Police brutality is the use of disproportionate and unjustified force by law enforcement. It constitutes a violation of a person’s civil liberties and is a kind of police misconduct. The term can also describe a circumstance in which police officers use excessive force against someone. There are many forms of police abuse, including but not limited to physical and verbal abuse, physical and mental pain, property destruction, and even death. For example, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) brutally assaulted an African American suspect, Rodney King, in March 1991, when he was detained for DUI in Los Angeles. After this occurrence, the media covered it extensively, and numerous officers were charged with criminal offenses. The Los Angeles riots of 1992 began within hours after the four police officers involved were acquitted at trial, resulting in more than 50 deaths, a total of 2,000 and above injuries, more than 7,000 fires, damage to 3,100 businesses, and approximately $1 billion in losses. Due to police brutality, it is appropriate to urge that numberless unarmed black lives have been lost at the hands of police officers, police shootings of unarmed black lives continue to rise, and lastly, sworn law enforcement officers are failing to ensure the safety and quality of life of the communities they serve.
Numberless unarmed black lives have been lost at the hands of police officers due to police brutality. According to Johnson (2019), “despite the anti-police brutality fight, many Black men and women continue to meet their deaths via police encounters. Eric Garner, Mike Brown, Sandra Bland and others have become household names for all of the wrong reasons.” A further example of police brutality was witnessed in Egypt in 2011. For instance, brutality by the Egyptian police was a crucial factor in the 2011 uprising and the killing of Khaled Said. “Purging the Ministry of Interior” for its brutality and torturing methods was one of the “demands” that sparked the protests in Egypt. It’s been six months since the Egyptian lady who first reported the gang rape was held in pretrial detention and abused. In addition, Egyptian authorities have come under fire for handling the 2014 Fairmont Hotel rape case, which was left uninvestigated. In addition to being exposed to drug testing and virginity tests, the case’s key witnesses have reportedly been humiliated in public and harmed by their families’ reactions to the ordeal. The same case of police brutality is also evident in the U.S, where the police tortured the majority of the blacks to the point of death. Therefore, police brutality had led to numberless unarmed black lives, which were lost in the hands of police.
Police shootings of unarmed black lives continue to rise due to police brutality. For example, Solis (2020) explains that white police officers shot and killed unarmed black man George Floyd despite his protests that he had no weapon. To show their opposition to police brutality on Memorial Day, people worldwide held protests. For decades, the story of a white police officer shooting an unarmed black individual has been repeated in the United States. Black Lives Matter was born due to these numerous deaths in 2013. A new study by academics at the University of Pennsylvania found that black persons are three times more likely to be killed by police than their white counterparts. According to the report, people of color’s health is jeopardized by police shootings that result in death. The number of Black people killed in the United States was consistently higher than the overall population over five years. Thus, many black people are being shot by white police more than any other race in the U.S community.
In recent years, sworn law enforcement officers in the U.S have been failing to ensure the safety and quality of life of the communities they serve. This is evident where there is mass killing among black American citizens. Instead of protecting the lives of American citizens without favor or any racism, the police have constantly ignored the quality of human lives. For instance, deaths like Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others have brought police violence to public attention in recent months. Ignorance of the police to protect an individual’s life is based on the evidence of the Crenshaw Mall shooting death of Grechario Mack, 30 years old, who was suffering from a mental health crisis in 2018. Due to his paranoia, Mack approached a security guard and requested medical assistance while brandishing a kitchen knife in his hand. As he fled, cops opened fire on him and stormed the mall. The shooting of Mack is clear evidence of the lack of police to protect human lives.
In conclusion, police brutality refers to law enforcement agents’ persecution of suspects and civilians. Numberless unarmed black lives have been lost at the hands of police officers due to police brutality, according to Johnson (2019). Police shootings of unarmed black lives have also risen due to police brutality. For example, Solis (2020) explains that white police officers shot and killed unarmed black man George Floyd despite his protests that he had no weapon. Lastly, sworn law enforcement officers in the U.S have failed to ensure the safety and quality of life of the communities they serve due to the mass killings of Black Americans.
References
Johnson, S. (2019). Sean Bell died at the hands of police 13 years ago. The New York Amsterdam News. Asmsterdamnews.com/news/2019/11/27/sean-bell-died-hands-police-13-years-ago.
Patton, CL., Asken, M., Fremouw, WJ., and Bemis, R. (2017). The influence of police profanity on public perception of excessive force. Journal of Police Crime Psychology 32:340–357
Schmidt, M. S., Apuzzo, M. (2015). FBI chief links scrutiny of police with the rise in violent crime. New York Times, P–1
Schwartz, S. A. (2020). Police brutality and racism in America. Explore (New York, NY), 16(5), 280.
Sharps, M.J., Torkelson, J. F., Hulett, D. L., Kuhn M. L., and Sevillano, C. N. (2018). Police Profanity and Public Judgments of Guilt and Effectiveness in Officer-Involved Shootings. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-018-9268-y
Solis, N. (2020). Police Killing People of Color at Higher Rates Than White People. www.courthousenews.com/report-police-killing-people-of-color-at-higher-rates-than-white-people/
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