Police Brutality Essay

Police officers may or may not actively support noble-cause corruption. Sometimes when officers become aware of corrupt or illegal forms of misconduct, they are inclined to “turn a blind eye or look the other way.” It puts their fellow officers in a very difficult position, most officers tend to think that if they turn away and ignore it and do not acknowledge what is going on that they are not part of the misconduct or illegal activity. Most

Police officers are given a lot of power because it is needed to help protect citizens and the community. However, police often abuse their power by the over use of force, corruption, sexual misconduct, bias based policing, and failure to maintain police ethics. (Peak, 2011)

Police officers are generally well-respected in American society. They should be, since officers protect the public from drunk drivers, gunmen and other threats to the commonwealth. However, in light of uncovered events involving the misconduct of police officers, these events call into question the ability of police officers to successfully protect and serve the American people. However, in 2010, 6,613 law enforcement officers were reported for involvement in misconduct which varied from excessive force, sexual misconduct et cetera (Packman). Having 6,613 reported cases of police misconduct in America is ridiculous, especially since it is hard validating the claims against officers and it is difficult to punish officers because of this lack of evidence. While the purpose of police officers in society is to protect the commonwealth of the people, the amount of police misconduct in the United States of America involving excessive force and sexual misconduct is detrimental to the credibility of all police officers. This in turn causes rifts and distrust among the American people concerning officers. Police misconduct can be reduced in American society by requiring police officers to wear cameras while on duty, having a clear definition on what excessive force is and defining how much force is legal for an officer to utilize, and better training geared to improve overall conduct with citizens, especially mentally ill citizens.

Racism and police brutality goes hand in hand, and causes a major concern in today's society, in the United States. On March 3, 1991 in California, Rodney King an African American, was pulled over after a high-speed chase, and after stopping was beaten by four white police officers (Worsnop 635). Tracy Brock also an African American was arrested in Manhattan in November of 1986. An officer smashed his head through a plate glass window, when Brock refused to go into the officer’s lunchroom (Police Brutality and Excessive Force in the New York City Police Department 14). Ki Tae Kim a Korean grocer was assaulted when he was accused of passing a counterfeit bill. He was punched in the face, his head was slammed into the counter, and the

A controversial topic for decades, one issue that has made a noticeable impact in modern day society, especially in the year of 2015, is that of police brutality. Stemming from deep-rooted and institutionalized racism within law enforcement and other surrounding fields, it has sparked a firestorm of opposition, with many American citizens up in arms over the target that’s been seemingly casted on the backs of the black community. Despite the various protocols that have been implemented as a means of placing a more critical eye on law enforcement, we are still seeing more and more cases of excessive police force being committed daily without any sort of justice for these victims. The idea that an officer on duty has more legal protection than that of a normal civilian must have some merit, as a study done by Cato Institute found that “When police officers are charged, they are convicted at a lower rate than people in the general populace.” (Elinson and Palazzolo). By granting these officers more rights and not holding them to same authoritative ruling regular citizens are ordered to follow, it allows for corruption and discrimination in the forces that are expected to help us. Without reprimanding the police for violation of conduct, we will continue to see the same issues arise for many years to come.

To conclude, there has been a great deal of advancement in contemporary methods of reducing the rates of police brutality. Police brutality has been at the forefront of public debate for too long. The police are paid to protect and serve the public and should not be terrorizing them. The United States has come a long way from when the police was closed from outside influence and brutalized the public arbitrarily with no explanation. Currently, if an officer is found to have used unjust physical force, the officer is held accountable accordingly by his or her respective police force with the help an independent civilian review board or the pressure of social media. The problem arises when officers fabricate reports and evidence after misbehaving

Police abuse remains one of the most serious human rights violations in the United States. Over the past years, police have acted out in ways that have made people wonder “are our officers of the law really doing their job?” Unjustified shootings, severe beatings, fatal choking’s, and rough treatment have all contributed to the ever-present problem of police brutality in America. Our society should not fear an authority that 's suppose to help when in danger. The crime of police brutality goes un-reported or un-noticed, and many people are starting to take this crime very serious. Most police that commit this crime usually gets a slap on the wrist and never receives a punishment, which is unfair to those who lost their lives." Although it can take place anywhere, police brutality is

Police corruption: An ethical issue in criminal justice CCJS 380 6980 Ethical Behavior in Criminal Justice Krystle Ellis September 27, 2015   Part One Police corruption is a form of misconduct when a police officer uses legitimate authority illegally for personal gain. Police have a duty to protect the citizens and create a sense of law and order (Beigel, 1974). To protect citizens police are supposed to curb crime and investigate it to bring the offenders to justice. Corruption is a crime that has become rampant today. Therefore, corrupt police forces cannot create a sense of order and legitimacy.

There is a widespread and persistent problem of police brutality across the United States. Thousands of individual complaints about police abuse are reported each year and local authorities pay out millions of dollars to victims in damages after lawsuits. Police officers have beaten and shot unresisting suspects; they have misused batons, chemical sprays, and electro-shock weapons; they have injured or killed people by placing them in dangerous restraint holds.

For years, we have considered any discussions of police misconduct as taboo. After all, these are the men and woman in which we, as citizens, give the responsibility of keeping us out of harms way. We all know it is present within law enforcement in some shape or form, but we ignore its relevance in the way our criminal justice system works. Assumptions of police misconduct and corruption have long been suppressed and silenced through false litigation and system betrayal. The silencing or ignorance of police misconduct acts a strengthening mechanism which those, who engage in this type of behaviour, use as a motivational tool. It is becoming a popular belief that

There has been a growing need for police officers to be prosecuted to the fullest extent in our nation. This need may or may not have always been present but with more modernity the more society requires from police agencies. Police officers have been scrutinized more and more each year for their actions in the field. This is an important question for the discipline of criminal justice as it relates to the enforcers of law and creates or disseminates trust issues between police and civilians. This topic has been around for a long time, but social media and new movements have festered generating more focus on the topic. Most of the time

With the legitimate use of force and the confrontational nature of their interaction of community, the police work offers opportunity to officers to abuse their authority when their authority is perceived as being threatened. For example, police have to be suspicious even in regular duties like patrolling the district. They remain suspicious to everyone in the street. Most of the time, police officers work on their own without much monitoring, for instance, no one guide them when they patrol, when they face challenges from the public, they have to make the decision on their own of whether respond to the challenge by abusing their authority. It is the vagueness of their work train the police to be suspicious to any minor change in the surrounding environment in order to maintain the social order. The ambiguities also offer room for them to make choice as well as the possibility of corruption.

Controlling and reducing police corruption within our law enforcement society has to come with the selecting and maintaining high moral standards along with developing rigid policies and discipline (Bohm & Haley, 2014, p. 267). We can control corruption with honorable, law enforcers that display clear judgment of right and wrong. One that exhibits honesty within human action and character, moral philosophy, and values. When morals have been compromised, trust has vanished and deceit has taken over. Disciplinary actions have to be enforced for all involved from the highest to the lowest ranking officers. To reduce this corruption, violators must stand for due punishments. Just as the Amercian citizen stand before the courts for being guilty

Arguably, police play one of the most important roles in our society by ensuring order, justice, and freedom on a daily basis, and are expected to carry out their duties in a fair, legal, and ethical manner all the time. It is sometimes necessary for police to take away some of the freedoms society expects from segments of society

Within our police system in America, there are gaps and loopholes that give leeway to police officials who either abuse the authority given to them or do not represent the ethical standards that they are expected to live up to. Because of the nature of police work, there is a potential for deterioration of these ethical and moral standards through deviance, misconduct, corruption, and favoritism. Although these standards are set in place, many police are not held accountable for their actions and can easily get by with the mistreatment of others. While not every police abuses his or her power, the increasingly large percentage that do present a problem that must be recognized by the public as well as those in charge of police departments