Running head: POLICE BRUTALITY

Police Brutality: Its Not Black and White

Jade Brewer
Salt Lake Community College
Criminal Justice

April 9, 2016
Police Brutality
The key to successful law enforcement is building and maintaining the trust of the
community ("Building Trust," 2007). Most would agree that the main role of the police is to
enforce our societys laws, set by the Constitution. Their job is to seek out and stop those who
violate the law or who are a threat to others. But one of the most controversial responsibilities of
the police is to prevent crime (Gaines & Miller, 2013). Often, their decisions are made under
stressful circumstances and in a split second, without the advantage of the information or
evidence that most often shows up after the incident. And, as a result, they do make mistakes.
Nonetheless, when they find themselves in danger of personal physical harm, police officers
must be allowed to take reasonable action to protect themselves and others. They must be
allowed to be human.

Nineteen-year-old Zachary Hammond was driving with a female friend when she
accidentally sent a text message from his phone to a state trooper, whose phone number was one
digit different from her intended recipient. She was a drug dealer and the intended recipient was
a buyer. The police told the state trooper to play along and set up a meeting. When the officer
arrived, he tried to block Hammonds car, but Hammond attempted to get away. The officer got
out of his car and went to the drivers side of Hammonds car, ordering him to stop. But as
Hammond continued the pursuit to escape, he drove his car at the officer. The officer then fired
his gun through the drivers side window, killing Hammond. Zachary failed to follow orders
from a police officer, and consequently lost his life (Swaine, 2015.)
Although the officer was not charged, Hammonds family believes he used excessive
force. Their private autopsy found the bullet wounds on Hammonds side and back. And the
dashboard video camera raised questions by showing the officer shooting as Hammond is driving
away. But the law enforcement inquiry supported the officers claim that he believed he was
about to be run over (Swaine, 2015). And therefore he was not charged.
Although the possibility of making a mistake is real, the U.S. courts uphold police
officers freedom to make a decision on how and when to enforce the law (Gaines & Miller,
2013). This judicial support is based on four assumptions: 1) Police officers are considered
trustworthy; 2) Experience and training give officers the ability to take reasonable action; 3)
Police officers are particularly knowledgeable in human behavior and criminal behavior; and 4)
Police officers may find themselves in danger and must be permitted to protect themselves.
Because of these assumptions, regardless of conflicting testimony by a suspect, police officers
are expected to make honest decisions.

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The majority of law enforcement officers are honest, loyal, and hardworking
professionals ("Building Trust," 2007). But, due to the nature of their job, police officers are
targets of tens of thousands of assaults each year (Gaines & Miller, 2013). Even so, very few
people would say they are always justified in their use of force.
In South Carolina, a white officer was charged with a felony for shooting and killing a
68-year-old black driver at the end of a chase ("White Officer Gets Probation," 2016). The 27year-old police officer pleaded guilty to misdemeanor misconduct and received three years of
probation. The shooting followed a 13-minute chase when the officer tried to pull the man over
for drunken driving. The officer ran to the mans car after he stopped at his home, and pulled his
gun on the man, who tried to grab the officers gun, before the officer fired several shots. After
the hearing, the officer said he regrets the man died in the shooting and as a result, he has no
plans to become a police officer again. He honestly felt his life was threatened when the man
tried to grab his gun.
The element of racism complicates the issue of police brutality even further. Interestingly,
the headlines for the story read: White officer gets probation in black driver killing. Yet,
searching for a headline announcing a black officer killed a black victim, or even a black officer
killed a white victim proved unsuccessful. Why is it always considered racism only with a white
police officer and a black victim? Never the reverse. The other stories barely hit the news.
Besides the difficulty and stress of the job, police officers today contend with a mostly biased
media looking for a dramatic story. Interestingly, the Washington Post published an article in
April 2015 contesting most of the police racism facts we hear from the media. The author
reports an analysis showed more white people killed by black police officers than any other race
(Richardson, 2015). Interestingly, the title of the article is: Police kill more whites than blacks,

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but minority deaths generate more outrage. Though skeptics always comeback with the fact
that there are more white people in this country, the study of data indicates 49% of individuals
killed by law enforcement from May 2013 to April 2015 were white. Hardly the story that civil
rights activists and their supporters claim.
One cannot argue that the death of white individuals at the hands of the police receive
much less attention, even in the most suspect of situations. Gilbert Collar, an 18-year-old white
college student was shot and killed by a black police officer in Alabama (Richardson, 2015).
Collar was unarmed, naked, and under the influence of drugs. The officer was cleared by a grand
jury. No national media, in fact very little media attention outside of Alabama. No violent
protests and riots. No ACLU taking a stand or filing a law suit. A year later, Collars parents filed
a federal law suit.
The data reported on white versus black killings by police does not designate which
police shootings are justified and which are possibly cold blooded killing. Which may or may not
be seriously significant. The information also indicates that police officers are less likely to kill a
black suspect than a white one. According to a former Baltimore police officer, the cops assigned
to mostly black neighborhoods receive more specialized training because of the political
criticism and public outrage they receive when they shoot (Richardson, 2015). He also suggests
that police officers assigned to these high-risk areas are accustomed to the problems encountered
and are better skilled at being able to resolve the situations without violence. Over the past ten
years, 2,151 whites were killed by police in comparison to 1,130 black individuals. These facts
were also checked and confirmed by PolitiFact, a fact checking website (Richardson, 2015).
Therefore, the claim that whites are never killed by police is simply untrue, yet understandable

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because it is never dramatized in the news over and over and convinces many of us that police
brutality is only one-sided.
The most unfortunate aspect of this challenging and problematic issue isearly
accusations that turn out to be false or justified result in a lack of trust in law enforcement by the
community. And theres no going back after that first accusation on the news or radio; especially
if there is video footage that gets replayed over and over. As citizens, we expect the police to be
aggressive in their effort to enforce the law to protect us. And, at the same time, we also expect
them to control their use of force (Alpert & Smith, 1994).
Addressing negative police conduct only after it arises is not an effective way to promote
good policing ("Building Trust," 2007). If citizen involvement is used only in response to
misconduct or corruption, citizens are likely to feel wary of law enforcement. Instead, law
enforcement should work continually to build trust and confidence with the community. Trust is
built when citizens feel that the police department listens and appropriately responds to their
valid concerns and opinions. Although confidential information cannot be shared with citizens;
however, involving them in even the smallest facet of the organization goes a long way toward
instilling a sense of community trust.
One of the most effective ways the people and the police department can come together
as a society is to allow citizens to be included in appropriate internal decision-making (e.g.,
where to implement Neighborhood Watch programs or whether it is necessary to start a Senior
Citizen Alert program), residents will feel more valued (Delattre, 2006). Citizens will trust that
the police are genuine in their motivation and will be more willing to assist the police in
improving public safety. If they feel included through collaboration, the community will gain a
broader understand and appreciation of police work and, consequently, will trust law

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enforcement. A former President of the United States, Robert F. Kennedy proposed that every
community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on (Gaines & Miller, 2013, p. 138).
Therefore, as a society, we have an obligation to demand exemplary police work. Yet we need to
be careful of accusations and outrage before the facts are in. Just as we expect our police officers
to be fair with the citizens they protect; we, too, need to reciprocate that trust until we know the
truth.
There is no doubt personal factors influence a police officers decisions. Their beliefs,
values, background, personality, and varied life experiences all contribute to their choices and
actionsespecially the split second ones. According to the data, in reality only a small number
of officers become susceptible to misconduct. As citizensof any racewe desperately want to
feel safe. We desperately want to trust that in every single case, all of the facts were presented
honestly and fairly and that the appropriate judge or jury made the right decision. And, most
importantly, we want to remember that behind every police officer is a human being.

References
Alpert, G. P., & Smith, W. C. (1994). How reasonable is the reasonable man: Police and
excessive force. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 85(2), 481-501. Retrieved
from http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu
Building trust between the police and the communities they serve: An internal affairs promising
practices guide for local law enforcement. (2007). Retrieved from
http://www.theiacp.org/portals/0/pdfs/BuildingTrust.pdf
Gaines, L. K., & Miller, R. L. (2013). Challenges to effective policing. In CJ 1010 Criminal
Justice: Salt lake community college (pp. 169-212). Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning.

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Gaines, L. K., & Miller, R. L. (2013). Law enforcement today. In CJ 1010 Criminal justice: Salt
lake community college (pp. 133-167). Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning.
Richardson, V. (2015). Police kill more whites than blacks, but minority deaths generate more
outrage. Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/21/police-killmore-whites-than-blacks-but-minority-d/?page=all
Swaine, J. (2015). Zachary Hammond shooting: Officer who killed teen avoids criminal charges.
Retrieved from http:/www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/27/south-carolina-officerno-criminal-charges-zachary-hammond
White officer gets probation in black drivers killing. (2016). Retrieved from
http://www.newser.com/story/223439/white-officer-gets-probation-in-black-driversshooting.html