Police Brutality In The Case Of Rodney King

Name Institutional Affiliation Course/Module Title Lecturer Date Police Brutality Introduction Police brutality has tainted the image of the police for a long time in the US. It is not a rare or a new scenario in the American society given the fact that police acts are often justified and glorified in the movies, books and on television. The American government has empowered the police to pursue justice and restore law and order at all times. What is worrying is the extent to which the police officers use their power to achieve their set objectives in a more legitimate manner (Weisburd et al. 12). The police force is allowed to use reasonable violence whenever it is warranted, but the challenge to the central public policy and police agencies is when there is an abuse of this provision. This paper seeks to shed more light on the excessive use of force by the police force that amounts to police brutality and in the end tries to solicit for a lasting solution to the menace. The paper will further mention some of the notable examples that translated to police brutality like in the case of Rodney King, who was beaten by Los Angeles police officers and the torture of Abner Louima by the New York City police. Accountability is an essential virtue in the sanitation of the police force. This has not been the case since police brutality evade liability and most of the perpetrators go unpunished for their crimes. Being servants of the community, police officers should be open to scrutiny by the federal, local and international authorities to avoid violation of the citizen’s human rights. Police have been known to engage in reckless shootings, fatal choking of their subjects, severe beatings and rough treatment. The police is known to cover up for their colleagues who commit these crimes, and this amounts to the total impunity that should be discouraged at all costs (Cothran 20). Police brutality occurs in most of the major cities in the US, which include Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, Indianapolis, Detroit, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington (Cothran 20). Studies indicate that it is quite a hurdle to get the necessary data on police brutality from authorities. There have been minimal cases of police prosecutions in the cases of police brutality. It is worth noting that not all officers participate in these heinous acts, but only a handful of them who taint the image of the police force. Poor recruitment, management, and training of the police force are some of the reasons behind police misconduct. I support Cothran by saying that, police who have a terrible record of brutality or violation of human right should not be hired at all, but instead, they should be prosecuted and be confined to jail for reforms to be achieved. Observers have asserted that the police force in the US lacks proper oversight. Laxity in decision making has always deterred the management in the police force from dismissing abusive officers. A good example of this is the case of Rodney King, Freddie Helms and Bryant Allen’s public beating, which were recorded on camera. The motive behind the beatings was not satisfactory. Most of the African American human rights activist pegged the beatings to racial profiling, though no much justice was realized. The occurrences caused a stir amongst the black people in the U.S., and as such, many protests were held shunning these kinds of inhuman acts (Fryer 1). The more disturbing question is what drives the police to embrace the brutality oblivious of the existing law on the same. According to the US constitution, every citizen has a right to life and fair treatment or representation. Some people have observed that some of these violent acts could be because of inequality and inequity propelled by the fact that the affected citizens could be from a minority group. For instance, a minority race, social class, or ethnic group (Weisburd et al. 12). I propose that the above should be stopped at all costs because all individuals are equal according to the set laws. Community policing is one of the sustainable ways of dealing with police brutality in the case of America. Community policing is when the community is empowered to bring sanity in their neighborhoods. According to a telephone survey conducted in the U.S., approximately 900 police officers were interviewed to present a detailed account of what their views were regarding police brutality in the advent of community policing. Police use excessive force that is not justifiable by law, especially when under immense pressure to do so. However, most of them were quick to confirm that such cases were rare in occurrence. Some police officers despite their knowledge of brutality could ignore their companion officers after the act (Weisburd et al., 13). The media across the world play an instrumental role in ensuring that individual get updated on the latest occurrences around them. However, the police believe th...