Jon swain

April 21, 2017

Professor. Wynne

Eng. 102

Police Brutality

True ignorance isn't the absence of knowledge, but the refusal to acquire it. When it comes to

police brutality this quote by Karl Popper speaks volumes. The reason nothing is being done

about police brutality is because people would rather pretend to be oblivious to the problem and

ignore exist rather than to admit to the fact that we as Americans do not live in a post racial

generation. Police brutality is the United States form of a totalitarian government. When police

officers have the ability to slaughter men and woman and it be justified by the simple statement

of fearing for one's life theres a problem. As an American citizen, a citizen of a country

founded by the oppressed if you don't stand against police brutality you should be ashamed.

Everyday an innocent life is snatched due to things such as simple traffic stop turning into

lethal encounters between African Americans and the police. In 2015 alone 1307 people lost their

lives to police brutality (Fatal Encounters, 2015). Black males make up 6% of the population but

accounted from 60% of the murders of unarmed victims of police brutality. African American

men have to live fearing being shot with every interaction involving a man in a badge. Mothers

have to live worrying about if their sons will return home or be the next Michael Brown lying in

the middle of the street. The saddest part is the words excessive force are often replaced with

fearing for my life and these killers are allowed to walk free, some even given the opportunity

to return back to the force. The news is splattered with new names, new areas, new grieving
families but rarely ever new sentences and indictments. If we fail to speak up we are only aiding

the next murderer.

A very common yet invalid excuse used to justify police brutality is the past mistakes or

appearance of the victim. In the Trayvon Martin case they blamed his hoodie, in the Tony

Robinson case they blamed his mother for receiving government assistance. They disregard the

innocence of the victim and try to paint them as menaces to society. Making it seem as though

officers did a duty of service to the community by executing these young men. For example the

media focuses in on the flaws of each victim even in the images shown of the victim they

typically choose picture portray them as thugs and gangsters. The government tries to desensitise

people to the fact that during the encounter in which lead to death of someone's child no crime

was committed; but media often enjoys playing off of things such as juvenile records, being

raised without fathers or what neighborhood these children are products of. Regardless of if the

statements made are true or not they still serve as no purpose for justification to what the corrupt

law enforcement has done. In contrast the officers who commit these crimes are often painted as

picture perfect men. Family orientated, community involved and victims of having to live with

the burden of knowing they unlawfully killed a child. When in all actuality most cases involves

officers who have had prior complaints of degrading, demeaning and misuse of power directed

towards minorities. 84% of officers admitted to witnessing another officer use excessive force

(US Department of Justice, 2013). If we dont put an end to racial profiling there is no telling

how many innocent children will die.

The effects of police brutality may seem to only be as cruel as the media perceives it to

be until it's knocking on your front door. When someone personally experiences the loss of a

loved one due to the ignorance of a police officer it leaves a type of imprint that cannot be
explained. One that no form of therapy can ever fix. A certain fear haunts these individuals every

time the police is within their presence. Each encounter with an officer or even something as

simple as seeing a police car rebirths memories of the tragedy. Nightmares of the incident or the

visual of your friend staring into the eyes of a man with a badge who was sworn in to serve and

protect as he is gun down and taking his last breath. Its a vivid image many cant ignore or get

rid of. In addition to that we cant forget the spine chilling words of hearing the judge or district

attorney find the perpetrator not guilt on the terms of fearing for one's life. It cuts deep

knowing that someone so close so special could be slaughtered so ruthlessly and nothing is done.

Five shots, nine shots, twelve shots, the number continue to grow and police continue to get

away with this issue. There is never an excuse for an officer to murder and unarmed victim.

Though they are trained differently in the ideology of being a good samaritan and a protector of

our communities a gun should be their last resort. Especially when dealing with the lives of

youth and children, its starting to happen so regularly that people who have not been directly

affected are learning to accept the fact that this happens in the world we currently live in. In the

case of Tony Robinson the officer was responsible for the death of multiple African Americans

while on duty and in every case no consequences were given. The officer is still patrolling the

streets as we speak, that is unacceptable, unexplainable and undeniably a form of white

supremacy in current day America. There is no reason that 98% of police brutality cases in 2015

ended with no form of criminal punishment (Wong, 2015). Families being forced to watch their

childs killer walk free. If we continue to be silent while these things happen we unconsciously

become a part of the problem instead of the solution.

Some may say that people are overly concerned with police brutality and fail to recognize

black on black crime as well. Although it is true that 80% of violent crimes with African
American victims are committed by African American two key factors separate it from police

brutality. In the case of black on black crimes 90% of murders are convicted whereas 1% of

police officers receive punishment. Also law enforcement officers are sworn in to serve and

protect. Once a certain group is forced to fear those meant to protect them their is an evident

problem. Also people fail to look at the factors to why African American males are so high risk

for committing violent crimes. Majority of the African American males convicted for committing

violent come from areas of high poverty and low achievement. Growing up in the ghetto where

all you are exposed to is drugs, sex and violence molds a child to develop a certain mindset. We

cannot solely blame African American males for their views on life the achievement gap and

poverty cycle play a vital role in black on black crime. Once we tackle that problem and begin to

influence African American males of success through education in contrast to illegal activities

black on black crime rates will show a dramatic decrease.

Police brutality is a prime example of the realistic conflict theory. The tension between

law enforcement officers and the African American community stems from generations of hate

originating from the mistreatment of runaway slaves to the barbaric invasion of peaceful riots.

The only difference between then and now is that African Americans of this generation have

grown tired of being peaceful. They are now starting to retaliate back towards police officers.

With the physical altercations between police officers and the African American community in

addition to the violence that already lies within black on black crimes police have begun to fear

African American males and view all of them as a threat. With police brutality rates being so

high African Americans are forced to view police as threats as well. These attitudes towards each

other can be deadly. Most officers result to their guns when dealing with African American males

because they have the demographics of a stereotypical black male in their mind. African
American males are less likely to cooperate or respect officers because they witness nothing but

negative encounters on media. These allegations and prejudice is the root to police brutality. If

we want to end police brutality we must first work on mending the relationships between police

officers and the African American community. This can be done by having neighborhood officers

and really focusing on providing positive interactions between officers and community members.

Studies show that areas with more interpersonal relationships with officers have less altercations.

Community police officers deter crime by creating a sense of trust. The police should

demonstrate a presence in the community. They should be visible, accessible, and caring, with

the goal of reducing fear and deterring crime (Goldstein 1987). Also implementing body camera

for police officers has also been proven to decrease police brutality. On study found that after

body camera were placed on the officers the number of complaints filed against officers dropped

from 0.7 complaints per 1,000 contacts to 0.07 per 1,000 contacts (Ariel, 2015). Also one must

work on introducing more African Americans into the police force. Black are so lowly

represented in the law enforcement as well as the judicial system that are wants and needs are

rarely heard or taken into consideration. Lastly African Americans must take responsibility for

our own actions as well and actively work towards creating a better environment for raising

African American males (Western, 2009).

As Americans and especially African Americans it is our duty and responsibility that we

speak out on the acts of injustice against our people such as police brutality and refuse to let the

voices of the fallen be silenced. If we continue to be ignorant to the fact that it is a problem then

we will never find a solution. Police brutality is something that should no longer be tolerated, nor

be swept under the rug and ignored. We do not live in a post racial generation so let us not

pretend as if we do. It is past time that we take a stand at dismantling police brutality.
 References

Wong, Katherine. (2015). 10 Police Brutality Statistics That Are Absolutely Shocking.

Witherspoon, Floyd D (2015). "Mass Incarceration of African-American Males: A Return

to Institutionalized Slavery, Oppression, and Disenfranchisement of Constitutional Rights, The."
Tex. Wesleyan L. Rev. 13, 599.

Western, Bruce, and Christopher Wildeman (2009). "The black family and mass
incarceration." The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 621.1,
221-242.

Christle, Christine A., Kristine Jolivette, and C. Michael Nelson. (2015) "Breaking the

school to prison pipeline: Identifying school risk and protective factors for youth delinquency."

Exceptionality 13.2, 69-88.

Ariel, B., Farrar, W. A., & Sutherland, A. (2015). The effect of police body-worn cameras

on use of force and citizens complaints against the police: a randomized controlled trial. Journal

of quantitative criminology, 31(3), 509-535.

Skolnick, H. J., & Bayley, D. H. (1988). Community Policing. Washington, DC: National

Institute of Justice.