The Brutal Beating of Rodney King - Essay Example

Rodney King al Affiliation Law enforcement is part of day to day life in order to maintain order in a nation. For fair and transparent law enforcement, there has to be an understanding among the judiciary, law enforcers and the civilians. However, in some instances, there are reports of improper enforcement of the law. Such a case is the one that downed on Rodney King, a motorist who later turned to be a revelation in the world of justice through the price he paid with the brutality he faced. This essay has visited several sources with the information concerning the brutal beating of Rodney. Through analysis and reviews, it is clear that the rule of law in Los Angeles and other parts on the world has not been practised in the best way that ensures justice to all. As observed in Los Angeles, before Rodney’s incidence, there was impartiality along racial lines when the rule of law was being enforced. In order to ensure fairness and justice to all, a nation has to put in place measures that deal dearly with any law enforcer, who misuses the powers granted unto him. Keywords: Law Enforcement, Rodney King, Los Angeles, Law, Justice, Rule of Law Introduction The system of law enforcement has a distant origin in the past. It was introduced as a means of controlling human behaviour, practices, and enforcement of societal rules and regulations. The gross misconduct among law enforcers has formed universal problems throughout the world. Police departments have constantly been alleged to be practicing corruption and misconduct. To make it worse, it now appears that all police sectors are associated with brutality and many other abuses of authority. Throughout the world, the image of the police has been tainted and is continually stained; this has led to reduction in the level of confidence by the people (Porter and Prenzler, 2012). The police have often been associated with participation in active criminality, a case whereby the police commit serious crimes, as they misuse the very positions they have been entrusted with power. Bribery and extortion is their order of the day. “In one recent case, retired officers Louis Eppolito, 56, and his former partner, Stephen Caracappa, 63, were arrested and charged with being on the payroll of organized crime, while they were New York City police officers ” (Siegel and Senna, 2006, p. 203). With the rise in police misconduct, protection and the rights of the common man have since been violated. These cases too undermine the rule of law and often have huge negative implications as they cultivate a negative public attitude towards the police. This has highly escalated especially when ethnicity and the rule of racism come into place. The effect is the reduction of public cooperation and this hampers police efficiency. Another example of police misconduct is their participation in miscarriage of justice. In such a case, the police fail to punish offenders while on the other hand, prosecute the innocent. This wrongful prosecution and allegation has led to many innocent people being held behind the bars, while others undergo brutality. Rodney King was in such a state as he was brutally assaulted by police. The Beating of Rodney King One time while Rodney King was with his friends in Los Angeles, some policemen from California highway patrol detected him over speeding. At the time, he feared that in case he was caught, his earlier robbery probation would be revoked because of the traffic violation. He therefore decided to escape the arrest by engaging on a high speed chase, a speed reported to have been around 115 miles an hour. The chase triggered the involvement of a police unit from Los Angeles Police Unit, who participated in the eventual arrest. When he was caught, he was ordered to alight from the vehicle, to which he declined. The police quickly concluded that he was resisting arrest. Sergeant Stacy decided to pull the trigger and fired two shots into Rodney. His officers took control of the massacre and beat him up, and according to the video footage, Rodney received 55 batons, alongside six kicks to the body (Williams, 2012). Fortunately enough, the whole scene was being recorded by George Holiday who was within the vicinity of the scene. He soon sent the video around the globe, it went viral and caused a lot of public uproar, the African Americans were so much frustrated by the abuse, which was one among the many abuses against the blacks by the police. To make the matter worse, the four policemen accused of the beating were acquitted barely a year after the accusation. The jury was dominated by the whites from the Simi Valley, and the decision of the jury led to the worst event of unrest in American history, before being quelled; it had led to the deaths of 53 people and a lot of property damage and went down to Los Angeles and the world history. During the protests, Rodney had a word to ask, he asked a simple question “can we all just get along?” (Gray, 2014). Rodney’s Court Case George Holliday’s video played a major role in King’s court case; it was the closest evidence that could be traced. A survey was conducted and the result showed that over 90% of those who watched the video believed that the police had used excessive force during the arrest. Despite the fact that the video was produced in court, the jury concluded that there was insufficient evidence to conflict the police. The skirmishes that soon erupted clearly showed that people were not satisfied with the court case. At the inception of the case, most people considered it as a racial case, even with the recommendation by the mayor that chief Gates resigns over the matter did not bare fruits; he merely declined to resign. The defence team requested for the transfer of the case outside Los Angles to the city of California. The prosecutors had knowledge on how such cases were to be conducted in California; indeed, the trial judge rejected the request. However, the Californian court of appeal approved the case transfer, and went on to remove judge Kamins from handling the case; he was accused of being biased. The dismissal of Kamins was as a result of the communication he had made to the prosecution team, urging them not to panic over the case. His position was presented to judge Stanley Weisberg. This judge further decided to favour the defence by moving the case to Simi Valley. Simi Valley was known for its conservative nature and predominance of the whites. This action terrified the prosecutors since they understood the motive of this plan (Linder, 2001). The Trial The defence and the prosecution knew that the outcome of the trial fully depended on the jury selection. It was the desire of the prosecution that some blacks got represented in the seating because they were cynical of the police practices. The jury made up of 260 people only had six African Americans; five of them had no interest in serving in the jury, since they were aware of their hostility. All the African American jury members were already resigned to the fact that they were going to lose the case. According to Linder (2001), the media too failed to prepare the people for the case, despite playing the video. When the case was formerly introduced with an opening statement by the deputy attorney, he played Holliday’s videotape to the jurors and the audience; the videotape was played over and over before the commencement of the case. An Attorney belonging to one of the accused, Koon portrayed Rodney as to be blamed for the beating. On the side of prosecutors, they decided not to use Rodney as one of the witnesses. They were fully aware that King way very drunk that day that he could not remember anything, and that having him stand before the jury could lead to cross examination concerning his previous criminal offenses. Furthermore, it was known to the prosecutors that Rodney was a very high tempered individual, who could lose his temper and make the matters worse. One of the defence witnesses testified that Rodney was very violent and frightening (Bailey, 1995). Rodney King’s episode projected the fierce truth of police abuse. A witness identified as Koon, described the events of March 3rd 1991, while justifying that they were appropriate. Sergeant Charles Duke supported Koon’s argument that the excessive force used was appropriate, as it helps prevent one person from killing four policemen. The argument by Charles suggested that the force used was reasonable. To show the racial difference that existed and the racial discrimination and abuse of the black Americans, one of the defence witnesses, who was White, talked of the jungle and the Zoo referring to the presence of the blacks as associated with the jungle. He also said that he feared that if they gave Rodney a chance to take a stand, he would take the gun and shoot them; he insisted that it was even necessary to break one of his bones. The jury had a week to make the debate concerning the case. Wind and Briseno were acquitted while Powell’s case had to take a little longer discussion (Bailey, 1995). Some jurors wanted to exonerate Powell; the problem was that some of them rejected that (Bailey, 1995). After the Verdict After a series of case perusal, the clerk released the verdict, which was received in different styles, some in disbelief while others in anger. As the defendants were escorted outside the courts, some people called them ‘guilty’, many cases of protests were reported including some black youths, who stormed into a restaurant and took some drinks; they later assaulted the attendant who was a white in the name of Rodney king. Riots grew bigger and bigger and lasted for five days, resulting in many deaths and loss of property. In some latter months, the case was returned to the grand jury in Los Angles. The three officers were indicted once more for intentional and willing full use of force on King. During this second trial, the department responsible for justice appointed a fearsome group of prosecutors to clearly follow the case; the lead prosecutor was regarded the best in Los Angles (Linder, 2001). This second trial comprised of jury coming from mixed races. This was very encouraging and showed some traces of justice, unlike in the first case. In the midst of the jury was Escobel, who had sent a strong warning to the defence team, though some members of the jury had tried to eliminate her from participation. The prosecution had an advantage that the government was included so that it could identify what had gone wrong in the prosecution. This time round Rodney was called to provide a testimony; this was in the move of eradicating any suspicion that something was being hidden. King who was an ex-con and had been giving different accounts of his beating came to the stand soberly and provided his testimony, a testimony that proved that he had fears over his life. This time round, the defence team were not organised and acted in a manner that portrayed their guilt. Arrogance was their order of the day; some even failed to present their witnesses for the fear of cross-examination and another provided his defence through a video link. The defence lawyer was so smart in his defence; after realising that the jury were under pressure due to riots, he pleaded with them not to feel under pressure, this is compared to the biblical judgement and the trial of Jesus, who was presented to the people and despite them failing to account for any fault Jesus had, the authority went forth to crucify him. The jury then had time to go through the case and still there were some who wanted that the accused be acquitted; they engaged in serious arguments accompanied with a lot of emotions, and varied reactions. It is even reported that at one time, there was one jury who ran out in tears after a heated debate (Linder, 2001). However, the case was later concluded and most of the jury members were very much amused reflecting that something better was in place. Finally came the hour of reading the verdict. It was the duty of Judge Jim Holmes to read out the verdict to the people. They had to do it early in the morning to minimize the chances of riot eruption. Two officers were acquitted while the other two were found guilty. The prosecution declared the judgement as representation of justice and at least people were satisfied since no one held a riot. Despite the 30 months sentencing of the accused, the government went forth appealing that the sentence was not enough. It was light and violated federal sentencing guidelines. For this reason, the case was taken back to court for further review, upon which the sentence was toughened. Rodney was compensated for the suffering he had undergone; he received $3.8 million (Linder, 2001). Changed Relationship Conviction of the officers gave people a sigh and confidence in restoration of justice. The police department also had to undergo rigorous changes; a panel of investigation was formed to investigate police conduct. “Bradley formed the Independent commission on the Los Angeles police department, headed by attorney warren Christopher, who would later become U.S. secretary of state. The blue-ribbon panel issued a blistering report that detailed a pattern of racism and excessive force within the LAPD” (Castro & Writer, 2011). The proposition of the commission was passed, which put the police under civilian control. The police reaction to the riots exposed their unpreparedness for the riots. This led to retirement of some officials who were also accused of misuse of power, and they were alleged to have been arrogant and racist. The police were placed under the supervision of the mayor, while those who felt the weight and unsatisfied resigned. A completely different relationship between the police and the people was reported to have developed with the police department acknowledging that the people have a role to play. Since the changes in LAPD, there have been open dialogues between the civilians and the police. The soured relationship was not only caused by the police department alone. As the case unfolded, it could be seen that the judges were split along racial lines. The prosecution department were after justice, but some jury members wanted the accused be acquitted; the whites and the blacks could not get along. What was happening in Los Angeles was a reflection of what was happening around the world. Cavallaro says that “Human Rights Watch/Americans documented a steady increase in the rate of civilians killed by on duty military police officers” (1997, p. 13). Police and the Community The video film about the beating, the acquaintance of the officers, and the subsequent riots triggered a lot of concern and an image portraying the presence of racism and police brutality in Los Angeles and its environs. Furthermore, it set the stage for the revelation of many scandals that were taking place without much public and international notice. The name of the police service was totally tarnished, and the level of confidence dropped. It is the expectation of the people that the police provide them with protection and treat them with justice, but following the beating of Rodney, negative perspective of the people developed towards the police. It is confusing when it comes to police discretion, a state whereby the policeman has the mandate to make the decision whether to make arrest or apply force. These powers were one of the causes leading to brutality waved towards Rodney, and as Palmiotto suggests, “fairness issues necessarily arise when race or class biases influence who is arrested or apprehended and who is not” (2000, p. 60). Having the powers of discretion therefore offers the opportunity for a police to easily misuse. To make the matter worse, the police do not want to be undermined; they in most cases apply the street justice on individuals who defy the authority (Palmiotto 2000). They see nothing wrong to impose any power in the street, and always feel justified oppressing offenders and suspects. Rodney unfortunately fell into the mix. Even though any brutality of such magnitude is disgusting, the episode raised many concerns concerning the pervasiveness and tolerance of such conduct by the police (Bailey, 1995). Bailey further reports that “these once renowned icons of professionalism and innovation were scrutinized and chastised as unfair for permitting such police misconduct to become customary” (1995, p. 582). Conclusion Police officers unlike their counterparts in the criminal justice system operate without close watch. Most of what they undertake goes unnoticed, and whenever they conduct an investigation, their report is accepted since there is no prove or review of the findings for public judgment. It was so unfortunate that the police acted beyond justice brutally attacking the citizens they are supposed to be protecting. Following the unfortunate event that befell Rodney King, the resolution adopted by the state was very crucial and proved that justice was to prevail to all despite the race, age and gender. In one of the recommendations, the police were required to play a crucial role of imparting proper perspectives to the trainees majorly dealing in policing and good behaviour. Aside from the proper doctrinarian articulated for, the training was required to enhance verbal skills rather than physical skills. The recommendation further called for proper training on culture, ethnicity as well as gender sensitivity. This approach is very appropriate for any state that is seriously focused on eliminated injustices. It is not in order to a wait for an event such as Rodney’s brutality for such changes to be adopted. The current world has undergone a series of transformations with incumbents of humanitarian based organisations such as the human rights groups. Most nations are therefore adhering to fair trials and justice. Racial abuse has declined and people have fostered togetherness. Community policing has indeed boosted the collaboration between civilians and the police, a case which ensures that the police and the community rely on one another. Reference List Bailey, W. G. (1995).The Encyclopaedia of Police Science. Oxford: Taylor and Francis Publishers. Castro, T. & Writer, S. (2011). Rodney King’s March 3, 1991, Traffic Stop and Beating Turned LA into a Riot Zone & Hellip; then changed it. Retrieved from: http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20110302/rodney-kings-march-3-1991-traffic-stop-and-beating-turned-la-into-a-riot-zone-hellip-then-changed-it. Cavallaro, J. (1997). Police Brutality in Urban Brazil. London: Human Rights Watch. Gray, M. (2014). Rodney King. Retrieved from: http://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/la_riot/article/0,28804,1614117_1614084_1614831,00.html. Linder, D. (2001). The Rodney King Beating Trials. Retrieved from: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/famoustrials/king.php. Palmiotto, M. (2000). Community Policing. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Porter, L. & Prenzler, T. (2012). Police Integrity Management in Australia. Florida: CRC Press. Siegel, L. J. & Senna, J. J. (2006). Essentials of Criminal Justice. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Williams, M. (2012, June 17). Rodney King, whose Videotaped Beating Prompted LA Race Riots, Dies Aged 47. Retrieved from: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jun/17/rodney-king-dies-aged-47. Read More