The role of the law enforcement officials is to ensure there are law and order in a society. However for them to make this possible, they must build a relationship based on trust with the members of the society. In the USA, modern policing did not evolve until the late 1830s when cites located in the northern region felt that it was high time they had control over the increasing population. In 1838, it saw the establishment of the first police department in Boston. Nonetheless, the police department used ruthless means in enforcing law and order in society. At the time, European immigrants faced the greatest wrath of the brutality. However, more than a century and a half later, police brutality is still being witnessed in the modern civilization despite the society being more developed and technologically advanced.
The foremost contentious facet of American policing results from the authority of using brutality. The use of force has been a subject for both the scholarly and public entities for a substantial number of years. This is evidenced by President Herbert Hoover who founded the National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement to investigate the various tactics that were used by the policing department at the time to restore law and order. According to the Report on Lawlessness in Law Enforcement as the commission’s findings was tilted, it showed how police brutality was rampant in the law enforcement department. In modern society, the interest in police brutality has also become intensified following increased inhumane actions engaged by the police. According to a study conducted by Garner e al (2018), in 2012, police brutality cases were estimated to reach a total of 337,590 incidents. The results were based on police shootings, the use of weapons against civilians, threats of arrest and any other type of force applied to civilians. The data used in the study was gathered from the Bureau of Justice Statistics as a supplement of the National Victimization Survey and the Police Public Contact Survey that is carried out after every three years.
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In most countries, the various types of police brutality are mostly directed towards individuals considered as being vulnerable such as the weak or poor. However, in the USA, a majority of incidents involving police brutality have been highly linked to racism. Racism has been one of the darkest clouds that have occupied the USA atmosphere since historical times. In other nations, the police have been allowed to use force when apprehending criminals, suspects or during protecting themselves. Nonetheless, they are required to apply a force that is more reasonable. However, this should be directed to all citizens regardless of racial backgrounds. In the USA, legal intervention deaths resulting from the use of lethal force by police accounts to about 1% of violent deaths and 4% of all homicides on an annual basis (DeGue et al., 2016).
Additionally, the health care costs associated with the use of lethal force by police in terms of fatalities and injuries as of 2012 was $231 million. There was a tremendous increase in the deaths resulting from police brutality by an estimated 45% from 0.11/100,000 in 1993 to 0.16/100,000 in 2013 (DeGue et al., 2016). Basing on the racial composition of the USA, the police brutality incidence out of 100,000 people was; African-Americans at 0.24, Indian Natives at 0.20, White Hispanics at 0.17, Non-white Hispanics at 0.09 and Pacific/Asian Islanders at 0.05 (DeGue et al.,2016). From this data, it is an indication that African Americans are the leading casualties of police brutality.
Fryer (2016) states that there are racial differences in relation to the timing of using lethal force by a police officer. According to the study, a police officer s 47.4% less likely to draw out a weapon before being attacked in case a suspect is of African-American descent and 43.6% less likely if the suspect is Hispanic. This is an indication the police officers use of force using a firearm is higher in case a suspect is black and Hispanic. Furthermore, African-Americans have a 1.3% less likelihood of first being shot by the police even before confirming if the suspect is armed or dangerous (Fryer, 2016). The Hispanic rate is much higher. From this shoot first analysis, the African-Americans have a 99.7% of being shot first an indication of the racial brutality levied against the group.
The relationship between the police and African-Americans has an unlovely history beginning from way back in USA’s history. This is evidenced from the Edmund Petts Bridge “Bloody Sunday” to Rodney King, Freddie Helms and Bryant Allen public beatings (Fryer, 2016). The African-Americans have been on the forefront in relation to police brutality, and this was also evidenced during the 1963 protests. At the time, Martin Luther’s speech “I Have a Dream” can still echo the long history of police brutality against the African-Americans. However, more than five decades later, the African-Americans continue to suffer at the hand of the police . Michael Brown was shot more than twelve times yet he was unarmed in Ferguson after police stated that he looked like a robber. Eric Gamer was similarly a victim of police brutality after he was choked to death by police claiming he was selling cigarettes without tax stamps. Others include Samuel Du Bose, Zachary Hammond, and Rekia Boyd. In the USA, African Americans account for about 44% of all police shootings (Fryer, 2016). In general, the African-Americans have a 23% likelihood of being victims of police brutality ET they only account for 13% of the entire United States population (Fryer, 2016).
According to a study conducted in California on the impacts of police brutality on Latins and African-Americans, it was found out that Latinos correspondingly represent a high number of casualties of police brutality (Angelica, 2016) According to the study, was able to determine that the localities whereby Latinos and African-American reside are heavily policed as compared to those of the Whites. This is similarly supported by a similar study carried out in New York on Latino youth who cited heavy police presence in their neighborhood. According to Solis et al. (2009) the participants, mostly Latinos mentioned the police use aggressive tactics when it comes to oppressing any skirmishes in their neighborhoods . Additionally, the police stated that they prefer to use such oppressive tools for these neighborhoods are considered as being “dangerous.” From the two studies, the participants had similar reactions to police brutality and presence in that they stated the police do not have their neighborhood wellbeing at heart compared to the white communities (Angelica, 2016; Solis et al., 2009) . Instead, they prefer discriminating them due to their skin color. In the case of the Latinos, they indicated the police use uncertainty r elated to their immigration status as a founding factor for harsh treatment. Jones (2014) conducted a three-year study in San Francisco on African-American boys growing up in Fillmore, heavily policed region. The main reason for this study was to determine the impact of heavy police on the lives of the African-Americans, and he found out that these young boys grow up knowing the law enforcement targets them. By the time they are reaching teenage years, they have already started behaving suspects , and this is what puts them in crosshairs with the police.
The outcomes of police brutality on affected individuals leads to increased morbidity resulting from increased fatal injuries , adverse psychological responses, racists public reactions, financial strains ( funeral bills, medical expenses, legal fees, arrests, and incarcerations) and systematic disempowerment resulting from integrated oppressive structures (Alang et al.,2017). Injury and death is the most common outcome of lice brutality According to Alang et al . ( 2016), young black men have a nine times probability of being killed by law enforcement officials. For some brutality victims, death is not always the end outcome, but it can bring about repeated physical assault while one is in custody. Police brutality incidents act as stressors on the victims, and this can bring conditions such as cognitive impairments, ulcers, stroke, and diabetes. The systemic disempowerment will result from police brutality being a historical reminder of the victims and the affected communities how their lives have been devalued. This will send a signal that their nation cannot offer any justice thus losing faith in the stem of government.
It is evident that police brutality has been in the USA’s law enforcement system for more than a century and a half . This has made it a topic of discussion amongst various scholar including the public. The various regimes have over the years tried to come up with strategies of eliminating police brutality to no avail. In the USA, as seen from the 1963 protests, police brutality is divided along racial lines. The African-Americans have been the greatest causalities police brutality for years. Despite various policies being implemented to bring about equality, the African-Americans still suffer at the hands of the police. The Hispanics have also become victims of police brutality, and according to a study, this results from their immigration status. Other races likewise face smaller accounts of police brutality such as the Pacific Islanders and Asians with the whites reporting the lowest cases.
References
Alang, S., McAlpine, D., McCreedy, E., & Hardeman, R. (2017). Police Brutality and Black Health: Setting the Agenda for Public Health Scholars. American Journal of Public Health , 107(5), 662–665. doi :10.2105/ajph.2017.303691
Angelica, D. (2016). Police Brutality: Impacts on Latino and African American Lives and Communities.
DeGue, S., Fowler, K. A., & Calkins, C. (2016). Deaths due to use of lethal force by law enforcement: findings from the National Violent Death Reporting System, 17 US States, 2009–2012. American journal of preventive medicine , 51 (5), S173-S187.
Fryer Jr, R. G. (2016). An empirical analysis of racial differences in police use of force (No. w22399). National Bureau of Economic Research .1-37
Garner, J, H., Hickman, M, J., Malega, R, W., & Maxwell CD (2018) Progress toward national estimates of police use of force. PLoS ONE 13(2): e0192932. doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192932
Jones, N. (2014). “The Regular Routine”: Proactive Policing and Adolescent Development among Young, Poor Black Men. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, (143), 33-54.
Solis, A., Portillos, E.L., & Brunson, R.K. (2009). Latino Youths’ Experiences with and Perceptions of Involuntary Police Encounters. The Annals of the American Academy, (623), 39-51.
