Policeofficers were once referred as peacekeepers although they now seem to benothing more than law enforcers. As they still for the most part do their jobcorrectly, more are worried about making unusual arrests on innocent peoplethat have been misjudged rather than keeping peace in communities. The biggestissue that has come up in America with the police agencies is police brutality.This issue is concluding to where these police might be abusing their power.Police brutality has made its mark on newspaper headlines, websites coveringincidents, and many television new channels. Stories of unarmed victims beingkilled on the spot or being brutality assaulted by police have become the normfor America. Police officers have now crossed lines by using unnecessaryexcessive force to handle situations.
From the improper use of tasers to theuse of guns to physically intimidate or even intentionally hurt civilians.Police officers often know their limits to dealing with someone who is not listeningto their commands but in certain cases they exceed those limits to handlesituations in a timely but unnecessary manner. Communities have taken notice towhat is going on with this problem and are getting together to try and act.
They want to prevent this from happening by removing police officers who mightor have done such things as use excessive or unnecessary force. They rally atpolice stations, capital buildings, and in most cases where a recent of policebrutality case had occurred. All around America communities gather to spreadthe word as much as possible to get some type of law into the makings for thesafety of their environments and the peace in the communities. As some peoplemight need to receive excessive force from police it can be out of control wheninnocent people start getting pulled out of their cars, thrown around thestreets to get controlled by police. The amount of power police officer can begiven is out of the ordinary, some officers might know their power, but othersmight think they have much more power against citizens. Police officers have been accused ofracial profiling, having personal disorders, or being prejudice against peoplewho has committed a misdemeanor.
Police brutality has given the United States ahorrible image for the police agencies across the country. Many fatal shootingshave occurred during this wake of police brutality. It has targeted men who areblack more than any other race in the country. Unarmed black men compared tounarmed white men have a much bigger chance to get either shot or brutalitydealt with when a police officer is called to the incident. Traffic stops havenow become a nightmare to many citizens due to the cases of black men beingshot for getting something such as a license or a vehicle registration. Thesemisjudged Americans are undeniably being treated unfairly. Preventing somethingthis big can be very difficult but still can be done with laws that can beenforced directly to police officers.
Oscar Grant, a twenty-two-year-oldAfrican-American, was fatally shot in Oakland, California. It was New Year’sDay of 2009 and police officers were responding to reports of a fight incrowded subway. Police officers quickly swarmed the subway stop and orderedmany off the train to find the reported brawlers. They accused Oscar Grant andseveral of his friends on the platform at the Fruitvale BART Station andforcefully detained them.
Oscar was not being very cooperate after the policeofficers quickly targeted him to lie face down. Fighting back furiously thepolice officer, Johannes Mehserle, drew his firearm and shot Grant in the back.This horrible incident was captured by witnesses with their cell phones. Theyobserved a misjudged African-American man get shot on New Year’s Day. Police officers like JohannesMehserle often find themselves doing the worst things to someone who is notbeing cooperate. This shooting was covered from regional to international newschannels.
Peaceful protests were held against the BART police agency inOakland, and there were several protesters who went to riot as well. Thisdevastated the communities in Oakland, people didn’t feel safe with the police.The peace was gone, the safety of the people was destroyed, and the reputationof the police agency was terrible. Many other cases just like Oscar Grant’swere still happening. The brutal and fatal violence police officer brought toreported calls were scary. In 2017, only fourteen days out ofthe three hundred and six five days were when police officers did not killanyone.
Black people are three times more likely to be killed by policeofficers than white people. As black people are only thirteen percent of thepopulation, in America around twenty five percent people killed by police wereblack. These numbers have proved to many officials that there is a big problem inthe police systems. Police officers are killing many large numbers people throughoutthe years while most them are black. Some solutions have been set such as requirementsto use all other means before shooting a firearm or duties to intervene if antherofficer uses excessive force, yet they are only a few departments who have adoptedthem.
Police officers used to be the peacekeepersof communities, and many are probably still doing this very well, but they are shadowedby the stories of officers who break rules and use the force that many are frightenedby. I think police officers should be trained frequently to avoid the worst waysto handle a situation. They shouldn’t think something like this can be acceptablethroughout the increasing rates each year. A law passed by the government needsto come fast to save future lives of innocent people who are misjudged by policeofficers.
Communities have to feel safe again, police officers shouldn’t have theseterrible thoughts after others have made it hard to make it better.
