In police brutality cases in the last six years, 98% of police brutality events have resulted in the police being acquitted. Police brutality can be described as when the police choose to use excessive or unnecessary force with civilians in certain situations. In a lot of cases, the police tend to harm innocent people. They tend to choke, beat, and even kill these people. When the police treat people this way, it is wrong. The police are often let off the hook in these cases and that is not right. Although they are policemen, that should not give them the right to get away with unjust. Police brutality against innocent people should not be justified. I have done research to find several articles discussing police brutality and the effects it has on communities as well as our nation as a whole. 

Many people have made a conscious decision to become police officers. They are expected to protect and serve the citizens in the community. This profession offers a position of authority, a tremendous amount of trust and responsibility. When cops are involved in situations or confrontations with citizens, it can escalate. Instead of using their power in the correct way, it seems as if they use unnecessary force just because they think they can. Cops can be easily aggravated when dealing with civilians. Civilians try to argue their rights and it tends to frustrate police officers. Instead of remaining professional, policemen often go to violence towards these people as an answer. There are even times when people do not tend to do anything at all but cops still appear to be offended. In Scott’s article The Etiquette of Police Brutality, he states “According to CBS Miami, Miami- Dade Police choked a 14-year-old boy on Memorial Day 2013 because he watched them with what police described as ‘dehumanizing stares’” (Scott, 14). Policemen feel that because they have power they can use it when they want too.  According to Scott: 

…police were cleared of any wrongdoing or faced relatively light or unspecified punishments, a situation that I imagine lea ves police feeling comfortable in deploying any act of violence in their toolbox, no matter how reckless, if it leaves them standing when all the smoke from the gunfire has cleared. (Scott, 17)

The police will continue to do this as long as they do not receive the proper consequences for their inexcusable actions. The bad decisions by police officers could severely hurt those that should not get injured. The article The Michael Brown Legacy: Police Brutality and Minority Prosecution mentions the killing of New Yorker Eric Garner by giving a detailed description on how the police killed him. The article states “Eric Garner, a forty-three-year-old man, was killed on July 17, 2014 by a New York police officer who used an illegal chokehold in an attempt to restrain him” (Onyemaobim, 165). This policeman used an illegal chokehold when trying to arrest Garner. Even if he felt that Garner did something wrong, that did not give him the right to illegally confine Garner. If this cop would have tried to do his job the right way, there is a high chance that a life would not have been lost. Instead, this cop used excessive force even when he did not have to. 

The police are often involved in altercations with civilians when they are on the job. The person being arrested may try to fight back, which causes the officer to feel like they are in danger. For example, when an officer is in a situation where a suspect is armed, they have certain procedures they are supposed to follow. The article Examining police training: How officers are taught to deal with armed suspects explains the steps for dealing with armed suspects. The officers are supposed to put themselves in a safe position, ask the suspect to drop their weapon and if the suspect makes any movement that threatens the cops then they are supposed to shoot. The procedure does not state that the cops should shoot at someone because someone has a weapon. The article, Two Nations, Revisited: The Lynching of Black and Brown Bodies, Police Brutality, and Racial Control in ‘Post-Racial’ Amerikkka explains the death of Tamir Rice. According to Embrick “Other Cleveland Police Officers must have felt similar to Brelo when they decided to kill 12-year-old Tamir Rice for brandishing a toy gun” (Embrick, 836). The cops pulled up and started shooting. They did not follow the procedure before they started to act. Sadly, that caused a kid’s life to be taken away. If the police would have done what they were taught, they would have been able to recognize that the gun was not real. This shows how important it is for the police to do what they are supposed to do. Doing the right thing could help the cops to be viewed as heroes rather than bad people. In What About Police Brutality, Wolverton states “One of the most notorious examples of verifiable violence committed by cops against those undeserving of any level of abuse happened in Cornelia, Georgia, and left a toddler near death, horribly injured, and disfigured” (Wolverton, 34). When cops use this “no knock” policy, they are supposed to look before they throw the grenade. Instead, the SWAT team took it upon themselves to not follow instructions which tragically caused a child to have a near death experience. With cops not being held accountable for their actions, it causes them to continuously do the same things. A disturbing problem is that the police know what to do in situations. They understand the rules they are supposed to follow to keep their lives as well as others lives safe. Therefore, when they do not follow procedure, it appears that they do not want to rather than it being that they do not know what to do. If cops are ever unsure of what to do in a situation, they should call for backup.

Police brutality has caused a racial divide between African Americans and the police themselves. A lot of times when the result of these incidents are riots, civil unrest, and it leads to others not willing to cooperate when they come in contact with the police. Black males are often the victims of police brutality. When Rodney King was beaten to death by the police in California, people rioted to express their feelings about the situation. Rioting still exists today. When Michael Brown was killed in Missouri, people began to riot there as well. This shows that police brutality has been around for decades and not just in recent years. Both of these situations involved the police taking the lives of black men. While doing research, I found a video where people in Chicago were protesting because a man was killed by the police in Baltimore. This shows the effect the police have on the community. When African Americans notice what is being done to their people by the police, it causes them to pull away. They will start to distrust the police if it appears that they are never being helped. Police brutality is also becoming a cultural fear for blacks. With all the incidents that are happening, blacks are starting to be fearful when they go around the police or even when they see the police. They do not know what to expect when they come in contact with the cops. They should feel a sign of relief instead of fear when the police are around. It could also cause crime rates to go up for blacks. If they feel the police is not going to help them when they call, they will take it upon themselves to resolve a problem. According to Chaney and Robertson in the article Racism and Police Brutality in America “Thus, to Whites, Blacks are viewed as deserving of harsh treatment in the criminal justice system” (Chaney & Robertson, 481-482). In most cases where blacks are involved with the police, the policemen are white. The article also explains how blacks are more likely to be to be the victims of police brutality. When blacks see this statistic, they know that they have a disadvantage any time they are involved with the police. This could give them the belief they will be treated unfairly which will cause them to fail to cooperate in these situations. Cops tend to get aggravated when people fail to cooperate with them. As long as this image is being given to blacks, the problem of police brutality will continue to get worse. 

Cops face a lot of pressure within this job. They work very long hours, they face danger, and they have to worry about if people will cooperate with them. The actions of the police are starting to hurt how they are viewed by the public. These are the people who the cops should want to like them. When outsiders question the police, it makes their job a lot harder as well. Policemen are often overworked when on the job. Many may argue that because of these factors, the police should be given a break when they do something wrong. They may argue that the police are just doing their job when they are put in these situations with civilians. In fact, the police are doing their job, just not in a professional way. Cops have to be professionals when they get involved in a situation where a civilian is harmed. They know what they are supposed to do but the easy way out at times is doing what they want to do. Cops often say they felt “threatened” or that their life was in danger. Cops knew what they were getting into when they decided to become cops. They knew what came with the job when they decided to choose it as their career. People who do not find police brutality to be as big of a problem may feel that the police need to be violent. When policemen have to protect themselves they must be violent in order to be safe. This is not true. If cops follow what they are taught while training in the academy, then they will remain safe. 

In most cases involving the police using excessive force, most of the victims are black males. There is no particular age at which males are victims the most. Michael Brown was a teenager in Missouri that was shot in killed by a policeman (Onyemaobim, 2016). Alton Sterling was killed by the police at a gas station in Louisiana. Sterling was shot and killed due to the police saying he had a weapon. In fact, Sterling never was armed nor did he make any movements to put the policemen in danger. He was on the ground just like they had ordered him to be. Ezell Ford was shot and killed by the police although he was unarmed (Onyemaobim, 2016). Andy Lopez is a 13-year-old who was killed in California for carrying a toy rifle by Santa Rosa police (Onyemaobim, 2016). They killed a boy who was only carrying his toy and never threatened them. In another case, cops beat and killed Kelly Thomas in Fullerton, California (Onyemaobim, 2016). Thomas was an ill and homeless person when he was killed. This especially makes the cops look bad. They murdered a man who really just needed help. Cops are here to help people so they could have easily tried to get him help instead of killing him. These two cases show how senseless the police can be at times and it is not fair. 

Police brutality is not just limited to beatings, shootings, or killings. The police can misuse their authority in other ways. Some officers have detained citizens even when the person has done nothing wrong. Policemen try to make unlawful arrests. They use their authority by terrorizing and scaring innocent civilians. Some officers have used their position to force people to perform sexual acts on them. Some cops have used racial profiling by stopping people based on color. Policemen often terrorize those who they feel cannot fight back or are weaker. These people may be less fortunate than. Going back to the Thomas case, he was sick and homeless so cops felt it would be easy to harm him (Onyemaobim, 2016). The police also harass young black males. Young black males are stereotyped in our government so cops know it is easy terrorize them and get away with it. Policemen also use traffic stops to find people to give a hard time. These actions of the police are even causing those who are not victims to react. They give their input on how they feel about the police and it is normally not very good. According to Robertson and Chaney in Racism and Police Brutality in America one person said: 

COPS KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING WHEN THEY SIGN THEIR SIGNATURE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAPER THAT SAYS YES I KNOW THAT MY LIFE WILL AND CAN BE IN DANGER BUT I TAKE THAT RESPONSIBILITY. AND NOW THEY WANT TO GO BALLS TO THE WALL AND HAVE EVERYONE HONOR AND RESPECT THEM. (Chaney, Robertson, 489) 

This person believes that cops should not sign up to be a policeman and make poor decisions just to expect those who see their wrongdoings to respect them. I believe the authors made this quote stand out in all caps to make the point that it is hard to be respected when you cannot be trusted. Another woman is in awe based on the way her husband was treated by an officer. The article by Chaney and Robertson states, “My husband was really abused by an officer last week. He got out of the truck put his hands up and got on the ground. While he was on the ground the officer tased him. It was stuck in his skull…then the officer continued to tase him two more times…While he was having a seizure” (Chaney, Robertson, 490). The policeman apparently abused this man although he followed his orders. The police have to realize that their decision making is not just affecting the victims but also other family members and people of the community.  

While doing research on this topic, I learned a lot. I understand that the police do not have the simplest job in the world but at the same time this is the life that they chose. When things get hard, they should not take it out on innocent people. The police will continue to harm others as long as they know it will be justified. The police do a lot of things because they know they have that police shield. Basically, they know that because they are policemen, it might get them out of a lot of situations where they were in the wrong. Our government has to start showing justice towards our people. Justice should be given where justice is due and that is the bottom line. The only way police brutality can decrease is if they are given the consequences they deserve when they deserve.
