Deirra Williams

2nd Hour
Argument Essay
November 26th, 2018

Police Brutality

Regardless of what any of us may think, police brutality will always be inevitable. The

monstrous truth is that we are of and from the same threatening society, born of a fierce past in

which violence was and still is because we as a race, a human race have normalized such violent

behaviors. The profession of a policeman is considered noble as they save lives, catch criminals

and are concerned with the preservation of order. The ideal policeman does not always

correspond to reality. Violence has become apart of the DNA of police, they’ve gained an “us vs.

them” mentality.

Due to the fact that officers have a job to do by protecting others as well as protecting

themselves from possible threats. The situations they face are frequently dangerous and require a

rapid response. As Vann Newkirk II wrote for The Atlantic, “every two days a black person of

some age—14 or 18 or 43 or 37—armed or unarmed, sober or under the influence, resisting

arrest or providing officers with identification will be shot and killed by an officer or officers.”

Even after the progression with the Civil Rights Movement for equality, police brutality in

Black/African-American areas have become a dangerous trend around the US for a long time

even during the 1960s when officers used high-power water hoses to knock civilians to the

ground, as well as police dogs to attack protestors. Officers create negative feelings for certain

races, genders or religions. The racial problem continues to play a central role in abuse by police.

Rodney King was an American taxi driver and victim of police brutality by the Los

Angeles Police Department. King was violently beaten by five LAPD officers during his arrest

for speeding on California State Route 210 on March 3rd, 1991.

 Tamir Rice, a 12 year old boy who was shot and killed by an officer within 2 seconds

after they responded to a police dispatch call of a black male that "keeps pulling a gun out of his

pants and pointing it at people" Dispatchers had not told the two officers that the gun was fake or

that it had been a child.

Michael Brown was killed by a Ferguson police officer. There are two sides to this story.

The police version; After the officer repeatedly told him and a friend to get out the street.

Michael had become aggressive with the officer. His un-holstered gun went off and the two

began running, Michael started to run towards the officer. The officer then shot Michael

numerous times. Michael’s friend's version; The officer used profanity to tell the young men to

get out of the street, hit Brown with his car door while trying to open it, then grabbed Brown by

the neck. When he then heard the officer say “I'm gonna shoot you” After the first shot wounded

Brown, Johnson said, Brown ran and Wilson chased him. Wilson then shot Brown in the back,

and Brown stopped, turned with his hands up, and said, “I don’t have a gun, stop shooting!”

What really happened between these three are still unclear.

Eric Garner was killed in a chokehold on July 17th,2014 by an NYPD officer for selling

untaxed or “loose” cigarettes. As officers swarmed around him to detain him, an officer held him

in an illegal chokehold as he took his last words to exclaim that he couldn’t breathe.

No matter what law enforcement officers do, including violence against children, they

rarely face criminal charges, much less jail. Serious human rights violations continue, numerous

obstacles do not allow accountable police officers to be brought to justice, and this impunity

allows them to continue the violence. This is because it comes down to the word of a police

officer against the word of a potential criminal. It is normal to expect how a judge or jury may be

one-sided into trusting a cop's case of self-protection in a speculative executing circumstance,

particularly when there is no other proof past the statements of those included.

That being said, On average, in the United States, a police officer takes the life of a

citizen every 7 hours. (Fatal Encounters) 61% of police officers state that they do not always

report serious abuse that has been directly observed by fellow officers. 84% of police officers

have stated in a recent survey that they have directly witnessed a fellow officer using more force

than was necessary. (US Department of Justice) 1 in 4 people who are killed by law enforcement

officials in the United States are unarmed. (Mic) People who are African-American/Black are

twice as likely to be killed by a police officer while being unarmed compared to a

Caucasian/White individual. (The Guardian) .

Fortunately, the development of various technologies has allowed for many new

possibilities, including the accountability of police officers in their daily routine and duties. An

example would include dash cameras which have been in use for quite some time in many police

forces across the United States They are installed in police cars and record everything that

happens in front of the vehicle. Even so adding a few techs wouldn’t completely stop police

brutalities for the reason that the cameras have set angles which wouldn't catch their actions out

of view.

We give officers a badge to protect and serve, not to willingly take others life.

Furthermore,

with how long we’ve dealt with such cruel behaviors from officers. Although we progress we

also fall short and allow history to repeat itself as if it never changed. There will never be

complete peace because we’ve let them destroy for so long and with the existence of racism

against minorities in the harm that has been done, this shows that we are far from, if there will

ever be an end to such tragedies.

 Work Cited

Baker, Al, et al. “Beyond the Chokehold: The Path to Eric Garner's Death.

” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 June 2015,

www.nytimes.com/2015/06/14/nyregion/eric-garner-police-chokehold-staten-island.html.
“Crystal Lombardo.” Vittana.org, 22 Feb. 2017,

vittana.org/42-shocking-police-brutality-statistics.

Pearce, Matt. “Back Story: What Happened in Michael Brown Shooting in Ferguson,

Mo.?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 24 Nov. 2014,

www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-back-story-ferguson-shooting-story.html.