Police Brutality (Essay Sample)

Police brutality
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Abstract
Police officers are delegated with the function of maintaining law and order in nations all over the world. In the same process of maintaining order whenever there are chaos and violence, the officers are expected to perform their duties in a civil manner as situated in the constitution. When the officers enforce excessive force and go beyond the laid down formalities of maintaining order, their actions are considered to be brutal. A Police brutality is an act that has been condemned by civil authorities and humanitarian bodies all over the world (Jill, 2000). The terms brutality, as used in this paper refers to the abuse or misuse of authority by a police officer while on duty. This document majorly focuses on police brutality in the U.S.
Hypothesis
Police brutality is a rampant case in the U.S as the research that has been done by the bureau of justice may indicate. It has been found that at least one in every 200 officers do commit a crime that can attract a disciplinary action while on duty. The U.S has also been slammed by the UN Human Rights Council for the use of violence by their law enforcers. During their second Universal Periodic review that took place in May, the issue of police brutally seemed to dominate a large part of the debate with many nations calling upon the U.S to provide proper training to their officers to reduce excessive and misuse of force on citizens (Sheriff, 2015).
A pattern can be seen in the cases where excessive force has been used on citizens. In the U.S case, it has been discovered the black minority are on major victims when it comes brutal treatment from the police officers. Freddie Gray from Baltimore, Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice are among the black boys that have been unjustifiably killed by police officers in the recent days (Smith& Holmes, 2008). They were either killed or died mysteriously after being taken into police custody. Their death caused widespread plea for justice and prosecution of officers who mishandle citizens. U.S is considered to be the most civil and democratic nation in the world that other countries ought to emulate, if issues like unlawful arrest and killing from the police are reported in that country, it means the situation might be worse in other second and third world nations.
Police brutality causes not only physical harm but also psychological damage on the victims. This can have a lasting effect on an individual’s life. When suspects are being interrogated, police officers tend to intimidate them beyond the set procedure, and this usually amounts to psychological harm. The Physical harm inflicted on victims can lead to various forms of disabilities that might affect someone’s life forever. The U.S has been devastated by a rise in injuries and deaths at the hands of law enforcers and thus crucial changes are to be made in ensuring that citizens are safe at the hands of cops. The spread of the vice can be attributed to among many factors a faulty legal system that gives the law enforcers a leeway to carry out injustice. This was the situation during the civil rights period when cops could abuse their authority by harassing innocent citizens especially the black minority. In the present years, police officers are participating in the act out of the approval from their seniors who usually cover for them when they commit injustice, or some are just rogue officers. Police officers usually engage in the act hiding under the excuse of the law, where they go ahead and make attempts to cover up for the illegal act.
Elimination of brutality
The elimination of police brutality in the society involves the consideration of many factors that leads to the vice in the first place. Discrimination of minorities in societies have been identified as a factor that leads to brutality among law enforcers. In developing countries, ethnic clashes among and political misunderstandings have led to situations where unjustified acts and violence have been forced on certain members of the society.
When the police are called upon to restore order in such situations, they tend to skip the formalities and use excessive force when handling minority groups that they hate. Police officers come from a certain section of the society, and they are likely to favor their side when handling violent situations. This can be seen during the post-election violence that occurred in Kenya where police officers were accused of being used by the government to victimize and mishandle protesters from ethnic groups who were against the poll results. The misuse of police officers by governments to kill and threaten innocent citizens can be seen in various parts of the world. In South Africa, 34 striking miners were killed in 2012 according to the government issues report. The incident happened in Marikana area, and the deaths were attributed to the failure of the national police to control its officers. In Los Angeles, two police officers, Eric Gonzalez, and Sussie Ayala were charged with giving false information and battering a jail visitor (Williams, 2015).
In dealing with rogue police officers and controlling brutality, studies done in California shows that when cops wear video cameras while on duty, their interactions with the members of the public were more decent and this can be a good agent of change if adopted. This was made some cities in the U.S like New York and Oakland to adopt such changes. Adoption of a procedure of moral values that are based on integrity and honesty that is put under professional standards is key to identifying and dealing with police brutality. Police officers are expected to apply ethical behavior when dealing with official business. This is what is used as their trademark, and it differentiate them from other professions (England, 2015)
In conclusion, police brutality refers to the physical or psychological abuse of members of the public by police officers while they are in their official capacit...