Incidences of police brutality have become rampant in today’s society as police encounter with people to enforce law and order. Police brutality can be termed as incidence where the people bestowed with maintaining peace and calm tend to use excessive, majorly physical attacks or psychological intimidation and verbal attacks. Other forms of police brutality can be seen in cases such as racial profiling, false arrest, bullying, sexual abuse, political repression, surveillance abuse, and police corruption. When police brutality does happen, it is something so atrocious that the victims of such cases end up dying, getting psychologically or physically affected (Reynolds-Stenson, 2017).
The constitution of any nation and international laws draws a clear line between the police using a force in effecting laws and when they are deemed to have used excessive force. This virtually means that jurisdictions do allow the police to use as much force as they are allowed while carrying out their mandated task. Any force that will go beyond the stipulated and mandated one will be termed as an abuse of power by the police and as such the officer(s) will be held responsible by the law for such crimes. It is however almost unachievable since the police may argue that they were protecting their lives or they were acting out of emotions (Bandes, 2015). Police brutality is typically registered in cases such as riots, strike incidences or during protests. During these incidences, the police usually are forced to use clubs, rubber bullets and tear gas to contain the protesters as a way of preventing them from overpowering them. However, the police have been accused of using such toxic arms against unarmed citizens where other cases have been seen as ethnic and racial profiling.
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In 19th and early 20th centuries, the cases of police brutality were reported in the urban cities. People who migrated from rural to urban areas or those who came from outside the nation were met with harsh treatment from the police. They were subjected to discriminatory policing since they were easily identified. The Jewish communities also reported cases of police brutality while in Southern and Eastern European cities where they were profiled based on their communities. In the 1920s, in cities such as Chicago and USA, the police department conducted an operation to crack down the organized criminals in the city. This task was later deemed brutal since the police used that opportunity to torture Italian-immigrant communities. In 1943, Los Angeles Police Department officers attacked Mexican Americans in what was popularly came to be known as Zoot Suit Riots where human rights were violated, and many people were killed (Reynolds-Stenson, 2017).
Police brutality has been reported for some years now, and the most prominent police brutality ever reported in the USA was in the 1960s. This was the period of Civil Rights Movement that began in 1963. African-Americans citizens in the South of United States were combated by the police while they were the demonstration. In 1965 it was reported that during the protest, the blacks who were on the streets demonstrating were beaten with cattle prods and batons. They were even chased out while they attempted to vote at a courthouse located in Selma, Alabama (McArdle, 2014). The act is said to be brutal since the demonstrators were beaten by police to submission while they were demonstrating. There should not be any reason as to why the police should attack non-violent and unarmed civilians with such excessive force.
The cases of police brutality have been a trend all over the world. The police in different nations are mostly accused of using excessive force to contain rowdy crowds and arising situations. During demonstrations, the police tend to confront the demonstrators with excessive force. Humanitarian groups have been fighting for the end of brutality, but the police forces have been reluctant on the same. In most cases, demonstrators are forced to flee for their lives since the police usually beat them to submission. The constitution is very clear that the right to picket is allowed and as such, any group or individual has a right to do so. Police unit does argue that they are protecting their lives by doing so, but it is always clear that they are doing it intentionally. It is hard to explain why the police would confront an unarmed person with the almost equal caliber as the person who is armed and on a mission to commit a crime (Reynolds-Stenson, 2017).
The surveillance cameras have been used to prove the fact that the police use excessive force in most of their operations but there is little that has been done to address this issue. The evidence is in most cases tampered with and the police walk unpunished, and this has been a trend that has frustrated the civil rights groups (Felker-Kantor, 2016). The judiciary has also been playing their role in suppressing such activities since the cost of launching such a case is expensive. The subsequent delays and prolonged period of hearing and sittings makes one surrender as their cases become weak and costly with time. In incidences where the police have been convicted, the cases are always the State versus a complainant rather than being brought to an individual level.
In Africa, for example, during operation such as raiding terrorists’ territories, police have been taking that advantage to harass the natives of that region. The police unit in Nigeria that was tasked to combat Boko Haram was reported to have tortured citizens in those regions. The police use brutal means such as beating a person or a group and subjecting them to excessive pain with the aim of getting information from them (McArdle, 2014). They tend to view every person as a criminal and a threat to them, and as such, they work to kill you before you kill them.
There have been pleas and reforms to make the police such a useful and positive unit, but that has not been successful since it is almost impossible to differentiate between the cases of brutality and that which is intended to protect life. In police cells, the inmates do complain of police harassments. This is another unit where there are frequent cases of brutality. The inmates have been handled with excessive forces during their time in cells, and this has led to deaths, mental instability and immunity to threats (Bandes, 2015). Most of those released from prisons have been found to be resistant and no longer fear anything. The cells do create a zombie out of a person due to the excess brutality they are subjected to while in the cell.
In the USA, the issue of police brutality has taken a different direction where there are reports that the whites police tend to target the black civilians. Jeronimo Yanez, a former police officer, was acquitted by the jury on his case of killing a 32-year old, Philado Castile. This led to the protests across the streets of St. Paul, Minnesota where the civilians were chanting “Philado, Philado” while walking with banners which read: “Black Lives Matter” and “No Justice, No Peace.” The footage of Dashcam showed how Yanez killed Castile by shooting him through an open window. Even though the black Americans accounts for 13% population of USA, the people fatally shot to death by police are roughly 24% (Felker-Kantor, 2016). This is to say that, the Blacks are 2.4 times more likely to be shot as compared to Whites.
There has been the move by the government to control such cases by improving the police training methods. They have been trained on how to combat the civilians without much force, but even with such training, they still fall back to using excessive force. In the USA and most European countries, the police have been equipped with some advanced technological devices that they can use to detect criminals and contain them appropriately (McArdle, 2014). The police, however, do end up resorting to old means whenever they are in such scenarios. The laws, as provided in the constitution, are clear that one is innocent until proven guilty by the court of law. The police, however, tend to kill the victims instead of persuading, arresting and arraigning them in court to be judged.
During the civic activities by Martin Luther King, Jr., there were a high number of police brutalities where a significant number of people were killed during the demonstrations. They are reported to have been combated with extra force, and most of them were injured and killed. The police may argue that they were restoring the peace and calm for the sake of economic development, but this is wrong as they cannot substitute the human life lost. Much as the battle was won, those who participated have lived to tell their horrid ordeal that occurred during the civil activism. The stories of police brutality they faced starting from the demonstration to the cell is a horrific tale. They talk about how they were subjected to pain, and those who survived had to undergo guidance and counseling and therapy sessions (Felker-Kantor, 2016). They were also rendered lame as most of them had parts of the bodies severely injured.
The latest police brutality has been registered in cases such as in aggressive dispersion tactics where the police usually use police dogs, water cannons, and fire hoses. This usually is an abuse of power, and it is against human rights, but the police have the immunity to do so since they are dispersing crowds. The police argue that their acts are typically geared towards preventing demonstrators from altering the daily activities of non-participants. In 1967, in Newark, a police officer was reported to have beaten a black cab driver called John Smith during a traffic stop. This led to four-day unrest which caused a loss of 26 lives and a significant number of injuries. The commission formed to investigate that case concluded that the police were exercising their duties. They also blamed the citizens for provoking the police hence causing such incidences. These are the scenarios that have encouraged the police to act in an inappropriate manner since the government will protect their mess (McArdle, 2014).
Retired police officers have been able to narrate various incidences where they have been forced to act brutally. A closer look at these incidences will show that their acts are always 80% justified. Some, however, tend to defend themselves that they are manipulated by their seniors to act in such manner (Taylor, 2013). They are ordered to use water cannon to disperse the crowd and end up causing hours of running battles yet the whole situation would have been contained by allowing the demonstrators to carry out their activity. They accept that it is their poor judgment of situations that lead them to use excessive forces since what is reported across the chains of command is not necessarily a reflection of the actual scene. When combating terrorists and any criminals, they are allowed to protect their lives first. Such incidences have led most of them to shoot and kill victims and suspects out of fear of being killed rather than judging the situation first.
There are also cases where the police may raid a region in search of criminals or a theft operation. The residents of these areas have reportedly been harassed by the police and event tortured to give evidence which they may not even be having. They have been subjected to telling lies as a way of escaping the brutality of the police. There also cases of sexual harassments that the police have done to the innocent citizens. These incidences have led to a weak relationship between the police and the citizens. The citizens have developed a negative attitude towards the police, and as such, they always receive them with a low response and welcome even when they are on a peaceful mission (Shedd, 2010). The police are trained in a cautionary way that they are supposed to treat any citizen as an enemy and that they are not supposed to make any friends with them. This has been taken literary by the police to the extent that they kill and justify their killings by claiming that their lives were in danger.
Police have been receiving low assistance from the citizens in cases such as persuading a criminal. The civilians, at times, are forced to side with the criminal rather than giving the whereabouts of the offender to the police (Taylor, 2013). Such incidences usually cause the police to act brutally. The brutal acts by the police can be said to be a symbiosis act in some ways since the cops are on their duty and they are supposed to protect the citizens. On their side, the citizens are supposed to help the police by revealing the hideouts of the criminals, acting responsibly during demonstrations and avoiding additional counters with the police. There are several cases where the offenders have used citizens as a shield and end up causing killing the police. Some shootings have occurred in areas where citizens have been hiding criminals, and as such, they have been killed.
Most demonstrations and strikes have been initiated by a small group of activists or the families of the victim. This is why they have not been able to produce much impact. They are typically contained by another police brutality hence making them to surrender their quest to fight against this menace. The established groups have not been able to champion for such rights since they may find it too petty to get involved. Some of them are bribed so that they don’t engage in the matter. The international government has not been able to plunge into the matter too because they don’t want to interfere with the local matters of a nation (Smith & Holmes, 2013).
With the advances in technology and the rise of social media, the cases of police brutality have been reduced since the protectors will record such incidences and circulated in the social media. This can be contrasted to early times where the police could commit such crimes and go unpunished due to lack of evidence or killing of witnesses (Taylor, 2013). The videos are widely being shared, and even if the witnesses are killed, such footages will be used to charge such criminals for their acts. The increase in the use of surveillance cameras and technology has helped the police in tracking the victims rather than harassing the citizens to get such information. There is also use of video live streaming where some individual record and post the incidences as they happen. This has helped in cases where the police decide to kill the witness in the quest to cover up the evidence. The use of live chats and live video recording on platforms such as Facebook where there are a considerable number of viewers has helped to mitigate police brutality.
The forces within the government have been playing the role of preventing cases of police prosecution, and these have been the reason behind the delay for the justice of the victims. Government tends to form the commission of inquiries to handle such situations and their findings and reports have not been implemented or have been implemented partially. These cases have discouraged the citizens from seeking justice, and they have ended up living with stigma and desire for revenge to the police (Shedd, 2010). There are also instances where the police are tasked with investigating fellow police for the crimes committed. This means that the outcome is predetermined since it is almost impossible for a police officer or such jury to rule against their colleague. There is also justification from the religious groups about the practices of police while on duty such as the fact that they are mandated by the Bible to carry out their task without fear or favor as God ordains it through the Holy Books (Smith & Holmes, 2013).
The street children have suffered police brutality since in most cases, they are treated as potential thieves and criminals. The police have developed a poor perception towards such children since most of them have grown up to form organized criminal gangs. They are known for abusing drugs which have made them almost uncontrollable, and they are characterized by confronting the police fearlessly (Smith & Holmes, 2013). The celebrities on their side have also received their fair share of police brutality. In most cases, they face the police officers be it during the concert or their normal life activities. The police view them as people with ego and tend to go above the law, and as such, they are contained by the police from a predetermined mind and perception. Professional from all works of life will meet the brutality of the police, especially during demonstration and strikes. The politicians have also reported cases where they are harassed by the police while carrying out their duties. This is to say that the police brutality is in the society and it is not selective and as such, there is the need for a communal response to these menaces.
Police brutality has been reported in the way they treat the transgender and homosexuals. They have a negative perception towards such groups. It is reported that in 1969, New York City police raided a gay bar. This led to the international community on too much involvement of police and interference in personal and social issues. The consequence of such attacks led to the rise of gay rights movements. The police harassment on such groups is still prevalent in third world nations such as nations of Africa (Taylor, 2013). In religious front, the brutality of police has been registered. The Muslim Americans have been complaining about police brutality after the 2001 September attacks. There is a particular group of the police that was formed to infiltrate Muslims and mosque with the aim of containing impending similar attacks. These groups have been harassing and racially profiling the Muslims because they see them as the potential threat always (Simmons & Lawrence, 2013).
The victims of brutality have been able to join hands to champion against such crimes by the police. These groups have however failed to bring much impact due to insufficient funds to drive such campaigns as most of them are from low-income working classes or are from poor ranks. They do not have much political influence, and as such, they cannot publicize their campaign on police brutality. The media houses have also been silent since they see no much efforts and steps will be taken to change the situation. They have also taken sides as they do not want to be seen being government opposition. In countries such as the USA, the opposition government has been silent on police brutality especially brutality against the Blacks since most of them are racists (Shedd, 2010). There have been demands to increase the number of Blacks in such units, but there is little that has been done to address the situation.
Police impunity has been in existence for years since it is hard to substantiate and take appropriate measures for such occurrence. The human watch-dog groups have been seen as taking sides with citizens rather than being neutral and fighting for the course (Simmons & Lawrence, 2013). Most of them are just haters who have no reason as to why they are opposing everything that comes from the police. They have ended up being naïve about these issues making the fight seem malicious rather than productive. The boards and teams tasked with investigating and coming up with measures of how to handle police brutality have ended up producing raw reports and poorly done findings. The fact that such incidences happen randomly, and in different magnitudes have made it difficult to investigate and come up with strong recommendations.
Conclusion
The civil rights groups have criticized the various departments of the police due to their acts, but it is not sufficient as these units work smart. This shows that much as it is claimed that they are trained well, there are levels in which training must not have been addressed sufficiently. There are cases where police act out of emotion and perception, and this can be interpreted to mean that the training might not have covered such aspects as personal judgment. The police need to be accommodated well and be allowed to enjoy much freedom as any other person. The civil rights groups have been criticizing them more without standing with them in cases such as agitating for their better working conditions (Shedd, 2010). Police have a poor working condition, and their places of residence are not standard, and as such, the life issues and experiences has been the cause of inadequate response by the police. Some are acting out of anger, frustration, and revenge.
References
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