Kurbanali 1

Kearn Kurbanali

Professor Brendan Hawkins

ENC 2135

4 Nov. 2017

Police Brutality
Police officers play a huge factor in the development of a community. They are meant to

serve and protect citizens from different types of crimes. As time progressed, the mentality of

police officers started to change. They started abusing their powers by taking advantage of

citizens because of their race, ethnicity, and/or sexual orientation. Soon enough, police officers

started to partake in a series of unjust acts that sparked controversy within certain communities.

These unjust acts were marked as acts of police brutality. In this essay, the issue of police

brutality will be discussed to explain the different ways that police brutality affects multiple

communities while focusing on communities of color.

The issue of police brutality toward Blacks originally began during the time of slavery.

Police officers would take advantage of slaves and disrespect them because of the color of their

skin. As time passed, slaves continued to be dehumanized in many ways. Officers would

physically abuse them for the smallest reasons and use derogatory terms toward them.

Eventually, the acts of police brutality because so violent and degrading the scientists found

connections between police brutality and poor health outcomes. In Police Violence: American

Epidemic, American Consent, Sirry Alang and her colleagues identify the physical and mental

repercussions of police brutality by exploring different aspects of brutality. According to Alang,

Excessive use of physical violence constitutes brutality. But as others have noted, brutality goes

beyond physical force. It includes emotional and sexual violence as well as verbal assault and
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psychological intimidation. ( 662). Victims who face any form of police brutality are more

vulnerable to physical injuries/death, psychological stress, financial restraint, and systematic

disempowerment within that community. If someone were to witness or experience an act of

police brutality, the physiological effects can lead to major health problems. When the human

body feels threatened, it releases hormones and signal molecules that activate the bodys defense

system. Once activated, the defense system speeds up respiratory and vascular rates for a short

period of time. If someone were to constantly worry about their safety, these increased

respiratory and vascular rates can lead to the deterioration of their organs and increased allostatic

levels. Once someones allostatic levels reach a certain level, it can lead conditions such as

diabetes, stroke, ulcers, and autoimmune disorders (Alang 663).

Before police brutality became one of the biggest issues in America, people actually

enjoyed watching police shows and crime dramas because it highlighted episodes of law

enforcement officials using appropriate amounts of force to subdue criminals. These shows led a

lot of people to believe that officers only used excessive force when necessary to complete their

jobs. In reality, these shows were not true representations of police officers behavior behind the

camera. According to journalist Remi Boivin, Researchers have found that reality police shows,

crime dramas, and broadcasted news exaggerate the proportion of arrests and the frequency of

proactive police activity, thus contributing to create the image of an efficient and effective force.

However, recent studies have also found that repeated media exposure to videos of police abuse

led to increased belief in the frequency of police misconduct (Boivin 366). When videos of

police misconduct started to arise, peoples views of police officers quickly began to change.

Members of colored communities started to fear for their safety in a public setting. This change

of view forced members within colored communities to take precautions to protect the lives of

their families from racial injustices within the community.

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In todays world, social media is everywhere. People rely on social media for the latest

news, gossip, weather, etc. In the past 20 years, advancements in technology have enabled the

expansion of social media platforms to capture anything to everything. The way that social media

portrays black communities contributes to the unjust treatment of Blacks all across America.

People believe a lot of the negative depictions that they see or hear about black culture and

American ghettos without acknowledging the cultural or historical context in which the choices

was made. In Police Violence: American Epidemic, American Consent, journalist Charles

Blow discusses the different conditions that helped shaped the issue of police brutality into what

it is today. According to Blow, Its about the way historical policies created our modern

American ghettos and their concentrated poverty; the ways in which such concentrated poverty

and its blight and hopelessness can be a prime breeding ground for criminal behavior (Blow 1).

When people look at it from a historical point of view, Blacks were not given a choice to live in

American ghettos. When slavery was abolished, Blacks were still treated unfairly. The

government would assign them housing in the worst parts of the city and expect them to thrive.

When kids grow up within those communities, it can be difficult to make the right decisions

because they are surrounded by so many bad influences. Often times, bad choices within bad

environments have worse consequences than bad choices made in wealthy environments. To

make it even worse, police officers took it one step further by using the poor choices of a few to

stereotype a whole race.

The ongoing issue of police brutality does not only affect people, but it also affects

economic growth. In the late 1980s, a significant amount of African Americans moved to Prince

Georges County, a suburb of Washington D.C., to pursue a better life. Blacks hoped to finally be

seen as an equitable part of society. Upon their arrival, small changes fueled their hope. The first

Black political leader was elected in 1994. Unfortunately, the change of diversity in the political
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leadership did not change much. Police brutality was still a problem. Communities located near

the District of Columbia were known the be victimized the most. Jonathan W. Hutto, a journalist

for Springer International Publishing, discusses the results of a case study on police brutality that

was carried out in Prince Georges County in his article called Social Movements Against

Racist Police Brutality and Department of Justice Intervention in Prince Georges County,

Maryland. He says, Between 1990 and 2000, Prince Georges County shot and killed more

citizens per officer than any of the 50 largest cities and county law enforcement in the country,

84% of whom were black (Hutto). Based on that fact, it is safe to say that acts of police

brutality within Prince Georges County were a result of racism. Soon enough, the systemic acts

of racial discrimination in Prince Georges County eventually led to economic downfall. White

families began moving away because of the demographic shift and the capitalist class started to

exploit Blacks in the working class by giving them excessive amounts of work for little pay. This

racist ideology caused Blacks and other members of the working class to go bankrupt and

become victims of yet another racist movement.

As the Black community grew, their desire for equal treatment continued to be ignored.

To make matters even worse, officers who were guilty of severe acts of police brutality were not

being convicted for their crimes. In Who Watches the Watchmen? How Prosecutor Fail to

Protect Citizens from Police Violence, Joshua Hegarty explains how the discretion of police

officers, granted under the 4th Amendment jurisprudence, could be violated if a prosecutor were

to convict them for an act of police brutality. Whenever a case with a police officer is presented

in court, prosecutors tend to request a lot more evidence to prove that it was indeed an act of

police brutality. According to Hegarty, Legal attacks levied against prosecutors on the basis of

discriminatory prosecution have largely resulted in further shielding or prosecutors and creating

incredibly high standards of proof to show misconduct (305). These high standards and
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shielding have allowed dozens of guilty officers to be acquitted of crimes they committed.

People within victimized communities have started to believe that the court system is rigged and

that the issue of police brutality will never end.

In 2016, Officer Jeronimo Yanez pulled over Philando Castile because he claimed that

Castiles nose profile matched the nose of a suspect in a recent armed robbery (Croft 1). During

the traffic stop, Philando Castile told the officer that he was a licensed gun owner and proceeded

to slowly reach for his gun license upon the approval of Officer Yanez. As Castile was reaching

the license, Officer Yanez opened fire and shot Castile over 4 times. Castile was rushed to the

hospital where he was later pronounced dead. When the case appeared in court, Officer Yanez

was acquitted because of his position in law enforcement. This unjust verdict sparked even more

controversy among Black communities. According to journalist Shaun King, We are being

outspent, out-organized, and out-maneuvered by an unjust system that is so deeply entrenched

and so well fortified with the principles of white supremacy, racism and classism that in spite of

all of our collective efforts, injustice marches on (King 1). In an effort for change, family,

friends, and supporters of victimized communities came together to fight the war against police

brutality in every way possible. Organizations such as a Black Lives Matter (BLM) formed to

raise awareness about the value of African American lives in society and to defend the rights of

colored people nationwide.

Unfortunately, police brutality does not only affect communities of color. Police officers

also took advantage of mentally sick people who cannot defend themselves. In August 2008,

Teresa Sheehan was admitted to a psychiatric facility because of her schizoaffective disorder.

Whenever doctors would try to help her, she would scream Get out of here. You dont have a

warrant! (Myers 1394). It became obvious to doctors that Teresa was still traumatized from a

recent encounter with police officers. After multiple attempts to calm her down, doctors were
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forced to call police officers to safely escort her to the detention unit. When the police officers

entered her room, she rushed them with a knife and tried to stab them. In shock, the officers

retreated to the hallway outside her room and then shot her multiple times. Carly Myers, a

journalist for the Vanderbilt Law Review, reports, The officers never paused to consider whether

or how to accommodate Teresas mental illness. They acted without- consideration of her know

disability- and the results were devastating (1394). Even though Teresa survived the shooting,

the officers lack of appropriate force and hasty decisions led to yet another unjust act of police

brutality. After this tragic event, patients within the hospital were shaken beyond belief. They

could not believe that police officers opened fire on a patient at a mental institute without

thinking.
After enduring so many unjust acts of police brutality, members of victimized

communities have started to take action. In A War on Cops? The Effects of Ferguson on the

Number of U.S. Police Officers Murdered in the Line of Duty, Edward Maguire talks about how

the death of Michael Brown resulted in the development of the Ferguson effect. Despite begging,

protesting, and voting for change, the government continued to overlook the effects of police

brutality on communities nationwide. After the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, people

violently assaulted law enforcement officials to send a message. Since the attack, officials have

started to notice an increase in violence and hostility toward police officers. Victimized

communities came together to defend themselves and their communities to show officers how

serious they were about ending this war against police brutality.
In an effort to change the behavior of law enforcement officials and citizens, the

government has enforced a new policy that makes police officers in large cities wear body

cameras during their shifts. By enforcing the use of body cameras, government officials hoped

that the demeanor of officers and suspects would change as a result of the video recording. The
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purpose of the body cameras was to record every interaction between officers and suspects to

reveal any inappropriate behavior that occurred. In Police Body Cameras in Large Police

Departments, Barak Ariel reveals the result of a case study measuring the difference in police

behavior before and after the enforcement of body cameras. Ariel says, Adjusted odds-ratios

suggest a significant 35% lowers odds for citizens complaints against the police use of force, but

14% greater odds for a complaint against misconduct when body cameras are used (729). Since

the use of body cameras have been implemented, the amount of police brutality injustices has

decreased. Police officers have started to use appropriate amounts of force because they know

they are being recorded. This change has brought some relief to victimized communities because

they can finally interact with police officers without being racially discriminated or physically

abused without reason.

Without a doubt, police brutality is one of the most dehumanizing issues in todays world.

This issue began during the time of slavery and it progressively got worse as colored

communities started to grow. As time passed, scientists started to discover connections between

acts of police brutality and poor health outcomes. Even though the health outcomes were bad,

this did not stop police officers from taking advantage of their power. They continued to

discriminate against blacks and even people with mental disabilities because of the way society

stereotyped them. When officers who were guilty of acts of police brutality appeared in court,

they were usually acquitted because of their position and it sparked a lot of controversy in

victimized communities. After facing countless injustices, victimized communities resorted to

violence to show officers how bad they wanted this issue to end. Essentially, the way that police

officers discriminated certain communities hindered their progression in society. Law

enforcement officials made it hard for certain people to thrive and feel like an equitable part of

society.
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Works Cited

Alang, Sirry, et al. "Police Brutality and Black Health: Setting the Agenda for Public Health

Scholars." American Journal of Public Health, vol. 107, no. 5, May 2017, p. 662-665.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.303691.

ARIEL, BARAK. "Police Body Cameras in Large Police Departments." Journal of Criminal

Law & Criminology, vol. 106, no. 4, Fall2016, pp. 729-768. EBSCOhost.

Blow, Charles M. Police Violence: American Epidemic, American Consent. The New York

Times, The New York Times Company, 26 Sept. 2016. Web.

Boivin, Remi, et al. "The Malleability of Attitudes toward the Police: Immediate Effects of the

Viewing of Police Use of Force Videos." Police Practice and Research - an

International Journal, no. 4, 2017, p. 366. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1080/15614263.2016.1230063.

Croft, Jay. Philando Castile shooting: Dashcam video shows rapid event. CNN, Cable News

Network, 21 June 2017. Web.

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Hegarty, Joshua1. "Who Watches the Watchmen? How Prosecutors Fail to Protect Citizens from

Police Violence." Hamline Journal of Public Law & Policy, vol. 37, no. 1, Jan. 2017,

pp. 304-336. EBSCOhost.

Hutto, Jonathan1, et al. "Social Movements against Racist Police Brutality and Department of

Justice Intervention in Prince George's County, Maryland." Journal of Urban Health, vol.

93, Apr2016 Supplement, pp. 89-121. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s11524-015-0013-x.

King, Shaun. KING: Were Losing the Battle against Police Brutality in America. NY Daily

News, New York Daily News, 21 June 2017. Web.

Maguire, Edward R., et al. "A War on Cops? The Effects of Ferguson on the Number of U.S.

Police Officers Murdered in the Line of Duty." Justice Quarterly, no. 5, 2017, p. 739.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/07418825.2016.1236205.

Myers, Carly A.1. "Police Violence against People with Mental Disabilities: The Immutable

Duty under the ADA to Reasonably Accommodate during Arrest." Vanderbilt Law

Review, vol. 70, no. 4, May 2017, pp. 1393-1426. EBSCOhost.