black victims of police violence were unarmed compared to fourteen percent of white people. As we can see, the black community has had higher statistics regarding police brutality compared to the white community, thus, indicating that the police racially profile some of their victims. This conditions the world to divide itself by stereotype since it creates a perception that if you look different you’ll be treated differently.
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Another example of racial profiling by the police would be in the article, “The More Things Change, the More Things Stay the Same: Race, Ethnicity, and Police Brutality” when it states, “Racialized profiling and ‘stop and frisk’ practices are bound to thrive in these areas. New York City is known for its stop-and-frisk policies. It is no surprise at all that all five of its boroughs are among the counties with the greatest risk of black police homicides in the analysis.” These lines indicate that the NYPD (New York Police Department) is one of the top departments in police brutality compared to other police forces. This goes to show the way the police can take advantage because New York has always been known as an overpopulated, confident state that stands up for itself. For police brutality to exist in New York as much as it does shows a lot regarding tactics for police brutality. Police brutality, especially when involved with racial profiling, does more than hurt the victim; it influences society in an extremely negative way.
Furthermore, police brutality exists in the form of severe beatings. The police have the right to use force when it's deemed necessary or the circumstances they follow have been met. However, there is only a certain amount of force based on the circumstances that can be used when dealing with civilians. When this limit is passed, it is considered excessive force. This is unlawful and is very well known to the public at this point in time due to social media. Many people scroll down Instagram and see videos of the police illegally beating a person. It has given our society a sense of reality allowing them to know their rights better and to know what is excessive force. Moreover, another form of police brutality that can be seen is sexual abuse.
There are countless unreported sexual abuse crimes by the police that go unheard of every year. This is one of the scariest aspects of police brutality. In an article by Jonathan Blanks titled “The Police Who Prey on Victims”, it claims, “Two officers were indicted last week for raping a teenaged woman following a traffic stop arrest for loose prescription pills and marijuana possession. The officers first admitted to sexual contact after the rape kit test revealed the presence of their DNA, supporting the woman’s story, but their lawyers released a statement soon after stating that the acts were consensual. The accused detectives, Eddie Martins and Richard Hall had been demoted and pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday.” These lines convey a scenario where the police took full advantage of their power to sexually abuse a woman. Sad to say, this is a case that was reported; many cases like this and maybe even way worse go on every year unreported. Many victims lose the strength to report the police to the police, it’s a hard battle to win since it's biased before it even starts.
In conclusion, police brutality exists in this corrupt world we currently live in. By standing stall together as civilians we can fight against police brutality. We only begin to lose this battle when we deem the battle unworthy to fight. As long as we continue to stand up against police brutality we will be able to one day have it come to an end.
Works Cited
- https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/
- https://democracyjournal.org/author/jonathan-blanks/
- Alang, Sirry HD. American Journal of Public Health; Washington Vol. 108 Iss. 9, (Sep 2018)
- “The More Things Change, the More Things Stay the Same: Race, Ethnicity, and Police Brutality
- Wootson, Cleve R, Jr; Berman, Mark. TCA Regional News; Chicago [Chicago} 30 July 2017.
- “Police chiefs across the U.S blast Trump for endorsing ‘police brutality
- Lazo, Alejandro Wall Street Journal (Outline); New York, N.Y [New York, N.Y] July 2016: n/a
- THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
“Pheonix Police Use Pepper Spray, Tear Gas During Brutality Protest; Demonstrators prevented from blocking a highway in a march against police brutality”
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