Living in harmony is something that every individual yearns for. In cases where there is a misunderstanding, the justice system is expected to arbitrate and solve such matters amicably. However, this is not the case in the United States where a majority feel that there is no justice. Particularly, t he criminal justice system in the United States has always been on the sharp end when it comes to matters regarding racism with African Americans not only treated harshly, but also regarded as criminals by nature (Kovaleski, 2012) . In 2012, Martin Trayvon, a 17-year-old African American, was shot and killed. Reports indicate that at the time of the shooting, Martin had gone to visit his relatives and as unarmed. Many questions were raised about how the police dealt with the case. It is evident from this case that the police have failed to lawfully investigate the crimes that the African American victims are involved in (Lee, 2012). It is evident that the police are not applying the 13 th Amendment effectively.
In this case, George Zimmerman was considered as the killer of Martin. The police acted unlawfully by not subjecting Zimmerman to a check about his criminal background until the time when he was released (Kovaleski, 2012). The racial words that Zimmerman said on the call that Zimmerman made to 911 were overlooked. This phone call only lasted for four minutes and yet the police did not consider it. The racial words that Zimmerman used were “These assholes always get away” (Rudolf & Lee, 2012). The police did not interview the crucial witnesses to about a week after the killing. The police were not able to access the records of Martin’s phone for a number of weeks. It was only after the recovery of these records that the police were able to know that Martin was on phone, moments before being shot, with his girlfriend. Since the police did not make an effort to contact or question the girl, who had vital information, they overlooked a critical step thus acted unlawfully (Rudolf & Lee, 2012).
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The fact that the police decided to let Zimmerman free due to the lack of evidence raise questions. Zimmerman made a statement indicating that Martin punched him on the nose causing Zimmerman to fall down and then bangs his head on the ground, therefore, resulting in the bleeding (Lee, 2012). However, the statement that Zimmerman’s father gave portrayed that Martin approached Zimmerman from behind and attacked him. In addition, there is proof that Zimmerman defied the rules with regard to dealing with intruders. Based on the phone call that he made to 911, he was asked by the police not to follow Martin. It is this pursuance of Martin that led to Zimmerman killing Martin (Lee, 2012). Therefore, the police should have considered the disobedience of Zimmerman when seeking evidence against him. In addition, according to the Miami Herald, Zimmerman had called about forty-six times reporting crimes that were committed against the blacks (Rudolf & Lee, 2012). Hence, Zimmerman was fixated on crimes that were committed by the black people.
Five hours after the arrest of Zimmerman, the police released him on the ground that there was no evidence to contradict Zimmerman’s statement that he had acted in defense. However, the police released him without any statements from witnesses or doing any background check on both Martin and Zimmerman (Lee, 2012). It also seems that the police performed the role of the court by deciding whether Zimmerman was guilty or not. The police chief also indicated that Zimmerman has a right to use lethal force in his defense. The police went against the law during the investigation, by not carrying out drug tests on Zimmerman. In the issuance of the investigation report to the office of the State Attorney, Chief Lee issued a report that was solely based on the statement that Zimmerman had released without any other evidence (Kovaleski, 2012).
The police also influenced the statements that were produced by the witnesses. An example of this is when Sgt. Dave Morgenstern provided a statement against that which Mary Cutcher had provided (Lee, 2012). This illustrates that the police were against any statement which was likely to portray Zimmerman being guilty thus acted in his defense. Moreover, the police did not secure the site of the crime. The police did not cover the area where the accident had occurred to protect the blood from the cuts which Zimmerman had suffered. Hence, any rain present might have washed away the blood (Kovaleski, 2012). The police also went against the law by not securing the vehicle that Zimmerman was driving when he spotted Martin.
In the history of the United States, many African-Americans have been killed. Most of these killings have happened under bizarre circumstances and most are believed to be innocent victims (Kovaleski, 2012). However, investigations into their murders have been ignored or altered due to their race and also due to the relation of the killers to the police. It is vital that people get justice irrespective of their races. On the other hand, lawbreakers should be punished regardless of their skin color. This matter is a serious one which ought to be addressed since it affects the society in a bad way. It is such incidents that create animosity between the races, something that is so detrimental to the human existence.
References
Kovaleski, S. (2012). Trayvon Martin Case Shadowed by Series of Police Missteps. New York Times , 16 .
Lee, C. (2012). Making race salient: Trayvon Martin and implicit bias in a not yet post-racial society. NCL Rev. , 91 , 1555.
Rudolf, J., & Lee, T. (2012). Trayvon Martin case spotlights Florida town’s history of ‘sloppy’police work. The Huffington Post .
