Police Brutality Issue in the United States

“Dear Police, You can’t protect me and be scared of me” stated Darnell Lamont Walker a young black man in writing about the injustice of policing. (Darnell Walker) Victim Freddie Gray died of a severe spinal injury on April 12, 2015. It was not clear why he ran when he saw police, but officers say they found a switchblade in his pocket. The police brutally arrested him causing his spinal injuries to occur. Police brutality is happening more frequently, we are becoming aware of it because of technology. Citizens are recording these acts and are integrating them into news reports. In this case, after Freddie died protest broke out across all over Baltimore, they were fed up. All around the world people saw what happened in Trayvon Martin's case, Michael Brown's, and many more. Natives nationwide wanted to do something about this. Some of the protests were peaceful others were violent. In the end, justice was served. The police officers who committed this injustice were arrested leaving an enormous impact, protesters set fire to stores and trashed police cars. Baltimore reporters tried not to shed light on the peaceful protest. Baltimoreans wanted others to know that they were protesting peaceful. Since the 1800’s, the institutional racism in law and policy in the U. S has allowed brutality against its citizens, mainly because of the right to bear arms, militarization of police and the lack of penalty. It is not right and this injustice needs to be resolved. (Conor Friedersdorf)

Brutality is “ a form of misconduct using excessive violence”. Most immorality related cases in 2010 were unreasonable force. Compared to other countries America has a high homicide rate. (“Mapping Police Violence”) Not only are we killing each other but police are too. We are working overtime to end the human race, officers violently confront civilians. They use racial profiling (suspecting someone of a crime because of their race), and lethal force causing serious injuries to citizens. Officers are lacking the needed training, they are frightened by harmless subjects, judging people based off of their looks and not gathering enough evidence as to why they handle situations the way they do. America runs on an unjust criminal system, “courts tend to portray incidents of police brutality as anecdotal, fragmented and isolated rather than as part of a systematic institutional pattern”. Police power is much more extensive than law enforcement itself. The force has “perpetuated a resistance”. We must examine our federalist roots.

Throughout time these wrongdoings have continued and riots began. (Darnell L. Moore) Trayvon Martin was a 17 year old African American victim of police brutality. On February 26th, 2012 Trayvon was shot by neighborhood watch member George Zimmerman. He was on his way home from the store. He went to buy an Arizona and Skittles but did not make it home. There were a lot of burglaries in the area, Zimmerman saw Trayvon as some kind of threat. He called the police, they told him not to follow Trayvon , but he did it anyway. This led to an altercation. In the end George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin in his chest. He died less than 100 yards from the door of the house he was staying. A trial began June 24th, 2013 he was charged with second degree murder, the court found him not guilty. He said he was using self-defense. “The jurors had three choices: to one find Zimmerman guilty of second-degree murder; two find him guilty of a lesser charge of manslaughter; or three to find him not guilty”. (“George Zimmerman found not guilty in the murder of Trayvon Martin”)

They let Zimmerman go and he is still roaming free today as we speak. This is so important because he shot and killed Trayvon, he saw him as a threat because he was an African American male. He has yet dealt with any repercussions, Zimmerman still continues to get into trouble. This particular case sparked up the Black Lives Matter movement. It was created to stop violence and racism within the system towards black people. It was started by Opal Tometi, Alicia Garza, and Patrisse Cullors. The rebuttal of the movement is “Blue Lives Matter” after an NYPD officer was killed, police officers have a blue code, which is an “unwritten rule that purposely exists among police officers not to report colleagues error, misconducts or crimes, including police brutality”. (“Trayvon Martin Shooting Fast Facts”) Dr. Martin Luther King fought to prevent brutality. He pushed for “peaceful demonstrations”. Amicable boycotts but they almost always ended in violence. King wanted to challenge the system. He stated “ we want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people”. In 1991, Rodney King was driving and cops tried to stop him which led to a “high speed” chase. When he finally stopped the people with him were arrested but he was brutally beaten with a baton, kicked in the head, and even tasered. (“The beating that changed America”) Considering Police brutality has been around as early as the 1800’s you would think we would have made some sort of progress by now. (“Police Brutality and Misconduct”) Reconstruction was one of the most rough times for police brutality. A white supremacist organization (terrorist group) also known as the KKK conspired with police officers. (“Ku Klux Klan”) They beat down and discriminated against newly freed slaves. With increasing violence and unlawful acts. Two new amendments were created. States were no longer allowed to “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property” or use race, color and or a person's previous status as voting qualifications. The fourteenth amendment was created to protect the rights of citizens and giving them protection equally. ( “Fourteenth Amendment”)

The fifteenth amendment gave the right to vote no matter your race or past enslavement. (“Fifthteenth Amendment”)Animals are also affected by police brutality. Officers Thomas Schmidt and Jeffrey Bolger gripped up a shar-pei dog and slit its throat. (“Officer shoots dog”) One was placed on “administrative leave” while the other “ plead guilty to felony animal cruelty charge”. This is one of the few cases that an officer was actually convicted. This is heartbreaking because this is only an animal we have human beings receiving this same policy cruelty. (“Charges Dropped Against 1 officer in Dog killing”)A hip- hop group (N. W. A) of five teenagers dealt with racial politics and police violence. They were just expressing freedom of speech through music. After releasing a song called “F*** the Police”. (“10 songs about police brutality”) They were being terrorized by police. The group was known for not holding back and standing up for what they believe in. (“N. W. A Bio”)

On November 23, 2012 in Jacksonville, Florida a young teen named Jordan Davis got into an altercation with Michael David Dunn a forty year old software developer. Their altercation began over loud music coming from a car while at a gas station. In this situation Dunn is the perpetrator, he shot up a car full of teenage boys claiming he saw a gun barrel in the car. He was charged with 1st degree murder. He previously was sentenced to 60 years in prison so he faced the death penalty. Jordan’s mother disagreed she was fine with just life in prison. The death penalty was against her beliefs and she stated, “ whether bad or monster or whatever It maybe, I don't have the right to take their life. Only God has that right”(Julia Dahl). So Dunn now faces life in prison. (“Loud-music shooter gets life in prison”)The second amendment, The Right to Bear Arms prevents the federal government accepted in 1789 from disarming the state militias. (Matt MacBradaigh) The citizens involved wanted to keep their government from gaining too much power. The amendment states “ the right of people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” this keeps the government from being able to abuse tyranny. This amendment is now in place but still police officers are committing murder against its citizens. (Susan Bandest) A ninety year old woman by the name of Venus Green filed a successful lawsuit against the police. (“Woman, 90, locks police officer in basement…’’) Her grandson was shot and the police refused to help him. They suspect he was shot for being involved in illegal activity. The officer stated, “you know you were shot inside that house. “We ain't going to help you because you are lying”. When the boy's grandmother came to his defense she was shoved into a wall. She was violently handcuffed and left with a broken shoulder. (Baltimore Woman receives 95, 000 settlement)

In 2013, a seven year old girl names Aiyana Jones was shot and killed during a raid in a Detroit home. The officers shot this little girl in her head. If this is not inhumane I don't know what is. (Crimesider, 1) In 2014, Tamir Rice another young boy, twelve years old shot and killed by Cleveland police officers for playing with a small toy pellet gun. The officer who shot him was fired, but not for his crime of manslaughter. He was fired for lying on his job application. These cases lead up to the issue of police training and control. (Eric Heisig) Militarization of police alludes to the use of military tactics and equipment by officers against citizens. When at protest officers wear helmets, masks, and they lug rifles. Militarization is a nationwide occurrence. (“Police Militarization”)

Many unarmed black people were killed in 2016. (“Mapping Police Violence”) This affected many citizens nationwide including football quarterback Colin Kaepernick . He wanted to spread awareness to this issue as respectfully as he could. He was “hurt, furious and even hopeless. ” During a game he sat down during the national anthem protesting police brutality. He spoke out about “ systematic oppression and the criminal justice system. ” Doing this has led him to being a free agent, he is no longer in the NFL. Although he is no longer a player Kaepernick still stands up for what he believes and fights against this systematic racism. (Eric Reid)According to a HuffPost analysis of data compiled by The Washington Post and The Guardian, “Police and law enforcement officials killed at least 223 black Americans in the year after Colin Kaepernick's first began to protest ”. (Travis Waldron) Police brutality has a long history in the United States. Since the 1800's, the institutional hostility in law in the U. S has permitted cruelty against its citizens, due to the militarization of police and the vacancy of punishment. This does not mean it is correct and this bad pattern needs to be resolved.

As a citizen, and as a nation we must resolve this injustice. In America everything is so black and white, man or women. When will things change? This is not to stereotype that all policemen are bad, but the bad are outweighing the good and it is time for a change. If we do not stand for ourselves and show that we are valued as humans, then we will lose our integrity.