police brutality in American
American society is currently grappling with a lot of cases of police brutality which mirrors the situation all over the world. Most of the police brutality cases that have been recorded in America significantly affect the African American communities (Kramer and Brianna 961). African Americans have had their rights violated at the hands of the police. There are various ways in which police brutality have been exercised in America for example unwarranted searches, surveillance, seizure of property especially during investigatory stops in traffic and black neighborhoods. Additionally, there are other ways such as coerced confession which lead to false arrest and imprisonment (Afzal n.p). In other cases, police have tampered with evidence and witnesses leading to conviction based on false testimony. In extreme cases, police brutality has led to deaths of people in police custody and during the arrest process. Reasons that have been given for police brutality include the fact that African Americans have been linked with violence and commission of crimes (Kramer and Brianna 961). Subsequently, due to the extreme force used on black communities, police brutality has led to a bad rapport between African Americans and the police (Chaney and Ray 480). Studies show that major causes of police brutality racial profiling, sub-culture of police institutions, lack of action from the criminal justice system on errant police officers and police militarization.
The significant cause of police brutality has been found to be racial profiling among police enforcement officers. A lot of infamous cases of deaths in police custody have been African Americans. Among the blacks that have recently died include George Floyd, Botham Jean, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Fredy Gray and Attatian Jefferson just to mention a few names (Lyle and Ashraf 165). The only constant factor among these cases is that all these deaths were occasioned in the hands of white law enforcement officers. The Guardian reports that “many other people die in police custody, but black people account for 8% of these deaths while accounting for only 3% of the population” (Afzal n.p). The death of unarmed African American in the hands of white police officers has been explained by the belief that blacks are a superior race. Most white law enforcement officers have linked the black neighborhoods with violence and in most cases, blacks are judged guilty even before the case is proven. The recent killing of George Floyd has brought to light the indiscriminate police brutality that African Americans have been subjected to over the years (Ward 167). The death of George Floyd has brought a lot of protests in American states as activists are pushing for the recognition of the suffering that blacks are going through at the hands of the police. Many people have tied down police brutality on African Americans to stereotyping of blacks by police. The police have consistently perceived blacks as criminals and prefer to use excessive force on them then asking questions later (Chaney and Ray 480). Counter-arguments have been brought against racial profiling to show that in most cases the blacks killed in police custody are always armed and also violently confront the police officers. The random searches that police conduct also do reveal a lot of evidence leading to the arrest of criminals. However, these arguments do not explain the number of deaths of unarmed blacks that have occurred in recent times in America.
Sub-culture of police institutions have also been seen as a cause of police brutality in America. In many police institutions, there are traditions and unwritten rules that rookie police officers do not report any misconduct by their seniors (Lyle and Ashraf 157). Actions of reporting other police officers on duty have led to most police officers being ridiculed, fired and bullied at work. Subsequently, most police officers tend not to report their colleagues even if they conduct themselves improperly. For example, in the recent video of the death of George Floyd, all the other police officers stood aside as one of their colleagues killed the victim while they stood doing nothing. The incident depicted the police tradition of not interfering with their seniors even if they doing something wrong (DeGue, et al. 173). However, this argument as a cause of police brutality has been refuted based on the fact that most cases of police misconduct have been reported by colleagues. There are a lot of police officers that have been subjected to disciplinary processes due to the reports from their colleagues. Moreover, most police officers are trained to take orders from their superiors and it would raise organizational conflicts if rookies were to report the actions of their seniors. Despite these arguments for not reporting the misconducts of superiors, there is still a moral and ethical responsibility on the part of police officers to report any illegal activity against the civilians. The lack of reporting of police misconduct has resulted in a lot of deaths of people in police custody.
The criminal justice system has also sustained instances of police brutality. The criminal justice system has been slow in prosecuting the cases of police that have been reported. For example, the law enforcement officers that have been incriminated in deaths of the people in their custody have most often been let free. Law enforcement officers have had protection from the criminal justice system as they hold significant advantages over the prosecution of their cases (Ward 170). Most prosecutors have cordial relationships with the law enforcement agencies making it difficult for them to go against the wishes of most police officers (Lyle and Ashraf 170). Subsequently, police brutality has continued because most of the police officers have the idea that they are protected by the criminal justice system (Chaney and Ray 480). However, this notion has been vehemently opposed as records show that police officers are increasingly being prosecuted for their misconducts during the course of their work. For example, the officers that were recently involved in the death of George Floyd have been arrested and charged for their role in the death of the victim. Additionally, most police officers found to have committed serious crimes against civilians have been suspended awaiting the court process. Contrastingly, statistics still show that most police officers get away with crimes committed against civilians. Most police officers are only suspended with or without pay but in most cases but do not get their day in court to answer for their crimes.
Police brutality has been identified as one of the significant causes of deaths in the world and especially in America. Racial profiling has been cited as the most significant cause of police brutality. African Americans have been noted to be the community most affected by police brutality. However, to prevent the fatalities that have been occurring due to police brutality, reforms are needed in law enforcement institutions to ensure that police are more professional in their relationship with civilians. Additionally, the criminal justice system needs to move quickly in prosecuting cases that involve law enforcement officers killing civilians to serve as deterrence. The police institutions should also be in a position to deal with naïve traditions that prevent other rookie officers from reporting misconduct of their superiors. These measures would prevent the fatalities that have been recorded due to police brutality.