Police brutality has taken place for a very long period of time in the United States of America. In the article “What is Police Brutality”, the author, S. Danilina, gives the definition that “police brutality is the use of excessive and/or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians”. Some examples of police brutality are excessive force, false arrest or imprisonment, racial profiling, intimidation, sexual abuse, and verbal abuse towards civilians. One big group that is especially affected by police brutality is the African American community, who suffer and are targeted the most when it comes to this issue. In order to abolish police brutality, police departments, local governments, and society at large need to work together on educating the public on matters of police brutality, addressing the gun violence issue in America, giving police proper background checks, placing body cameras on police officers on duty at all times, educating police officers on how to de-escalate heated situations in a mature and non-violent manner, acknowledging and fixing the racial tension in the United States, using social media to spread awareness and educate people about police brutality and misconduct, educating people that passitivity amongst bystanders towards these situations only allows the situation to continue, and holding the police officer accountable so that these issues will not repeat in the future are just some of the ways police brutality in the United States of America can be resolved.
Police officers in the United States kill more people a year than many other developed countries. In the article “American Police Shoot and Kill Far More People Than Their Peers in Other Countries” written by German Lopez, the author states that “police officers in the US shoot and kill hundreds of people each year, according to the FBI’s very limited data — far more than other developed countries like the UK, Japan, and Germany, where police officers might go an entire year without killing more than a dozen people or even anyone at all”. Reading this fact brings up the question, why does the United States police force kill far more many people in one year than many other developed countries do in a decade, and why is killing the solution? One statistic from the article “42 Shocking Police Brutality Statistics” written by Crystal Lombardo stated that “on average, in the United States, a police officer takes the life of a citizen every seven hours”. Another statistic in the article “Here’s How Many People Police Killed in 2017” written by Michael Harriot stated that “Cops killed more Americans in 2017 than terrorists did (four). They killed more citizens than airplanes (13 deaths worldwide), mass shooters (428 deaths) and Chicago’s “top gang thugs” (675 Chicago homicides). These statistics and facts just come to show how many United States police officers handle situations with civilians in a violent and wrong manner that needs to change.
Gun violence ties into police brutality in a big way. Many killings involving a police officer and civilian include a firearm of some manner. “A study in JAMA found that the US rate of gun deaths, which includes homicides and suicides, was 10.6 per 100,000 people in 2016. That dwarfed comparable developed nations: Switzerland’s rate was 2.8, Canada’s was 2.1, Australia’s was 1, Germany’s was 0.9, the United Kingdom’s was 0.3, and Japan’s was 0.2” also stated in the article “American Police Shoot and Kill Far More People Than Their Peers in Other
Countries” written by German Lopez, just sparks a big question, why does the United States have more gun violence than many other developed countries? In the same article written by German Lopez, German states that “estimated for 2017, the number of civilian-owned firearms in the US was 120.5 guns per 100 residents, meaning there were more firearms than people. The world’s second-ranked country was Yemen, a quasi-failed state torn by civil war, where there were 52.8 guns per 100 residents, according to an analysis from the Small Arms Survey”. The decisions and acts made by the United States have made firearms much more available to the American people than to most of the rest of the world, which then ties into a correlation of the number of guns and killings by United States police officers. Giving the people of the United States easy access towards firearms and deadly weapons accounts for a big portion of gun violence in America, and because of this, American police officers are more prone to using firearms in situations with civilians rather than other non-violent methods.
In order for gun violence to diminish, which will then lead to fewer fatalities caused by police officers, the United States needs to have stricter gun laws, stricter and more thorough background checks, restrictions on carrying guns in public places, as well as improved child and consumer safety policies need to be enacted for the betterment and safety of the country and individuals themselves. One statistic that further proves the argument is from the article “Stricter Gun Laws Tied to Fewer Fatal Police Shootings”, written by Lisa Rapaport, states that “compared to states with the most permissive gun laws, states with the strictest firearm policies had 51 percent lower rates of fatal police shootings, the analysis found” which just comes to show how much stricter gun laws would help the United States of America in a positive way.
One of the most important factors in abolishing police brutality is making sure every police officer hired, as well as are in the process of getting hired, receive a proper and thorough background check in order to make sure they are mentally, physically, and emotionally capable of doing the job. Many police officers today have undergone unreliable background checks that do not show their mental illnesses, sexual misconduct history, controlling and violent tendencies, their race and gender views and opinions, and other crucial things needed to know in order to hire people that can really handle the job. Some might say that information is too personal, but when these important details are a key factor in the ways police officers do their job, it is very important and necessary to know.
Incidents of flawed background checks happen often, and one example of that would be from the article “2 ex-Baltimore Officers Convicted in Police Corruption Scandal” written by the Crimesider Staff. In the case, two detectives who were praised for taking guns off the streets were secretly big-time drug dealers who robbed from the people they were supposed to be protecting. The two detectives, Daniel Hersl and Marcus Taylor were both charged for robbery, racketeering, and conspiracy in February 2018. Coming from the same article, Crimesider Staff said that “even in a city all too familiar with abuses by law enforcers, the fallout from these stories of police criminality has been bad so far and the scandal promises to get a whole lot worse for Baltimore's already fragile criminal justice system”, statements like these just comes to show how flawed the criminal justice system can be, in not only Baltimore, but for the rest of the United States as well. In order for these cases to not repeat, more thorough background checks and preventative measures to ensure a non-corrupt criminal justice system are needed so that the system protects and ensures the safety and trust of everyone in the United States, no matter who they are.
One important tool the United States police force can place amongst its police officers in order to restrict police brutality is by having each police officer on duty wear a body camera at all times. Using a body camera at all times while on duty will keep the police officers in line to not abuse their power, because knowing that they are under surveillance at all times will get them to act orderly and to follow the rules and conduct of a police officer properly. The body cameras will also help police officers who have acted lawfully in a supportive way by showing their deeds. In the article “Body Cameras Help Everyone- Including the Police” written by Maya Wiley, the author states that “often, a civilian and a police officer will have different accounts of what happened. A video can tip the balance where we have to show that the evidence supports one version over another. This independent verification benefits all parties. Over the last five years, on average, the CCRB was able to substantiate police misconduct with video at twice the rate of misconduct without video — 18.6% compared to 9.3%”. Body cameras can go a long way in helping both parties, civilians as well as police officers to keep evidence on what happened in a certain situation.
One major problem that contributes to a big portion of why police brutality exists is when a police officer does not know how to de-escalate a situation with a civilian in a mature and non-violent manner. Many times, when a police officer gets into a heated situation with a civilian, they use excessive force and misconduct, sometimes even pulling out a firearm or another object such as pepper spray or a taser to de-escalate the situation, only making matters worse in the long run. One statistic provided in the article “42 Shocking Police Brutality Statistics”, written by Crystal Lombardo, states that “law enforcement training spends seven times more hours training officers on the use of firearms than on how to de-escalate situations” this is a scary statistic, especially because many cases of police brutality involve a police officer who only escalates the situation to make matters worse.
One article called “Preventing Police Misconduct”, written by Amy Novotney, talks about how the New Orleans Police Department is taking police misconduct matters into their own hands and are training their police officers to step in when they see their partners overreact in heated situations, and help them to overcome it. Ervin Staub, who was a professor at the University of Massachusetts, developed an officer-training program that emphasized peer intervention, called EPIC, which stands for “Ethical Policing Is Courageous”. Stated in the article written by Amy Novotney, “the goal of the training is to provide officers with tools and strategies to help them prevent overreactions or potential misconduct by fellow officers by using tactics, such as discreet passwords or codes that encourage a colleague to calm down, stop what they're doing or let them know that another officer is taking over. In non emergency situations, EPIC teaches officers how to speak to co-workers privately about potential problems, or to ask another trusted colleague to approach a colleague who is engaging in troubling behavior”. Having this program is very important because it educates police officers in intervening when they know their partner is doing something wrong, acknowledging the officer when they are doing something wrong so they do not escalate situations and learn quickly from their mistakes, as well as helps civilians to not be involved in misconduct situations in the future. If the United States as a whole used EPIC, police misconduct and brutality would go down significantly.
Racial tension in the United States contributes to police brutality as well. One specific group affected by this racial tension is the African American community. “Black people are much more likely to be shot by police than their white peers” says the article “There are Huge Racial Disparities in How US Police Use Force” written by German Lopez. The article “42 Shocking Police Brutality Statistics” written by Crystal Lombardo also states that “1 out of every 3 people that are killed by police officers in any given year in the United States is African-American/Black”.
Black people are much more likely to be arrested for drugs, make up a disproportionate amount of the prison population, are much more susceptible to poverty and unemployment, as well as can be neglected help from police officers than White people. The racial bias placed amongst the African American community has made police brutality cases towards them even worse and more corrupt. Cases such as the killings of Eric Garner in New York City, Tamir Rice in Cleveland, and Freddie Gray in Baltimore caused by police officers are just a few of the many cases where a police officer has killed a Black civilian unjustly and faced little to no consequences for their irrational actions.
Eric Garner was a forty-three-year-old black man living in New York City who was killed when a New York Police Department officer put him into a chokehold. The incident was captured on video, which shows Garner being pushed to the ground by many police officers, while one grabbed him into a chokehold. Garner repeatedly said that he could not breathe numerous times before he died. The police officers justified their actions by stating that Garner was resisting arrest. Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who put Garner into the chokehold, had previously been accused of false arrest and violating police procedures in two lawsuits, one of the lawsuits involving two Black men. Pantaleo was just placed on desk duty after the incident, while everyone else involved were granted immunity. Many cases such as this one come about frequently towards the African American community, in the article, “Eric Garner’s Family Gets $5.9 Million Settlement From New York City”, also written by German Lopez, states that “Garner's death is one of many police killings of black men and boys in the past year, which have fostered protests against racial disparities in police use of force”, which then leads to thoughts and questions about why so many unarmed Black men get put into these situations, and why aren't the people involved held responsible for their actions?
In order for the racial tension in the United States to go away, that will help prevent more police brutality cases amongst the African American community as well as other minorities, the people of the United States need to come together and resolve their issues in order to prevent future problems. Having racial tension only permits a divide and hatred amongst people that does not need to happen in the first place. Acknowledging the racial tension, and seeing how the country can undergo fixing the problem is a big start to this unnecessary hatred.
An important group that came about from the racial injustices and police brutality faced among the African American community in the United States is the group Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter is an international activist movement that stands up and campaigns against the violence, systematic racism, and unjust behavior towards the African American community. This movement, as well as many others, have brought up and uncovered many corrupt and social injustices that has affected people of color, such as police brutality cases. Using social media as well as other media outlets have sparked a movement towards a better and inclusive nation that has spoken up about unjust behaviors towards Black people, corruption and unlawful acts from the criminal justice system placed on the African American community, and has given everyone a platform to voice their opinion and views, while educating everyone on these important topics. The Black Lives Matter movement is very inclusive, as stated in the about tab of BlackLivesMatter.com, “We affirm the lives of Black queer and trans folks, disabled folks, undocumented folks, folks with records, women, and all Black lives along the gender spectrum. Our network centers those who have been marginalized within Black liberation movements. We are working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically targeted for demise”. Black Lives Matter speaks up for every single Black person there is, no matter who they are, which is very empowering.
There is an opposing group called Blue Lives Matter who believe that police officers have been given a bad reputation due to other unlawful officer’s actions, and should not be held accountable for them and only post accurate information of incidents distributed by law enforcement to inform the public. As stated on the about page of Bluelivesmatter.com, the group says that “we are supported by Americans who believe in law and order and want to provide a counterbalance to the dangerous false narratives being propagated about law enforcement. Our mission to support law enforcement is accomplished through our supporters, the world's largest community of Americans who support law enforcement”. Although this group does have a point in stating the fact that all police officers should not be treated as the bad ones, it is a huge problem in today’s world that needs to be acknowledged. Supporting law enforcement is one thing, but people should not support a law enforcer that abuses their power and uses misconduct in their actions to “protect the people”, and with the amount of incidents that happen yearly in the United States involving police brutality, it is important to receive all of the facts, rather than that of law enforcement alone, because even criminal justice system can change situations around to benefit themselves.
Having bystanders speak up about what they saw in incidents involving a police officer and civilian is also a very important factor in preventing police brutality. By bystanders speaking up, it makes police officers as well as civilians more prone to obeying the rules, just in case they ever needed to discuss what happened. Having a bystander speak up also helps to ensure that a police officer will not abuse their power by them knowing that people are watching them and potentially recording them for future, use such as posting on social media or using as evidence. Bystanders have a voice, and educating the American people on the importance of speaking up in incidents such as these is crucial for the people, as well as police officers in order to know the truth of what happened, which can be a life or death situation for everyone involved.
Holding the police officers who do unlawful acts towards the American people accountable is also an important way to stopping police brutality. In many cases, police officers use misconduct and often get away with it. Such as in the Eric Garner case, instead of being charged for homicide in the case, Pantaleo simply had to go on desk duty, which is not okay. Many police officers abuse their power with no consequences, which makes law enforcement that much more corrupt and dangerous to the American people. Police are supposed to protect the people, but how are they expected to do that if many of them abuse their power and go against the people they are supposed to be protecting? In order to fix this problem, police officers need to be held accountable for their actions, and be charged properly for the cases they were involved in, rather than protected, and the criminal justice system needs to make it a priority to clean out all of its corrupt officers in order to prevent the abuse of power and police brutality to reoccur in the future.
Police brutality will go away if police departments, local governments, and society at large work together on educating the public on matters of police brutality, addressing the gun violence issue in America, giving police proper background checks, placing body cameras on police officers on duty at all times, educating police officers on how to de-escalate heated situations in a mature and non-violent manner, acknowledging and fixing the racial tension in the United States, using social media to spread awareness and educate people about police brutality and misconduct, educating people that passitivity amongst bystanders towards these situations only allows the situation to continue, and holding the police officer accountable so that these issues will not repeat in the future. America will be a better and safer place once police brutality is dealt with.