RWS 1301 MS.

GALLARDO
College of Engineering

POLICE BRUTALITY
Daniel Escarcega

POLICE BRUTALITY
Abstract:
Police brutality has been around worldwide, but recently, in the United States, the
numbers and statistics of incidents have increased dramatically. From Rodney King
to Treyvon Martin, police officers have committed violations and still happened to
come out innocent. Police brutality has come to affect the communities in a
negative way creating a sense of fear or hatred. A few questions come to mind
when this topic comes up and the first one is what makes an officer act in such
way? Another would be, what people face this the most and why? Many articles and
studies have shown that ethnicity has a lot to do with police brutality, but theyve
also proved that your attitude and resistance is also a big part of this outcome. So
this brings the question; how can we avoid police brutality? We can avoid these
situations by directing politely and also by the simple fact of knowing our own
rights.

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How are we supposed to protect ourselves from our own protection?

Police brutality has been around for years, but recently, the incidents in the
United States have increased dramatically and we need to find ways to avoid
it if possible. Although we cant change our ethnicity or race, we can change
the way we approach an officer and the way we display our attitude. Another
thing that can come very useful is to know basic rights that we own and
apply them while communicating with an officer.
Youtube video US police killings in 2015 provides many statistics and
information about police brutality and how it has increased. This video
provides numbers from the beginning of this year up to July and based on
these months, the numbers of incidents of police brutality in the US have
been the highest. This video states that in that time, about 15 people were
killed by a police vehicle, 19 other people have died after altercations of cop
custodies, 31 have been assassinated by a Taser, and about 476 people have
died due to a gunshot or gunshots. Another good thing this video provides is
the comparison with other countries and it states that the US has one of the
highest numbers of police brutality. The UK has killed the same amount of
people in 24 years than that of the US reached in 4 months. Approximately
776 people have been killed by police brutality this year and according to
this video, 2015 is estimated to be the year with the highest numbers of
these cases so far.

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The book Criminal Justice Theory written by author Dufee and author
Maguire (Chapter 6) states that police are least likely to take legal charge
with someone of lower class or poor status. This would also include
minorities such as; African Americans, Mexican Americans, and any other
race who is not superior in these societies. It also states that resistance,
negative attitude or smart attitude can trigger actions of aggression from a
police officer to a citizen. So police brutality isnt just based on racism, it is
also based on how people treat an officer, making this topic a two sided
story. This book also states that African-Americans are the ones who face
police brutality the most, but it also states that African-Americans seem to be
the ones who give out the most negative attitude. Mexican-Americans come
in number two when it comes to victims facing police brutality, but MexicanAmericans also come in in number two when it comes to citizens displaying
negative attitudes towards police. So does police brutality depend more on
race or attitude? Research on the use of deadly force has dwelt in one
hypothesis that is quite compatible with this theory, namely that minorities
are more likely to be shot (or shot at) by a police officer. This sentence
stated in this book would come out saying that police brutality is based more
off of racism than attitude. If you happen to be a minority, the best thing to
do is to know your rights, such as saying no to an officer if he asks to search
your vehicle, that is if you dont have any warrants, or the right to leave your
window mostly up as long as you can hear the officer clearly. There are many
rights that we have that seem small and irrelevant, but these small things

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can be result of police brutality or not. This book also states that if you
respond and cooperate with an officer in a well behaved manner, your
chances of being a victim of police brutality decrease.
So how are families of victims, victims, and communities affected by
police brutality? Well police brutality brings a sense of fear or hatred when
police units are suppose so bring a sense of protection and comfort. A
perfect example of this is the city of Baltimore. This city came to chaos,
destruction, and aggression due to police brutality. The community rebelled
against officer units and created riots protesting for justice of deaths such as
the one of Freddie Gray. Freddie Gray was well conscious when put inside the
cop vehicle and was not when he came out, Freddie happened to die a week
later. This incident brings out the fact that police brutality doesnt just
happen out in the streets, it could happen in places where people cannot see
so that there is no evidence to be charged for. In the past four years, over
100 people have won court settlements related to police brutality and civil
rights violations. Victims include a 15-year-old boy riding a dirt bike, a 26year-old pregnant accountant who had witnessed a beating, a 50-year-old
woman selling church raffle tickets, a 65-year-old church deacon rolling a
cigarette and an 87-year-old grandmother aiding her wounded grandson.
(Suderman, P. (2015). Freddie Gray and police brutality in Baltimore).
Although there is cases in which people came out with justice, there is still
many more victims who havent. From Rodney King to Treyvon Martin, police
officers have committed violations and still happened to come out

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innocent. Rodney King was brutally beaten with baton sticks breaking
facial bones, leaving him unconscious, and all caught on tape, yet the
officers were proven innocent. California streets became a danger zone to
anyone who wasnt a minority due to the riots trying reach for justice.
Treyvon Martin was shot and killed by Officer Zimmerman and Zimmermans
excuse was that his bag of skittles and his Arizona tea looked like a
dangerous weapon. He also claimed he look suspicious because he was
wearing a black hoodie and because it was an African-American out at night.
Not only did he try to defend himself with a racist comment, he also had no
good reason to shoot his weapon. Zimmerman happened to come out
innocent after the court case.
(Prenzler, T. (2009). Police corruption: Preventing misconduct and
maintaining integrity). Chapter one of this book compares the organization of
police units to gangs. This chapter states that police have acted as so in
some situations. Running extortion rackets, trafficking in narcotics,
systematically stealing from the public, beating up the opposition, and even
engaging in torture and murder, this sentence stated in chapter one can
really bring to the audience that police organizations at times could be
gangs. Police corruption can be a very big factor when it comes down to
police brutality. The reason being is because they are getting away with this
corruption and they feel superior and take advantage. Celebrity Curtis 50
Cent Jackson was interviewed a while back and he himself as a gang
member, says that police units are the biggest gangs in New York at least in

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the area where he grew up. He claims that police officer will cruise through
the neighborhood and arrest innocent African-Americans in their yards for no
apparent reason. In the interview, Curtis is sitting on his grandmothers
porch and walks inside because a police vehicle was driving by and he was
afraid he would have got arrested for his clothing and appearance. Curtis
was also not being biased to the topic because he admitted that they were
the ones who would provoke police to shootouts or aggressive actions. He
said that if it wasnt for the corruption the local gangs brought to the
community, police wouldnt be as precautious towards African-Americans. He
says that sometimes officers are afraid and therefor commit police brutality
unintentionally to innocent people because of the reputation certain
neighborhoods have.
Police brutality can very well be avoided if you keep calm, cooperate,
follow instructions, and put your rights to use. Even though police brutality
can be caused by negative attitudes, racism in police brutality does exist and
we have to be aware of it. Police brutality is a reality that people face and
people live in, but we should strive as a community to break stereotypes and
become well educated so that police wont ever have an excuse to commit
police brutality.

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Reference Page

Duffee, D., Maguire, E. (2015). Criminal justice theory: Explaining the

nature and behavior of

criminal justice. 711 Third Avenue, New

York NY 10017. 6:159-162.

The Guardian. (2015). US police killings in 2015: inside the shocking numbers in
2 minutes.
[YouTube] available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=gapvCZ2ofJ4.

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Prenzler, T. (2009). Police corruption: Preventing misconduct and

maintaining integrity. 6000 broken sound parkway, NW suite 300. 1:1-5.