Police Brutality in the United States: Is It Justifiable or No - Essay Example

Police Brutality in the United s: Is it Justifiable or No? Police brutality is a violation of the law, which is prohibited by the 8th amendment of the United States Constitution. Police brutality and excessive force are often synonyms. In 2010, “Of the 6,613 law enforcement officers involved in reported allegations of misconduct that met NPMSRP (National Police Misconduct Statistical Reporting Project) criteria for tracking purposes, 1,575 were involved in excessive force reports, which were the most prominent type of report at 23.8% of all reports.” Such statistics gives rise to the question: Is police brutality justifiable in the United States? The answer to this question is more complex than initially thought. Social media do an excellent persuasive job in misconstruing public opinion based on cases of justified excessive police force and cases where the force is questionable. This delicate issue in our society at the moment is sweeping our nation and dividing Americans by ethnic groups, depending on the victimization of each case that hits the news. A wide range of allegations on police brutality in the United States tend to give rise to broad discussions in public. As usual, there are two opposite points of view on the issue which are represented in the dichotomy “reasonable force vs. police brutality”. Representatives on both the sides rely greatly on what they get from the media coverage of events and not many of them refer to official surveys which can shed light upon the problem under discussion. Before addressing the above-mentioned research, it is necessary to give a clear definition of what reasonable force means though. As it is stated in legal papers, the police have a right to use a “reasonable force”. Overall, the law states clearly in what cases one can use a reasonable force. Among such circumstances are self-defense, defense of other people or property, lawful arrest and prevention of a crime. In fact, common citizens are also allowed to use force in these situations; the standards for police officers are higher though. In any case, the use of such force appears to be reasonable under given circumstances (Fitch 234-235). In other words, one, in this case, a police officer, must believe that the force he / she (still usually he) uses is justifiable and not excessive at the same time. To see how a serving police officer assesses a situation in which he might use force, how the police are taught, an interview has been conducted. The interviewee is a serving police officer who he asked not to give his name that is why he will be referred to as Jeremy. Jeremy told that while training he had been taught on the following example: “If one wants to the police car if they are not allowed to, a police officer should take this person by the elbow and draw him / her aside. If a person uses a bit more force, on officer should then apply a bit more effort; and finally, if there is more violence, the police can use a lot of force” (K.). As one can see, the gradation and classification are more than vague. Very often, such a vague description of powers and authority of the police leads to a great number of cases of the use of excessive force by policemen, which sometimes results in peoples death. In accordance with the FBI report, between 2008 and 2012 about four hundred people wree killed by police officers every year. In the course of the analysis of the report, it appears that about two African Americans are killed every week by the police (The Federal Bureau of Investigation). It is natural that such an excessive force used by the police attracts the media that present a broad coverage of events, which in their turn attract mass public attention and cause protests and unrests in the society. The latest well-known case of the use of force by the police is the shooting accident in the result of which an 18-year-old unarmed young man without a criminal record was killed by a police officer in Ferguson. This incident was followed by rioting and protests that lasted for about two weeks. The reaction of the citizens clearly shows the attitude of the society towards the use of the excessive force by the police. Not only this case, but the research conducted by Pew Research Center for the People and the Press shows that “most Americans give relatively low marks to the police departments around the country for holding officers accountable for misconduct, using the appropriate amount of force, and treating racial and ethnic groups equally” (Pew Research Center). This information shows that the society does not approve the measures taken by the law enforcement agencies to punish the guilty. Picture reflects the societys unrest and discontent with the impunity of the police officers who use the excessive force (Thomas). Also, there is an opposite view of the use of excessive force by the police. The recent statistic data on the dichotomy of “reasonable force vs. police brutality”. In accordance with the latest estimates released by the Justice Department, “an estimated 1.4 % [of respondents] had force used or threatened against them during their most recent contact, which was not statistically different from the percentages in 2002 (1.5%) and 2005 (1.6%)” (Bureau of Justice Statistics). In other words, the statistical data published by governmental bodies show that the number of cases in which police officers used excessive force is rather insignificant. In accordance with the academic estimates, for example, the study conducted by Matthew J. Hickman, Alex R. Piquero and Joel H. Garner, about 1.7% of all the contacts with the police end up in the use of force or threat; at the same time, it is about 20% of arrests that also end this way. The part that justifies the use of force by the police also backs its argument by studies on the characteristics of a suspect who claim they have experienced the use of excessive force by police officers on themselves. Despite the existence of the so-called racial profiling is proved, the research conducted in 2010 shows that the results on the idea that minorities are more likely to be exposed to the acts of police force is not justified. In addition to this, police officers are said to employ force in the neighborhoods with crime rates which exceed the average, and this implies that a suspects race is not the only decisive factor (Khalm, and Tillyer). Also, the media plays a very important role in justification of the excessive use of force by police officers. The place of the media in the issue has been researched and discussed in 2010 by Paul J. Hirschfield and Daniella Simon in their analysis of newspaper narratives on deadly force. In accordance with research, the media tend to distort the information on the cases with the aim to help justify the use of excessive force by the police (Hirschfield, and Simon). During the research work, Hirschfield and Simon have conducted a content analysis of more than a hundred of articles published in 23 newspapers in three years. They have drawn a conclusion that the coverages of cases in these newspapers tolerates police violence. More specifically, the articles tend to depict the victims of police violence as those who pose both physical and emotional threat to police officers and the society as a whole. In spite of the fact that there are pieces written in a less accusatory tone in regard to actual victims, they also tend to justify police brutality treating it as a mistake in a system and not a police officers guilt (Hirschfield, and Simon). The police who use excessive force themselves try to justify their actions as well. This conclusion has been drawn from the words of the serving police officer Jeremy who claims, “At that very moment, believe me, a person [officer] thinks of his life. In fact, he is not concerned about the consequences and is not afraid to offend somebody. He just protects himself from getting extra holes in his body, and that is all” (K.). Such a justification cannot be perceived as the acceptable one for the relatives and friends of victims of police brutality; they are taken into consideration by the officials though. This photo shows that common reaction of citizens to the consequences of police brutality (Forbes). The society has divided into two parts in regard to the question that touches upon the use of force by the police. One group of people believes that force used by police officers should be regarded as reasonable for the officers carry out their duties. They also rely on the current official research data on the number of cases of excessive police force use and the media. These are the main sources of justification of police use of force. At the same time, there are those who believe that the use of force by the police should be regarded as brutality for it is peoples health and lives that are at stake. In other words, the question of “reasonable force vs. police brutality” has divided the society and, more importantly, given rise to a great problem which the officials have to solve as soon as possible. Works Cited: Bureau of Justice Statistics. "Use of Force." Bureau of Justice Statistics. BJS, 21 Sep 2014. Web. 22 Sep 2014. . Fitch, B. Law Enforcement Ethics: Classic and Contemporary Issues. SAGE Publications, 2013. Print. Forbes, J. B. 2014. Photograph. Billboard.comWeb. 22 Sep 2014. . Hickman, M., A. Piquero, and J. Garner. "Toward a National Estimate of Police Use of Nonlethal Force." Criminology and Public Policy. 7.4 (2009): 563-604. Print. Hirschfield, P. J., and D. Simon. "Legitimating Police Violence: Newspaper Narratives of Deadly Force." Theoretical Criminology. 14.2 (2010): 155-182. Print. K., Jeremy. Personal Interview. 22 September 2014. Klahm, C., and R. Tillyer. "Understanding Police Use of Force: A Review of the Evidence." Southwest Journal of Criminal Justice. 7.2 (2010): 214-239. Web. 22 Sep. 2014. . ] Pew Research Center. "Few Say Police Forces Nationally Do Well in Treating Races Equally." Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. N.p., 11 Aug 2014. Web. 22 Sep 2014. . The Federal Bureau of Investigation. "Expanded Homicide Data." The Federal Bureau of Investigation. FBI, n.d. Web. 22 Sep 2014. . Thomas, M. Demonstrators Display Signs During a Protest in Ferguson. 2014. Photograph. PBS.com Web. 22 Sep 2014. . Read More