Research on Police Brutality (Research Paper Sample)

Police Brutality:
An Analytical Perspective of the Causes, Implications, and Solutions
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Police Brutality:
An Analytical Perspective of the Causes, Implications, and Solutions
No greater has the outcry been against police brutality then in the recent months. After George Floyd’s tragic death while in police custody on May 25th, Minneapolis exploded with violent protests, looting, and rioting. It seems as if Floyd’s death was the final straw for a community long frustrated by the apathy expressed towards excessive use of force so often disproportionately targeted towards members of their communities. Police brutality has long been an issue for police departments across the nation. Causes for police excessive use of force range from inadequate training, racism, and a lack of understanding of what is deemed as appropriate use of force. Implications for excessive use of force include, further degradation of trust between police and the communities they serve which in turn makes law enforcement operations more difficult and dangerous. Effective solutions to police brutality must bear in mind the causes and implications that police brutality have on all parties involved. Only then, can society ever hope to see lasting, sustainable change.
The New York Police Department has a long history of questionable judgment with regards to use of force. Some examples of these incidents resulted in the deaths of Amadou Diallo, Abner Louima, and Sean Bell. In recalling the killing of unarmed Amadou Diallo, officers claimed that Amadou matched the description of a “young black man” wanted for a rape committed a year prior (Harring, 10). When officers approached Diallo, identifying themselves as police officers, he put his hands in his pocket to withdraw his wallet. At that moment, the lead officer yelled “gun” and the subsequent barrage of bullets hit Diallo 19 times.
In court, a self-defense case was put forward on behalf of the officers. Their attorney argued the officers were legally justified in their approach of Diallou based on the precedent of the Terry vs. Ohio supreme court case. Terry vs. Ohio gives officers permission to briefly stop (seize) a person when an “articulable reasonable suspicion” exists (Harring, 10). The officers justified their subsequent shooting of Diallou as a reasonable response to being fearful for their lives. Were it not for the culture of police bullying described in the investigative report written by Sidney Harring in the Journal of Social Justice, the arguments made by these officers might have been convincing. In reality, the occurrences on that day were far from a tragic accident. Rather, they were a direct result of a police culture in which “tactical squads” were known to “roust” high crime communities (Harrington, 10). In his description, Harring explains “One after another, young men are confronted, ordered to stop, searched, verbally engaged for information about themselves or others, and then either let go or arrested on petty charges” (10). Officers in these squads easily abuse the Terry Stop law to create a justification for violating the Fourth Amendment rights of members of mostly immigrant and minority communities. In the case of Diallou, a change of venue, a targeted effort by the defense to attain an all-white jury, and a refusal to include the type of injuries sustained in the shooting (most bullets entered into Diallou’s body from the prone position), all contributed to the not surprising acquittal of all four police officers (Harring, 2000).
In the case of Abner Louima, the incident of police brutality occurred in a precinct restroom after a mistaken arrest. Abner Louima was sodomized with a broken off broomstick by an officer while another held him down. In this case multiple officers were convicted of varying levels of culpability including perpetrating the act, assisting the perpetrator, and the cover up. Eventually Louima was awarded an $8.7 million dollar settlement (Fertig & O’Grady, 2017). Although the outcome of this case certainly seems more just than that of the Diallo case, it seems shocking that this was even able to occur given the location of the incident. Having requirements for reporting an arrest on sight and strict procedures for accountability of the whereabouts of detainees, are clearly procedures that need to be implemented at the New York Police Department.
In the case of Sean Bell, police officers shot the unarmed groom as he left a nightclub in queens where he had been attending his bachelor party. The shooting resulted in the acquittal of all officers involved. Although the officers would later be terminated from the force and a settlement given to the family, no criminal recourse would ever be suffered as a result of the killing (Shapiro, 2008).
A first step to preventing these types of acts of police brutality is in taking away the umbrella of legal protection under which police officers are able to justify acts of aggression for which they then have the audacity to claim self-defense. In his report, Harring makes the profound argument “the police killing of Diallo was not a ‘reasonable’ exercise in self-defense because, under well-established law, the provoker of a violent encounter cannot then claim self-defense” (11). By making and enforcing more stringent requirements for the defense of “self-defense” and reasonable fear of death, police officers would be required to use a higher level of due diligence before initiating an enc