Policing places men and women in an often dangerous and stressful role, dealing with suspects at every level of criminal offenses. In such situations, an incident may arise that needs to be dealt with decisively. Policing agencies have strict guidelines, categorizing forcible coercion into separate levels of severity. It is when an officer uses a more than acceptable means of coercion that this physical manipulation becomes excessive. Police brutality is arguably the most publicized form of Police misconduct, especially in recent history. There are several points of view to be examined, including the offender’s, the victim’s and the public’s reaction to the incident. It is clear that this is one of the most controversial aspects of policing, concerning the dangers that come along with the delicate balance of power and discretion allowed to a select group and amount of observation required.
Any interaction between police and the public could easily turn into a situation leading to violence. A simple traffic stop could turn violent, but the deciding factors are the officer in question and the suspect. Because there is no concrete definition to the amount of force reasonably required to deal with a suspect, it is hard to follow the growth or declinations in police brutality across the country. It seems that the most closely examined and often the most controversial cases of police brutality are those that are accompanied by tape of the incident. The most famous being the Rodney King Assault in which a black motorist, following a high speed chase, was pulled from his vehicle and beaten. The following year, after the four officers in question were acquitted of charges, the Los Angeles Riots of 1992 ensued, though there were several other contributing factors to the social tensions of South Central Los Angeles it was the verdict that finally sparked the six days of rioting, which lead to the deaths of fifty-three people. With video sharing and video hosting websites becoming more and more prevalent with each passing year, the shear number of bystander accounts of Police Brutality are astounding. Almost everyone has access to a camera and can easily document an incident they might stumble upon, with a phone or a handheld camcorder, there are even incidents which may have two or more view points from separate passers-by who just so happened thought it might be prudent to tape an assault. A simple search of “police brutality” rewards a laundry list of videos and even “play lists” of similar incidents. The fact that the tape of any such incident is taken out of context makes it hard to rationalize actions with hindsight. Any arrest of a violent or dangerous criminal, especially those who resist restraints, can be construed as excessive violence by someone who might not realize the implications of the criminal’s offense.
There are cases, however, in which the offender is non-violent, committing a misdemeanor, or even just a status offense, but the officer reacts aggressively. In the case of fifteen year old Shelwanda Riley, the girl was out after curfew with a bag of clothing. Upon meeting up with the girl Officer Dan Gilroy, responding to a call about a suspicious couple walking late with bags, stopped and eventually detained the girl. During the arrest, the girl, according to Gilroy, became increasingly violent, and so he took her to the front of his squad car to record the remainder of the confrontation. Gilroy repeatedly tells her to put her hands behind her back, but the girl resists. He then proceeds to slam her against the hood of his squad, the girl, wailing for her mother, still struggles, and eventually resorts to biting the officer. Gilroy punches the fifteen year old Riley in the head, then slams her against the car again, then pepper sprays her. Though this violence may seem excessive when dealing with a hundred pound girl, the officer faced no charges, while Riley is facing felony battery charges and misdemeanor offenses for the altercation. Police Agencies have thorough screening processes, exhaustive interviews and careful training. They have become practiced at weeding out who they might view as a problem or embarrassment to their establishment. However, shocking cases such as that of Abner Louima are not unique. In Louima’s case, after interfering in a fight, and hitting an officer in the ensuing scuffle, he was taken into custody, beaten with batons, fists and hand-held radios, then upon reaching the station, he was beaten further, then taken into the bathroom by an officer, later identified as Officer Justin Volpe, then sexually assaulted and sodomized. The attack occurred in the 70th Precinct. Another case that occurred almost in entirety in a jail cell involved a fifteen year old girl, who was not named. A King County Washington’s Sheriff’s deputy by the name of Paul Schene brought the young girl into a holding cell and instructed her to remove her shoes. The girl kicked off her sneaker, hitting the deputy in the shin. The attack was taped by surveillance cameras. As she went to kick her other shoe free, Schene rushed into the cell, kicking her in the groin, chased her around the holding unit, grabbed her by her hair threw her to the floor, handcuffed her while grinding his knees into her back, then wrenched her to her feet by her hair and took her from camera view. The officer claimed to have suffered a painful welt from the sneaker, though on the video recoding he clearly kicks the steel chamber pot during his assault on the teen.
The deputy was well over six feet and just tipping two hundred pounds. Excessive force is really a relative term, relative to the situation and the offender. It is hard to tell just what constitutes Police Brutality and any one person’s views on the subject might vary considerably to another. Though police brutality is one of the most publicized and controversial aspects of police corruption it is still very hard to define.
Continuing to look at examples of police brutality, it is crucial to look at the Chicago Race Riot of 1919. Scholars have deemed the riot as, “the worst in Illinois history” (“Street Battles at- Night”, 1919). By examining past incidents involving police brutality, police precincts and scholars can learn what “sparked” the altercation, and comprise of ways to avoid the situation in the future.
Learning from the situation is the most important part in evaluating a police brutality case. The police force can view the Chicago race riots and make sure that nothing of that magnitude ever occurs again. Finding factors that cause an issue are crucial in ensuring that the event does not take place again. After finding the factors that caused or contributed to the disruption, police officials can find ways of avoiding it in the future. In the Chicago riot, many factors played key roles in contributing the chaos. One key factor in the issue was that of racial inequality. “Rioting escalated when a white officer refused to arrest a white male who threw a stone at an African-American boy who drowned due to the blow” (Kleg, 1993). A variety of factors led to the Chicago riots. “competition for jobs, inadequate housing options for blacks, inconsistent enforcement of the law, and other forms of direct and indirect racial discrimination--had soured relations between white and black Chicagoans and created an environment conducive to race riots” (“Seeking the Cause”, 1919). These are some factors that caused rioting in 1919 of Chicago.
The picture is taken from the 1919 riot in Chicago. “Police maced, clubbed, beat, and arrested countless innocent bystanders” (Blobaum, 2008). “During this period, police misconduct was a pivotal issue” (Lawrence, 2000). “Media representation of police use of force during this period became a site of struggle for African-Americans and the future for American policing” (Lawrence, 2000). Police brutality and the many effects thereof are essential to study and find solutions to see that it does not happen continuously.
There have been many theories, or solutions, concerning police brutality. One solution is, “drawing minimal federal standards for police accountability” (McArdle, Erzen, 2001). Another solution to police brutality is, “Quality-of-life policing” (McArdle, Erzen 2001). The reasoning is that the mere presence of police forces will act as a deterrent for any altercations in the community. Furthermore, “police reform and community-police relationships are other ways to lessen the likely hood of police brutality in the future”( McArdle, Erzen, 2001). These are some of the solution the police can create to lessen the chance of committing police brutality and a lesser chance of community citizens rioting.
In the streets of major cities such as, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia, the crime rate is immensely higher, compared to local suburbia neighborhoods. The chance of being robbed or physically attacked is a common assumption, taken on by the everyday city person. Law enforcement has gone under the idea that the more they show an authoritative and forceful persona, the less likelihood that crime rate will increase. Most people would agree that this theory is a reasonable assumption, and have stood by it for the past few generations. By agreeing with law enforcement’s new idea of patrolling and bestowing the law, citizens basically handed over a great deal of power to the police. What was supposed to be the goal towards ending crime, eventually turned into another crime: police brutality? With citizens backing up the police, when dealing with excessive force, it’s difficult for the public to put restraints on the authority of the police. Most of the time when people hear these reports they think ‘this would never happen to me.’ However, cases are being reported from middle class African American men, to wealthy Caucasian women. So in a sense, who’s to say who will be next? In the midst of the rate of police brutality steadily increasing over the past few years, it’s important that the public recognizes that only they have the power to dictate the change in the law enforcement. (Johnson)
But how can the public take a stand for change, when the public themselves isn’t fully convinced that police brutality is more apparent then they think? The public took a step back and reevaluated our law enforcement when a flawless eyewitness came forward. This ‘eyewitness’ was none other then a videotape, provided by George Holliday. Standing on his apartment’s balcony, Holliday videotaped local Los Angeles Police using excessive force on Mr. Rodney King. Holliday’s twelve minutes of filmingsupplied the public with devastating evidence against the officers. King’s trial showed the public that our nations’ finest are deforming into emotionless bullies, wrongfully treating the economically less fortunate, racial diverse, or someone with a different sexual preference. After the King’s tape hit the community, predominantly African American areas up roared in massive violent riots; along with an estimated billion dollars in damages, an average of fifty people died and thousands were arrested. The whole King fiasco demonstrated the fear and rebellion of the public. Although we have been more aware of police brutality, what will it take on the law enforcement side, before another deadly riot takes place? If the police don’t come to a realization that the public can quickly turn on them, they will continue to treat people in a negative way, leading to over boiling emotions and stacked up anger. Though small riots and protests have taken place since the King’s incident, nothing is comparable to the overall effect of Rodney King Riots. (King)
Nevertheless, not all riots have ended on a negative note. With the idea of the negative outcome of some riots in the back of people’s mind, regular protesters try to keep their riots closer to a protest. New York is known for hosting the 13th annual protest rally, hosted by the family members of the victims killed by unnecessary police force. Participates say that this protest rally allows the families to march carrying signs, drawings, and protesting chants, expressing their emotions towards the police. However, the protest is usually only done by related family members, and not by people who just want to raise awareness to the problem. If more people joined the march, hoping to spread the word about police brutality, then it would become a higher looked at issue. Protesters made comments to reporters stating that the rate of death from police brutality drastically went up after 9/11; everyone seemed to be seen as a threat. (Alder) From that moment, not only were different races beginning to be judged, but also the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community (LGBT) was also facing issues. (AI’s)
When we think of police brutality, we normally think of a white cop beating a black male. This assumption usually has the public overlooking the idea of a person being beaten based on their sexual preference. Stonewall riots has made great strides in recognizing and protecting the human rights of LGBT Community. Even if we ourselves are not a part of the community, it’s up to the general public to help defend our nation. These hate crimes have steadily decreased since Amnesty International’s research surveys on police abuse and misconduct against LGBT lead to New York Coty’s “hate crime laws.” Amnesty international is responsible for the peaceful protests for raising awareness. Nowadays, it’s rare that we don’t know someone who is somehow related to the LGBT Community; is it fair that we should watch them be mistreated by the police just because we aren’t directly related to them ourselves? Amnesty wants the public to help out as much as they possibly can to stop these police hate crimes. Writing a letter to Raymon W. Kelly, the commissioner of the New York Police Department, can help institute specific policies and procedure to ensure that “quality of life” enforcements are not discriminatory. Or the public can write letters to Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City, urging him to make certain that the NYPD respects the human rights of all citizens, including LGBT residents. Each of these officials’ addresses are located on the Amnesty International Website. (AI’s)
Another concern that New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg is facing is the complaints towards the illegal use of tasers. The public doesn’t seem to realize that tasers can be looked at as illegal use of force. Tasers, although are officiate in stopping a perpetrator, are a main cause toward death in a reported police brutality claim. Communities are hoping that with enough petitions, government officials will recognize the seriousness of the effects tasers have on the offenders. A couple months ago, two Seattle policemen decided to taser a woman because she wouldn’t sign a ticket, not knowing she was eight months pregnant. Incases like this, is it really the officer’s fault, or were they acting in justice system’s guidelines? Perhaps the public is taking the idea of police brutality too far. (Nayaba)
In the government document, Curbing Police Brutality: What Works? A Reanalysis of Citizen Complaints at the Organizational Level, Final Report, it states that an officer can use the necessarily amount of force on an offender if he or she feels threatened. It’s hard for the public to judge the law enforcement’s quick decision making when we are not in their situation. As a society we have granted the law enforcement permission to do what they can to protect us. Although we shouldn’t loose focus towards the elimination of excessive force, we have to acknowledge the fact that sometimes excessive force has to be used. It’s imperative that the public recognizes that the police do have a job to do; it’s just the fact that they must stay within law enforcement’s guidelines with responsible actions. (Curbing Police Brutality)
Not every police officer has committed an act of illegal excessive force, nor is the law enforcement a corrupt agency. But sometimes the public is blinded by the glamorous idea of them as our nation’s heroes, and we forget that they’re not always as noble as we perceive them to be. The police force will never be perfect, though with the public on the law enforcement’s heels, hopefully we can make sure they stay on the right path.