people would not consider this excessive force.
Should police brutality be considered a misrepresentation of police self
defense? Is the mission of police officers clearly defined and understood? Does stress
contribute to Police brutality? Is police brutality a serious? These were questions
asked in my interview with two Toledo police officers. The first officer I interviewed
was very irritated by my questions, whereas the second officer was very receptive in
answering my question. Both officers answered each question with the same answer,
yet their attitude and response to me and the interview were quite different. Both
officers felt police brutality was a form of self defense and misrepresented, but the
agitated officer was very firm in stating that police brutality was over rated .
Their response to police brutality being a serious problem was absolutely not and
of course the first officer was up in arms about this particular question. The agitated
officer then went on to explain to me that my questions for the interview were a type
of entrapment and that I was forcing the answer I wanted . Well I must say I
disagree, because I did not receive the answer I d hope for and the second officer was
very careful at the selection of words used to answer the question, but he was very
nice about the situation. Both officers were clear in stating that an police officers
mission is well defined and understood, both agreed that stress may (neither would
give a yes/no answer) contribute police brutality. Bye the end of the interview I was
left with the feeling that in the public eye, wether it s student interview or anyone else
officers try to uphold the law to the letter, but behind that blue wall of silence there is
much to be learned. The fact that the one officer was so irritated , but yet, he still
allowed me to do the interview, leaves me with a question mark (?) Or some
unforseen truths.
Not all police officers are brutal, but these sub groups that exist within many
police organizations are unacceptable and it s demoralization of the citizens within
these communities. Larger cities are unable to account for these police sub groups
considering their employment of police officials range in the thousand therefore
making it almost impossible to keep track of every single officer. This allows cops to
act on their own discretion, more so to their own law than to the letter of the law.
This misuse of authority must be monitored so police don t forget who they are
serving, the public. This means that even criminals, have certain rights to inhumane
acts of aggression and brutality against them, whereas, law abiding citizens have
those same rights. Campaigns to control police brutality should be affirmed, so their
superiors are able to identify those officers in trouble of crossing that line of
brutality. Incidents of inappropriate misuse of physical force, should be investigated
when brought to an superiors attention, whether citizen complaint or an officers
complaint. There are actually officers that turn informant on other officers, but their
confronted with anger, threats and the risk of being a outcast. Which, of course
deters an officer to step forward when they know about accounts of brutality and
misuse of police authority by their peers. Police departments themselves cover up
such unethical acts through the code of silence and anyone who snitches is
reprimanded, however, it should be the police officers who commit such vicious
crimes against others that should be reprimanded. Without these accounts of police
misconduct police brutality will be allowed to flourish, but without the justice system
unable to prosecute and control their own police brutality will continue to rise and
plague our communities. There has always been methods to controlling police
brutality, but obviously these methods need to be enhanced and recreated to
successfully ensure that when police officers step over those lines of excessive force
that their held accountable for their actions. There is a difference between excessive
force and using too much force, however, when you kill a person and beat them to
death while in handcuffs officers and their superiors should know that they ve
stepped over line of brutality.
Police officers have too much control and power and abuse their authority. Is
police brutality a serious problem? The answer is yes, it s a serious problem and if
we as citizens allow this problem to flourish anymore than it already has over the
years, the police will be unable to protect us from the criminals, because we as the
people will be to busy trying to protect ourselves from the officials recruited to
protect and serve us. Justice needs more structure with the unstructured wall of
justice system or the plague of police brutality will continue to affect us all.
Work Cited
Books
Roleff, Tamara L., ed. Greenhaven Press: Police Brutality , San Diego, CA, 1999.
Winters, Paul A., ed. Greenhaven Press: Policing the Police , San Diego, CA, 1995.
Interview
Personal interview. 24 July 2000
Personal interview. 24 July 2000
World Wide Web
Anderson, David. Policing the Police of American Prospect Sirs database, 1999.49-54
Shielded from Justice Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States
Shielded from Justice: Code of silence
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