Cortez 1

Maria Cortez

Figueroa

Senior English 3

30 October 2018

Police Brutality

The world has many social issues that have been going on for a long time, from

endangered animals, to cyber bullying but these issues somehow still remain unsolved, which

means someone will continue to suffer from it. Over the years, many people are experiencing

negative affects with police. The main reason for police brutality is due to racism. An innocent

person should not lose their life for simply looking suspicious. It is unfair for people who get

treated as if they are some kind of criminal even though they are a good person. When someone

is in danger or need help, they call 911 with the expectation of cops going to save the day but

who will they call if cops are the ones putting the citizens in danger or disturbing the peace. Cops

are given power when they join the force, it seems that most them take advantage of the power

and use it to justify their inappropriate behavior. Just because they have a badge, does not mean

an individual should be allowed to get away with abusing someone or taking someone’s life.

There are many stories about police brutality that goes way back. Nobody can actually say when

police brutality first started. From swat teams storming into people’s home towns to the time

cops were arresting every Japanese person after Pearl Harbor. After everything, even after

Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have a Dream” speech, there is still no solution. People just want to be

treated equally and respectfully.

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Police officers have a very important role in society and have the same rights a normal

citizen has which means cops have the right to defend themselves just like anyone else. After all,

it is one of the rights of being a citizen. Officers know between right and wrong when it comes to

dealing with violence. Police also cannot take the chance of losing their life. Just because a cop

ended a life does not mean it was murder. In the future, I believe that if this issue does come to

an end it will only cause pain and anger, possibly brutal protests. More lives will be lost and

America will no longer be the country it was meant to be. Nobody should have to live in fear

especially when they fear the humans that are meant to take away that fear and assure everything

is going to be okay. The government will always try and over-see the actions their men causes.

In order to better our society and to protect the people I think we need better trained

officers with integrity to do the right thing. Also adding another camera to the officer’s vest to

see the full story without missing a detail. Less guns will also help resolve this problem that way

nobody is afraid of each other or to step outside. The police officers should not have to have

guns around their waist if there is less weapons in the world. The government needs to be more

aware of anyone they send out, it is not fair to anyone who has lost their life because of this issue

for it to remain unsolved or for others to be experiencing it. The guilt of putting people through

pain instead of bringing peace must be heavy for the officers that carry it. Police brutality occurs

way too often due to untrained officers who believe they have power. Wearing the badge of honr

should show true character of a officer. Someone who protects and cares about the people and

community they serve in. Citizens should not be s cared for their lives while getting stopped by

the cops. Nobody should have fear when they walk pass a officer that is meant to be a hero.

Cops are ruining their reputation for themselves with the actions they choose to show the

world. Police brutality can make society see cops different it makes them look like criminals and
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it creates fear. People are losing trust in the system and it should not be that way, they should

feel safe when cops are around. “2017 is on pace to be the deadliest year ever measured for the

number of people killed by police in our country”. (King). Over the years, police brutality has

only increased and has become more brutal. In today’s world, it seems that the citizens are not

able to even trust the officers of the law if they are causing the problem and cannot help.

“Massive protests had erupted when Yanez killed Castile, after pulling him over for a broken

taillight”. (Sharon). The anger that lives inside people only keep getting stronger when they see

that nothing is being done to the subject that causes this anger. With the way technology

advances and the way word gets out people will only get irritated by the actions of the police

which will make them want to go against the government. Actions speak louder than words even

though police say they protect the citizens their actions just shows them taking advantage and

letting the power of being a cop get to their head. If it continues the Civil Rights Act of 1968

would have all been for nothing. History has worked so hard to treat people equally.

Many individuals have lost their lives due to the hands of a police officer. No one

deserves an early death especially a death where the victim died without doing anything wrong.

Every day on television there is a new story about how an officer killed someone or abused

someone but the world keeps on moving past these injustice cases. According to King, “The

officer who shot and killed Philando Castile should have been convicted, the officer who shot

and killed Rekia Bold should have been convicted, the officer who shot and killed Terence

Crutcher should have been convicted. Every single of these officers was set free.” There were so

many police brutality cases then, there are so many cases now and there is still more to come if

change does not occur. None of the families deserve the pain of losing a family member. The

authorities still walk around the streets thinking to themselves that what they did is okay.
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Everyone has to ignore the fact that our officers are a danger because regardless the cop wins.

The officer thinks they won but all they got is people looking at them in disappointment seeing

how they let many civilians down. Knowing they got away killing someone. “Charges are being

filed here and there but, conviction simply are not happening. Families and communities are

repeatedly being told to stay calm and trust the system but only a damn fool would trust the

system.” (King). The system chooses the story they want to listen to simply because the victims

are not able to say their story. There are moms and dads without their kids that they raised,

spoiled, and grew to love. Kids without their parents to guide them through life not being able to

understand why anyone would allow a person who caused suffering roam the streets as if it was

just another day. History is repeating itself. Police brutality is a bad persons way of expressing

their hatred and has to come to an end.

After so many years and so many other social issues, police brutality keep getting pushed

under the bed. People are so blinded by the police statements. The governments makes it so easy

to hide all these cases. “We are losing. We are being out spent, out- organized, and our

maneuvered by an unjust system that is so deeply entrenched and so well forfeited with the

principles while supremacy, racism, and classism that in spite of all of our collective effort,

injustice marches on.” (King). Decades have passed with no has change, people have fought and

protested for change to occur. Regardless of the color of anyone’s skin or the way a person

dresses, or religion and beliefs. “This idea of police brutality was very much on people’s minds

in 1963, following on the years of police abuse-power and then centuries of oppression of

citizens.” (Nodjimbadem). Running into men in blue has become more of a collision. This

country will become less of what it is if people get physically and verbally abused. Cops

continue to mistreat people because they see that they can get away with it. Police could help out
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a lot more. Police need to get a better idea of the people they arrest and look at the situation from

the opposite view to see the victims perspective. In this world people have the right to protest for

justice but nothing has been done. The innocent people trying to make the situation right waste

there time. Police officers need to stop putting labels on people. Some police officers go around

assuming that a person is a bad person judging by their looks. It hurts everyone because

eventually the guilt catches on.

Defending the well-being one-self from harm but is not a crime. On the other hand, just

like anyone officers have the right to defend themselves. As Bergnold said, “It would seem there

is a sick mentality out there that feels it is okay for a thug to beat on an officer, use violence to

resist.” People only want to see the side of the story where the officer uses their force against the

“victim” but do not pay attention to the victim refusing to follow orders. When a person is in

danger they are going to do whatever to walk out alive. “The problem is “police brutality” have

become too easy a charge to level when someone resists arrest and ends up getting hurt in the

scuffle hat follows.” (Bergnold). Anybody would defend themselves in any way they could even

if it leads to death. That is the world we live in today. People already have things to be angry

about but this issue is just adding more anger and fear to their everyday life.

Officers are trained for all kinds of scenarios. Cops are prepared to use their force against

any treat. According to McGrane, “police officers spend a lot of time dealing with drug addicts

and the enforcement of civil penalties against people who have not paid motoring fines or child

support.” Since officers have experience with these, type of things they know what to expect.

The people make the case worse by calling it murder but the officer was actually doing their job.

“A police officer ending the life of someone who has a weapon in fear for their own life, should

not be considered murder.” (McGrane). Cops should automatically get fired or sent to jail for
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killing someone. The citizens should not tell a cop how to do their job. Only a person in the

police officer’s shoes could understand the reason as to why they chose violence rather than

peace. Police officers are like any other human they are citizens just trying to do their job to

protect and serve our country, ready to take any risk. They every day and risk their life going

against the rebellions of the state. Just like every other human when danger is alert a person has

to fight or flight but with cops they have to be ready to fight. The victim could be a threat it is

not always the cop just shooting someone for no reason. Nobody understands how dangerous the

world has become because of cops. It is really unfortunate for all the people that do not get to

speak up about the truth simply because they are going against the force.

Everyone’s lives matter and nothing can change the fact that nobody ever has the

right to end someone’s life. As an officer with lots of training they should use other techniques

rather than just shooting someone. Cops should use do their best to avoid that killing route unless

it absolutely leads to that. Most of the time that cops do shoot someone the victim was not even a

threat but a misunderstanding. They should have never given cops guns, those guns were meant

to protect but instead they are used for abusing the power.

Society needs to raise more awareness of lives lost due to cops. Citizens should be

looking up to cops but with their actions and disruption they are causing the people to look down

on them. More and more people will continue to suffer from this unsolved issue. Police brutality

has been going on for too long and has to be stopped. The country needs less weapons with

better trained officers for the safety of everyone. Better trained officers would mean mature,

responsible adults protecting the citizens of all races without taking advantage of the situation.

Less weapons means the country will get safer without feeling threatened. This would be a small

step to better the nation.

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Work Cited
Berghold, Perter. “A There Such Things as Pros and Cons for Police Brutality.” 13 November

2017. Quora.

King, Sharon. “King We Are Losing the Battle Against Police Brutality in America.” 21 June

2017. My Daily News.

McGrane Edward Connor. “Both Side of the Police Debate Have True and Faux points.” 16 July

2016. The Odessey.

Nodjimbadem, Katie. “The Long, Painful History of Police Brutality in the U.S.” 27 July 2017.

Smithsonian.