Police Brutality Essay, Research Paper

?But they didn?t have to beat me this bad. I don?t know what I did to be beat up.? Rodney King, March 3, 1991.

Police brutality has been a long lasting problem in the United States since at least 1903 when police Captain Williams of the New York Police Departmen coined the phrase, ?There is more law at the end of a policeman?s nightstick than in a decision of the Supreme Court.? In the 1920?s the Wichersham Commission had a number of instances of police brutality. Many of these included the use of the ?third degree? (beating to obtain a confession). This is a very effective way to get a confession out of somebody. However, beating the accused could easily elicit a confession from a scared and innocent person. Also, this puts the accused person?s life in danger. Police officers must make snap life and death decisions daily. Officers? work in an environment where death (theirs, their partners, and an innocent or guilty person) is one decision away. How does that constant fear effect an officer?s perception? Unfortunately, many that are attracted to law enforcement are aggressive and prone towards violence as a solution. Police officers have a lot of power. With this power comes responsibility.

Police brutality can be defined as the excessive or unreasonable use of force in dealing with citizens, suspects and offenders. A nationally known example occurred on the morning of March 3, 1991. Rodney King was pulled out of his vehicle and beaten by two Los Angeles police officers. The LAPD had originally given chase to Mr. King?s vehicle due to a failure to yield. Officers fired a 50,000-volt Taser electric dart gun at Mr. King. They also hit King with batons. Mr. King, according to police officials, was hit approximately 56 times. Mr. King had 11 broken bones at the base of his skull. Also, the bones holding his eye in the right socket were broken (LA Times March 19, 1991 p. A20).

The policemen reported that Mr. King appeared to be on PCP at the time he was pulled over. Subsequent tests indicated Mr. King had no drugs or alcohol in his system (Serrano, 1991 p. A1). The Rodney King incident was however, captured by a private citizen on videotape. This videotape has subsequently been broadcast nationally and the ensuing trial against the police officers involved captivated our nation.(LA Times March 19, 1991 p. A20).

Twenty-seven uniformed officers witnessed this incident from various law enforcement agencies. None of the officers (those individuals who are supposed to protect citizens) made any effort to stop this abuse.(LA Times March 19, 1991 p. A20).

The level of escalation even went so far as to call in a police helicopter! (Ironically, the lights from the helicopter actually improved the lighting for the videotape.)

The King beating brought complaints from the Mayor of Los Angeles Tom Bradley and national attention from civil rights leaders. Many believed the beating was racially motivated and extended from a pattern of abusive behavior by police towards blacks. (McDonald 1991) This act of violent behavior from police officers has brought many questions to the national table, such as:

? Is police brutality on the rise?

? Is the police hiding behind their badges?

? How does the public view police brutality?

? How can we raise public awareness?

Is police brutality on the rise? This is an important question to ask ourselves and the police departments. A study in seventeen counties in Northern California indicated that in the past two years excessive force and neglect has resulted in at least seven deaths and fatal injury. (Saari, no date) In fact a nine-month period from August 26, 1996 to June 29, 1997 seven citizens died as a result of police brutality. Sonoma County California currently has the highest rate of custody deaths in the bay area (Saari). In many cases the situation (according to police accounts) has rapidly escalated to a point where police feel the need to use deadly force. Many of those committing crimes are mentally ill. The Sonoma County Alliance for the Mentally Ill advises that police officers in confrontations with people experiencing psychiatric episodes:

? Speak calmly and quietly

? Slow down the pace

? Be willing to repeat yourself

? Do not try to hurry a resolution

This increase in violence is part of a toughened criminal justice system, which includes the war on drugs, the building of new prisons, and the garnering of federal habeas corpus rights. (Kerstetter, 1985 p.160) This rise in police brutality may come from a quick criminalization of people because the public wants safer streets and quick action by the police. (Rockwell, 1997) Pressure has been put on police to deal with the criminals, juveniles and other public problems, so it ?reasons? that an overburdened police officer finds people or a group of people committing some kind of crime that they just beat the hell out of them to save time instead of arresting the assailants and filling out the proper paper work. (U.S. Department of Justice. (1994)

An incident in the New York subway illustrates what (due to the public?s level of fear) police officers are doing to suspicious albeit innocent citizens. July 1998 around 11 o?clock at night 18 year old Lani Soto was riding the New York subway train (Herbert, 1999). She had just left work and was on her way to Williamsburg, where she lives,

when one of two officers came up to where she was sitting. The officer started asking her questions when one of them told her to stand up, she said no and the officer grabbed her by the hair and pushed her face into the train door. Then the police officer claimed to be frisking her. Instead of doing a routine frisk the officer put his hand in between her legs and then on her breasts. This was done for longer than necessary to ascertain whether or not she carried a weapon. When the train stopped and the doors opened Lani stepped off the train and the police officers stood on the train laughing at her. It is not uncommon for officers to stop and ask questions or frisk a suspicious person or persons in the New York subway. But, to go as far as sexual harassment and beating these suspects is wrong. (Houppert, 1999 p. 40)

Another case to support the statement of police abusing their power is Shawn Robbins, a 30 year old associate director for CBS Sports (Houpert, 1999). Mr. Robbins was on his way to the gym on November 20, 1997 when he noticed a man cleaning out his car by tossing trash out on the street. The smell and the sight of the trash being thrown right onto the street became so overwhelming that Robbins felt he had to say something. He said to the man, ?There?s a trash can over on every block in the city, why don?t you put it in the garbage?? Then the man relpied, ?If you wanna pick it up, you *censored*ing pick it up!? Robbins picked up a coffee cup and set it on the trunk of the off duty police officer?s car. At that point, the officer proceeded to arrest him for no reason at all. Officer Brian Moran threatened to pull out his gun and put it to Robbins head. Robbins was taken down town to the 17th precinct and charged with ?disorderly conduct?. After being held for several hours, Mr. Robbins was released. (DeSantis, 1994 p. 4)

On his way out of the police station Mr. Robbins asked for the officer?s name that had arrested him. The officer behind the desk told him to get out of the station or he was ?really going to get it?. So the police threatened Mr. Robbins for a second time. On March 23rd criminal court quickly dismissed the charge against Robbins. Robbins also filed a complaint and a civil rights suit. Alleging police brutality, false arrest, and false imprisonment. The civilian complaint review board obtained the report and found the officer Moran?s version of events. Moran said that he told Robbins that the trash wasn?t his. He also said he never used the word ?*censored*.? The desk officer denied making the threatening statement. Just because a cop has had a bad day at work or for whatever else that is bothering him doesn?t give him the right to take advantage of his position. (DeSantis, 1994 p.4)

Out of the cases reviewed, it sounds like that just because the officer on the subway had nothing better to do, he decided to harass a young woman. The officers felt like they had the power to do anything they wanted without any reason at all. In the incident with Shawn Robbins where the officers falsely arrested a man for trying to keep the streets clean in his neighborhood, an off duty officer had a bad day and took his aggression out on the first person to push the wrong buttons. These cops do what they do because they have a badge, a gun and because they can.

With police brutality on the rise and public awareness becoming more frequent, what can the public do? Must the people in the United States live with police brutality? What about a citizen who is in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or even a person arrested for asking some one to pick up their trash as in the Shawn Robbins case.

Asking someone to pick up his or her trash is not a crime (shouldn?t Mr. Robbins be commended for this?) Unfortunately, Mr. Robbins was slammed against a brick wall and yelled at and arrested because a cop in my opinion had nothing better to do.

There are different ways in which to reduce police brutality.

? Training of new officers

? Mandated continuing officer education/counseling

? Pre-qualify new officers

? Public review boards

The first, better education of young, new police officers. These officers need to be trained in appropriate behavior. How about teaching new officers communication and negotiation skills? Medical personnel and attorneys can reasonably be compared to police officers, because they make life and death decisions. They, like the police, are allowed to perform otherwise illegal acts in their daily business. Attorneys must prosecute, defend, and/or interpret the laws we require our young, undereducated, underpaid police officers to abide by. Only these officers must make these life threatening and legal decisions in a split second. Police officers often must meet minimal educational requirements to qualify for their jobs. (DeSantis, 1994) Are we asking or expecting too much? Should we require the officers be trained, educated in the law as well as other communication skills?

On going education and counseling for all officers should be mandated. Following is a quote by former police officer Cherokee Paul McDonald:

I ALWAYS wished there were some way to capture the moment on the street, preserve it intact, with the sounds and smells and feels of the confrontation.

It would have been so much easier for the judge, the jury, and the parents to understand why the brutal police officer had treated their young defendant/son so terribly.

The National Institute of Justice reports that five different profiles were identified when psychologists characterized officers at risk for excessive force. The popular stereotype that a ?few bad apples? are responsible for most, if not all, excessive force complaints was not supported by these responses; both individual personality characteristics and organizational influences were identified as contributing to abuse of force. Following are the responses when psychologists were asked about the characteristics of police officers referred to them for counseling because of excessive force problems:

? 16 percent had personality disorders that placed them at chronic risk for excessive use of force.

? 17 percent had previous job related experiences that could place them at risk for abuse of force.

? 18 percent were young an immature officers at early stages in their police careers.

? 21 percent developed patrol styles that incorporated the routine use of force.

? 28 percent experienced personal problems.

Stress is an inevitable and inescapable fact of a police officer?s life on a daily basis. Education on stress management, emotional trauma, communication, negotiation skills, etc. should be mandated from the top of the profession to those officers walking a beat on the street. Police officers need education on appropriate outlets and behavior for their anger and/or aggression resulting from an extremely dangerous (physically and mentally) job.

Pre-qualifying new officers could save lives as well as money on costly lawsuits. Psychological screening is employed to varying degrees by different departments, it is not standardized, which leaves many open cracks through which potentially disturbed people can fall ? straight into uniform (DeSantis, 1994). The National Institute of Justice Research Report found that 71% of police psychologists practiced pre-employment screening. Of the 71% following is the data on pre-employment screening practices.

? 96 percent used psychological tests.

? 91 percent used clinical interviews.

? 22 percent used risk assessment models.

? 15 percent used situational tests.

? 4 percent used job simulations.

Are we putting power and weapons in the hands of those who are prone towards the misuse of them? Psychological testing background checks, and counseling with new recruits could weed out officers who are on a power trip. (U.S Department of Justice, 1994)

Police forces throughout the U.S. must be made more accountable for their actions by the establishment of effective monitoring mechanisms. National, state, and local police authorities should ensure that police brutality and excessive force are not tolerated. There are many organizations where you can file a complaint. Wayne Kerstetter, (1985), has identified different types of citizen?s complaint and review boards. Keep in mind that these boards are mainly made up of non-police, non-sworn police personnel and are outside an independent form of police departments. (Kerstetter, 1985 p. 160) These organizations don?t have the power to recommend disciplinary action in any of the cases. Previously, a comparison between police officers and those in the medical field along with attorneys was made. (Kerstetter, 1985 p. 160) These fields have review boards (albeit they are made up of medical and legal colleagues). We need to look for a national standard for our police officers. There are national standards, tests and regulations for these professionals. Independent citizen?s boards serve as a check or safeguard over the policing process. These watchdog or safeguard groups can prove useful to the public. Even so these groups have no say in the power to decide or impose punishment. This is why we need national standards and regulations. Disciplinary action currently lies in the police department. There is a need for some kind of outside organization to assist the citizen who?s unsatisfied with police department?s treatment or internal investigation. (U.S. Department of Justice, 1994)

Police officers are faced with difficult decisions daily. Not only difficult decisions but also they must interact with some of the worst, most dangerous elements in our society. And they chose to do this. Our officers have a sworn duty to protect, to serve, and to uphold the law. Yes, it would appear police brutality is on the rise in America. Citizens should demand their elected officials set stringent standards for hiring and training these officers.

?They say the things you see on this job will kill you?but the ones you don?t see will kill you sooner.?

Former officer Cherokee Paul McDonald 1991

Bibliography

1. ?A perspective on the Rodney King incident.? (1991, March 19). Los Angeles Times, p. A20.

2. DeSantis, J. (1994). The new untouchables. Chicago: The Noble Press.

3. Herbert, B. (1999, February 14). What?s going on. New York Times.

4. Houppert, K. (1999, February 2). Jailhouse shock. Village Voice. p. 40.

5. Kerstetter, W. (1985). Who disciplines the police? Who should? In Police Leadership in America: Crisis and Opportunity. (p. 160). New York: Praeger Ed.

6. McDonald, C.P. (1991) Blue truth. New York: Donald I. Fine.

7. Rockwell, R. (1997, August 14). Police brutality: more than just a few bad apples. Available: HTTP: http//www.walrus.com/users/resist/ndp/282497rockwell.html.

8. Saari, K. (). Police brutality is on the rise. Available: HTTP: http//www.sonomacountyfreepress.org/police/brutality.html.

9. Serrano, R.A. (1991, March 20). L.A. police downplay beating. Los Angeles Times, p. A1

10. U.S. Department of Justice. (1994). National Institute of Justice Research Report: The Role of Police Psychology in Controlling Excessive Force. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

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