Police Brutality in the United States

 Introduction 

The US has had a history of police brutality for a long time. Consulting history, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 established the Community Relations Service (CRS) which provided for third-party interventions through non-coercive methods that addressed racial conflicts ("POLICE USE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE: A CONCILIATION HANDBOOK FOR THE POLICE and THE COMMUNITY", 2002) . The use of police brutality has been handled by the CRS where it steps in and works to harmonize the conflict. However, the unwanted police force has been reported during different times the CRS has been in operation. The line between a good way of police handling suspects and police brutality has not been there. Police have been known to go beyond the required means of handling suspects in custody and the means they use to handle such suspects. As such, every time the CRS is called to investigate and find out ways to handle a given situation regarding police brutality, there is always a conflicting factor in that either the complaining side has not been satisfied or the accused one ( Michael, 2020) . As such, police brutality cases remain sensitive and for the most part inconclusive ("POLICE USE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE: A CONCILIATION HANDBOOK FOR THE POLICE and THE COMMUNITY", 2002) . As recent as 2020, police brutality has been witnessed especially which has been directed to black Americans. The community has taken it into their hands to push for better resolution of the cases while at the same time calling for police reforms. 

Case Analysis 

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old man from Minneapolis died while in police custody ( Koslicki, 2020) . According to video footage taken by bystanders, a policeman was shown having his knee at the neck of Floyd who was struggling for breath. With his hands cuffed behind him, it was hard for Floyd to breathe and bystanders were calling for the police to step away from Floyd and help him into a comfortable position. Fellow arresting officers who were standing by looked on for the almost 9 minutes their fellow officer was brutalizing Floyd. The officer who had his foot on Floyd’s neck, identified as Derek Chauvin has since been second-degree murder and manslaughter ( Koslicki, 2020) . Aiding and abetting second-degree murder was charged on the fellow arresting officers J.Keung, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao. The resulting worldwide protests show just how much people have lost faith in the police system. 

Floyd’s case is one of many that have happened in recent history ( Koslicki, 2020) . The video footage taken of the incident was solid proof that nobody in the CRS, the police, and the public could not deny. However, there have been chances where police brutality was not recorded as evidence and police officers have been said to receive less punishment than deserved ( Koslicki, 2020) . As such, the CRS is compelled to be more open and provide enough transparency where police brutality is involved. If that is not the case, there will always be a pressure between members of the public especially those from minority groups to who brutality has been directed. Racial profiling should be addressed with recent data showing that 1 in every 1000 black men in the country can die from police brutality with Latinos facing almost the same levels of risk ( Roithmayr, 2016) . Floyd forms part of a big statistic in a population that makes only 13% of the country’s population. It is the duty of the U.S Department of Justice should step up their efforts in dealing with police brutality and make sure that all populations are protected ( Roithmayr, 2016) . Charging the officers involved in Floyd’s murder is a big step towards reducing cases of police brutality in the country. 

Unethical Police Behaviors and Police Brutality 

The US police force lacks credibility in that racial profiling forms a basis for suspecting a person. It is very unethical and against human rights provided in the constitution to kill a person brutally. If the justice department does not step up its actions and improve on how it handles cases of police brutality, police officers will be empowered to keep on killing more people in the country ( Michael, 2020) . The society will also be alienated from the police force and the justice system as more differences and hatred emerge between both parties. Floyd’s murder led to an international uproar that showed how inefficient the justice department is when it comes to handling police brutality and curbing racial profiling within its law enforcement agencies. 

The US is a country made up of people from different cultures. As such, there has been a collision of ideas regarding the means where different views are expressed. For instance, black Americans are seen as a violent race whose likelihood to commit a crime is high than that of other races in the country ( Michael, 2020) . The person who recorded the video and pleaded for Derek to have mercy on Floyd showed courage as they were a concerned citizen. They were able to stand up and ask for justice. Their ability to stand up and speak out about the action showed their strength. The president was quick to rebuke the resulting protests saying that they were uncalled for. His ideologies were quickly ignored and the firing and filing of charges on the police officers involved were not enough to end the protests. In the end, clashes between the public and the government show just how much politics was involved and how they can be used to drive political ideologies. 

References 

Koslicki, W. M. (2020). The Militarization of the Police? Ideology versus Reality: by George C. Klein, 2019, San Diego, CA, Cognella Academic Publishing, 308 pp., 78.95(paperback); 59.95 (ebook). ISBN: 978-1-5165-3440-1. 

Michael Akinlabi, O. (2020). Citizens’ accounts of police use of force and its implication for 

trust in the police. Journal of Crime and Justice , 43 (2), 145-160. 

POLICE USE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE: A CONCILIATION HANDBOOK FOR THE POLICE and THE COMMUNITY . Justice.gov. (2002). Retrieved 29 June 2020, from https://www.justice.gov/archive/crs/pubs/pdexcess.pdf. 

Roithmayr, D. (2016). The dynamics of excessive force. U. Chi. Legal F. , 407.