Jordan Davis, John Crawford, Ramarley Graham, Victor White III, Henry Davis, Ezell Ford, Michael Garrett Blair, Pearlie Golden, Kajieme Powell, Eric Garner, Derek Williams, Kendrec McDade, Rodney King, Chris Lollie, Denise Stewart, Darren Hunt, Johnathan Ferrell, Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo, Marvin Booker, Vonderrit Myers Jr.,  Tyquan Henderson, Ernest Satterwhite, Santiago Hernandez, Kahreem Tribble, and Michael Brown. Months, years, even decades after these cases of police brutality and the use of excessive force against victims of color can make it feel as though very little has changed in the way that the United States polices its police. Still, juries acquit police, crooked cops get their jobs back, and the cycle of brutality continues with seemingly no consequence or justice. But some things have gotten better. We are moving towards reform. A history of these types of incidents reveals that some major police reforms began after highly publicized occurrences of police violence. However, change did not and will not come alone because it takes months even years of tenacity and persistence from communities and institutions to stir up a conversation for reform. To eradicate police brutality, social awareness and training must be improved. The four stases; conjecture, definition, quality, and policy can be used to break down the steps that need to be taken in order to reform the relationship between minorities and law enforcement nationwide.

This leads into the quality or evaluation stasis. As a young, African-American person I see patterns between police misconduct and the ethnicity of the victims. There is a lot to say about where our trust in our law enforcement is headed in the years to come. Nationally there has been a trend of one largely publicized case of police misconduct sparking up numerous, quiet-kept cases. Exposition and national coverage of these cases is important because it allows the citizens of the U.S. to see the flaws and corruption of our society. It is also vital to the justice system if we ever want it to improve. Law enforcement officials are supposed to be some of the best trained and most skilled people in the U.S. It is understood that law enforcement officers are meant to "serve and protect" and yet there has been so many cases where police officers have been found disregarding justice and the civil rights of the people, criminal and non-criminal.

However, problems still persist nationally. Even in communities that have experienced reform, there are as many issues that need to be discussed.. One of the most important challenges (which quite frankly shouldn't be a challenge in the first place) is holding police accountable. Police unions exercise strong influence over many local boards that decide whether cops get to keep their jobs. Juries tend to side with police. And unfortunately, the law time and time again heavily favors the police in police brutality cases. Another problems is the United States embraces a culture that supports gun use. Police are given a lot of leeway to use deadly force, despite public opinion that lesser force will still do the job.

In general, as reported in 2011 by The National Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project from "April 2009 to June 2010 5,986 reports of misconduct had been recorded, 382 fatalities were linked to misconduct, and $347,455,000 had been spent in related settlements and judgments" (Dantes, 1). In 2010 alone, of the 2,541 reports of misconduct among police, 23.3% was recorded as excessive force. Of that 23.3 percent, 17% was from Tasers, 23% from physical acts, and 60% was from firearms (1). These statistics along with persuasive news reports have molded the general perspective of how law enforcement officers handle escalated situations.

According to "Contemporary Police Brutality", "racist violence has both structural and physical components" (1) meaning that in relation to racially motivated police brutality, the violent behavior persists by both the function and force of law enforcement and other associations. The United States has established force and violence are necessary to the preservation of racial repression, not option. This text expressed a great frustration with the government and its tendency to lean towards the acceptance of brutality and racial injustices (1). Minorities have continuously been experiencing racial violence due to structural organizations and private agendas that have the indirect result of oppressing people of color. These agendas include, but are not limited to: exploitation and polices meant to "produce maintain and rationalize poverty, inadequate health care, and substandard housing" (1). This in turn affects how minorities view themselves in society, how minorities are view by others in society, and how the police view minorities in routine stops and arrests.

Police misconduct can be defined as inappropriate actions taken by police officers in connection with their official duties ("Excessive Force Law & Legal Definition" ). Police misconduct can lead to a miscarriage of justice and at times involves discrimination. Police brutality is the use of excessive force, usually physical, but does not exclude verbal attacks and psychological intimidation by a police officer. There is no concrete definition of excessive force.  However, the use of force greater than what a reasonable law enforcement officer would use under the particular circumstance is typically considered to be excessive ("Excessive Force Law & Legal Definition"). Generally, the minimum amount of force required to achieve a safe and effective outcome is recommended. Reasonable levels of force are guessed by cops on the street, second-guessed by police review boards and sometimes tested in civil lawsuits and criminal prosecutions. Excessive force by a law enforcement officers is a violation of a person's constitutional rights.

The American Civil Liberties Union's definition of racial profiling states that " 'racial profiling' refers to the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin. Criminal profiling, generally, as practiced by police, is the reliance on a group of characteristics they believe to be associated with crime".

With these given definitions, it is apparent that there is some gray area when it comes to policing. Excessive force is very subjective and usually without visual evidence (video, audio, physical scars on the victim, etc.) it is difficult to argue because there is no concise definition of the term.

A portion of this essay refers to the conjecture stasis. The research accumulated in the essay was sparked by a recent police brutality case that happened August of this year.  Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2014. The shooting was very controversial and the resulting protests and civil unrest receive received a lot of national coverage. The civil unrest and protests over the shooting were due to the community's ongoing distaste for the police department and government and the fact that evidence shows that Brown was still gunned down despite his attempt at surrendering. Peaceful and violent protests as well as looting and vandalism, continued for more than a week, resulting in some night curfews. There were concerns over the local police's insensitivity, tactics and a militarized response The police response to the protesting in Ferguson received significant criticism from the media and politicians.

This particular event's significance that it is the cause of the developing national conversation about police misconduct, police training, and racial profiling.  Far too many times in the United States innocent unarmed African-American citizens have been victimized by lethal and non-lethal experiences with law enforcement. For example John Wihbey reports that nationally "the rate at which black people are killed by law enforcement is 3 times higher than that of white people"(1). He also references the FBI's published statistics on "Justifiable homicide" by law enforcement officers in which the "data show[s] that there ha[s] been about 400 such incidents nationwide each year" (1).

It does not seem as though the long term effect of police brutality in the United States has truly been recognized. According to "Citizens' Perceptions of Police Misconduct: Race and Neighborhood Context" by Ronald Weitzer, general attitudes about the police are influenced by race and class as well as citizens' attitudes and experiences regarding experiences with the police. It is known and acknowledged that race is one of the biggest influences on perceptions and attitudes toward the police" (819). In many urban areas the citizens do not trust the local police. The people do not believe that the situation will be handled properly and most of the time the relationship between citizens and law enforcement in these areas are already tense due to racial profiling. Skewed news reporting also plays a major role in the effect of police brutality on American minorities. If the victimized minorities are portrayed poorly in the local or national news when it comes to police brutality it is difficult to raise moral to fight for their justice. The results of a study conducted by Levin and Thomas show that "subjects' [of the study] perceptions violence and illegality were influenced by the officers' racial identity: Both black and white subjects were significantly more likely to see violence and illegality when both arresting officers were white" (577). The article goes on to speak about how race, specifically Whites and Blacks perceive police violence, whether or not they are the victim. 

Regina Lawrence has found that "in many use-of-force incidents, the actual details of the [victims] are murky and potentially subject to widely divergent perceptions" (3). She puts an emphasis on the responsibility of the media for societal perspectives throughout her book. She says, however, that it is still difficult to raise a societal urgency about police misconduct because, institutionally, many law enforcement officers are protected by the criminal-justice system, its prosecutors as well as regulations for police management and training (xii).

As for the policy stasis of police brutality, there is plenty that can be done to help reform policing in the United States as well as the relationships between police and minorities. For starters it is good that criminal justice reform is increasingly becoming a bipartisan issue. New ideas for reform are being developed like body cameras for police. I believe that following steps will help lead to better law enforcement and as a result more peace and justice. Officers should be trained to choose less-lethal force. Officers should be able to have Tasers, but they should go through exhaustive training on when they could use them and how as well. If they use a Taser, or any other weapon, they should have to document their use. If their record didn't match what was being reported, an investigation should ensue. As technology changes and society changes, officers should be retrained to maintain an updated and efficient force. They should be trained on how to deal with the mentally ill and those under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Cars were equipped with dash cameras. Officers should also take part in community policing where they do walk-throughs of neighborhoods with the people that live there. Community meetings should be held. This way there is a reconnection between the community and police department. While several of these tactics are being utilized, they are rare, especially in larger cities. I believe that if used in conjunction with each other cases of injustice with police brutality will start to fall.

In conclusion, all of the stases break down the importance of reporting, understanding, and working to prevent more cases of police misconduct. Case after case, study after study, statistic and statistic show that police misconduct and police brutality is occurring within the US and often times unnecessarily so. Brutality is historical factor in the country and it continues to a problem that heavily impacts the minority youth and its communities. After all, police misconduct, especially brutality is rapidly becoming a weekly topic in America and media outlets are the most accessible ways to gain information. If Americans remain uninformed and undecided on the topic, change will never come.
