Essay Sample: Police Brutality in the United States

The police and law enforcement subculture is mandated by holding the job and responsibility of maintaining order, enforcing rules and laws, and keeping criminals in check. Along with this, there are rules and laws that officers follow to make correct choices and moves. Of course, these rules have changed as time goes on. All law enforcement agents should practice them and keep up so they can prevent misconduct. An example of this is performing their jobs by using acceptable force. Within the 21st century, there have been countless cases that have been brought to the light of the public, so everyone can see what is happening. It has been happening since police officers were created, but the people want a resolution.

Basic brutality and other abuse of power have been known since almost any law enforcement came around. Not only is it seen in the United States but in other countries as well.  Some people should not be allowed the title of an officer and will have malicious intentions There are reported cases from the 1800s, and cases from 2020. Police brutality is going on across the world and is not just in the United States, you could honestly say it could be a power issue. Most people however believe race is the biggest reason why. As a country, we are slowly starting to accept all and make racism not existent. Of course, it is not possible, and some people are just stuck in their ways with their thoughts. within the past decade, people are starting to want change. Is there a way we can? I believe we can.

Being able to arrest someone is the pinnacle of being a police officer, you have to do what's right always to protect yourself, in all situations. Properly arresting criminals can further prevent crimes, if they get charged and sentenced it's one less criminal on the street.  There is a certain protocol to follow before you make an arrest, if not followed properly it is making a false and wrongful arrest. An arrest can not be made just based on the feeling of wanting to, police officers need to justify and provide tangible evidence as to why they did it. As said before they cannot just arrest someone because they want to, the same goes for if they arrest someone based on their race. If an officer thinks someone is suspicious based on race, they are racially profiling. Which in itself is a crime.  Recent events. Such as the death of George Floyd, has started to shift society's view on law enforcement. People are starting to lose trust in the police, and even most want to defund the police. It's a scary thought, who will stop them if they are doing wrong? Most people think all police officers use improper methods, but that's not the case and we should not let a couple of bad eggs ruin the bunch. So where do we go from here? I think rules need to be enforced more and protocol should be emphasized more, from the start of the academy to even when you're part of a police force. Brutality/police brutality is defined as the use of excessive or unnecessary force when dealing with civilians. Arresting someone without a real reason is the wrongful use of power and is considered to be police brutality.

Police officers are given the responsibility of helping to keep citizens safe and preventing crime. While carrying out these duties they are permitted to use an acceptable force.  What is considered to be an acceptable force? That is mostly considered in the scenario a police officer is in, and it changes from situation to situation.  A more common example is a shooting vs arresting someone who is intoxicated at a bar. Police officers cannot use a firearm or deadly force in a situation because they want to, but of course, some cops don't use power properly and will use it in unnecessary circumstances. An example of excessive force can be physical force, the act of hurting someone or purposely using too much strength to stop someone when not needed. Sexual assault is also a major issue and is considered to be excessive force, it is a rare chance but a police officer could grab someone or sexually touch someone while arresting them on purpose. After seeing so many cases of this in recent media, it only starts to make police officers look bad. There has been major backlash and hysteria among the citizens of America. After George Floyd was killed, as the result of excessive and unreasonable force the world was in shock, and this started the Black Lives Matter movement to start rioting. Within these riots were people committing crimes, hurting others, and even worse looting such as a whole target being robbed for everything and burned. That was just one example, and there have been many throughout history.  With policing being changed in the 1900s, there were laws put in place to help protect the public from such acts of abuse from police officers, it didn't stop it completely but helped ultimately reduce it. The beating of Rodney King in  April of 1992 led to a reform when several officers were sentenced to a 32-month term for the assault. In the 89-second video, you can see multiple officers using excessive force after King was beyond the point of being able to resist.

One of the less common forms of police brutality is sexual abuse. Cases are known from the 30s, white men would rape black women and no one would even acknowledge it. Often with white women, an assault was not taken seriously unless the perpetrator was black.  It doesn't always have to be physically hurt to be brutality, it could be forcing people to be touched without their permission. Being mentally tortured and hurt can be just as affecting as being physically hurt. Sexual abuse is illegal, no matter who the person and is not morally okay. A famous and recent case of sexual abuse was connected with the police officer who murdered Breonna Taylor. While she was not a victim of sexual assault she still plays a part. While being a part of an accidental shooting, it was after it that the police officer was released to the news and was known by all. Whilst seeing this man on the news, almost 5 people recognized his face. The same officer who was put in the spotlight for police brutality for killing Breonna was also responsible for taking women home and sexually assaulting them. The fact it was not known earlier is simple evidence that police sexual violence is real, and does happen in plain sight. It is underreported and understudied. Even when undercovers try to stop prostitution, they will engage in sexual activity to prove they are prostitutes. While this is legal, it is not right and could be considered an abuse of power. Getting to sleep with prostitutes is validated because you're catching them? To some extent, law enforcement in itself by some people would be called a “contradiction”.

Social media and technology have had a huge impact on police brutality and making an effort to curb it. As technology evolves, and police brutality became more known the police force has had solutions to try and make it disappear. Police forces tried to make technical measures to make a change, such as the introduction of body cameras and dashboard cameras. No matter where and what a cop is doing, they are being recorded and under supervision. How does this change anything? While being watched, no cops would break the rules as an officer and abuse their power. Of course, it sounds better on paper, but it still happens. It just helps to prove, or it could help justify a complaint. Those are the changes that have happened, are there any more that could be made? Researchers are trying to make a change but it's a difficult thing, for example, some are trying to take a psychological look at it. Are we not paying our police officers enough? Some think if we were to increase their yearly salary, they would be satisfied and execute their job properly.  Along with technology making changes, social media is helping. People are getting to see raw videos and stories about police and what they constantly do. It opened up the world to see what horrible acts are being committed. For how long were the police covering up their trail with acts of brutality? How many innocent people were killed without being heard of? If it weren't for social media, and stories being blown up for everyone to see, that story of George could have ended differently It wasn't even the first time he's used deadly force, reportedly 3 years prior he did the same thing to Zoya Coda. With high hopes, I think things will change in the future of law enforcement.

If events like such keep happening, not only will it affect us but the whole country. Maybe even the whole world, people could be seeing whats affecting the United States is also affecting their country. If there's a lack of change people will continue to be upset. It will end up hurting all law enforcement. Police officers deserve respect and their authority, they should not be losing it. People of race are the ones who are being constantly targeted and they have developed a reputation for disliking cops. Neglecting change and letting brutality continue will cause major cooperation issues from civilians to assisting police. This will put a wedge between society and the police, most likely resulting in more misconduct, and will end up in us taking steps backward. We need to push to make that difference now, so we don't divide our country. Everyone just wants to know there is a safety net, like the police to call and help when in trouble. Not to be afraid of them. Someone to protect them from the bad in the world.