...Race Is a Factor in Police Shootings Rosetta Kelly Composition II Tara Turzi 2/15/2015 Race Is a Factor in Police Shootings There was a process that started in 1955 with racism and a 14 year old black teenager named Emmitt Till who was beaten, shot in the head, eyes gouged out, and hung for simply speaking to a white woman. Throughout the years racism and racial profiling progressed from Emmitt Till to recent years targeting another black teen named Trevon Martin. At the age of 17 Trevon Martin, was shot while walking home; his only weapons were a bag of Skittles candy and some juice. The most recent publicized victim of a police shooting was of an unarmed black male named Michael Brown, an eighteen year old who was confronted by the police for jaywalking. Police shootings are an inevitable result of a process that evolved from racism to racial profiling. From the time Africans (Blacks) were snatched from their country, homes and families, and thrown onto slave ships, they were treated like they were less than European Americans, (Whites) and less than human. White Americans went to African villages and stole the people from their families. They subjected these villagers to a cruel sea passage and tremendous abuse. They were kept in bondage by chains, made to work the white’s land, beat, whipped, the women were raped, and all were forced to eat no better than the livestock. They were given just enough food to have energy to work the land without any wages. From...
Words: 2432 - Pages: 10
...Police can not legally shoot a fleeing suspect unless they pose a threat to an officer’s life or the office has the strong belief that the suspect poses a substantial danger to the public. So when Laquan Macdonald, an African- American Chicagoan male , was shot by a police office in 2014 as he was walking away from the police, people were outraged. Many people in Chicago are still feeling the wrath of this shooting as it took over a year for the police to release the dashboard video of the shooting, which resulted in a Chicago Officer facing murder charges. This trend of police shootings unfortunately didn’t stop there. Now in 2016 we are still seeing horrendous events like the Macdonald shooting happen, not only in Chicago but widespread in the United States. A federal civil rights lawsuit was filed against another Chicago officer by the family of Mr. O’Neal, an African-American Chicago man that was shot and killed this month after he...
Words: 550 - Pages: 3
...and still facing many racial issues from the Civil Right Movement till today. Racism and discrimination have always been the most discussed topics when it comes to any society problems, and when it comes to police tactics against Blacks and Hispanics communities. People said that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, yet everyday people are judged just based on their skin color especially black community in New York City. The amount of melanin in people skin should not play a significant role in defining who they are. In essence, racism is something that comes about...
Words: 1348 - Pages: 6
...Racially Biased Policing Turns Fatal B.J. Johnson English 102 December 2014 This past summer on August 9th, in Ferguson Missouri, Officer Darren Wilson heard a dispatcher report of a stealing in progress. Following protocol, Officer Wilson radioed in to offer help to the officers searching for the suspects in question. Wilson’s offer wasn’t needed due to the fact that the suspects had disappeared. Moments later Wilson drove past two young black males and ordered them to move off the street. After a second look, Wilson realized one of the young men matched the description of the stealing progress. Wilson radioed for backup and in little over minute and young man lay dead at the scene. He was unarmed. That young man was Michael Brown; the 18-year-old black boy who’s shooting this past summer sparked a major controversy and raised a lot of questions about Police Shootings in the U.S. and their undeniably pattern of racial issues. Currently young black males risk of being shot by police officers is 21 times more likely greater than young white males (Staples). Due to police tactics motivated by racial profiling, racially bias news and media that enhance minority stereotypes, United States law enforcement is targeting minorities that results in Police Shootings caused by racism. After Michael Brown’s tragic death, many realized that our country had seen similar circumstances like this before. A young, unarmed, black male shot dead, taking with him, the alternative...
Words: 2996 - Pages: 12
...Police brutality is a rising problem and is causing a lot of issues in communities. Having police is an important role of our society but they don't realize how much power they really have. A ot of protest has broken out about Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter. As immigration begins to become less as our new President comes into power Police brutality is rising because of racism, use of maximum force and no supervision; Emergency departments should collect police shootings data, Hire more professional officers and the emergence of helping communities in need. This is such an important issue because whenever it seems to die down it just happens again and it's hard to control. One of the main causes for police brutality to rise is racism....
Words: 1421 - Pages: 6
...States Constitution that are directly related to police and the American people. The Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments cover probable cause, exclusionary rule, arrests, search and seizure, electronic surveillance and lineups; confessions, interrogation, and entrapment; and the right to counsel and interrogation respectively (Peak, 2012). The goal of the Fourth Amendment is to protect the people from the police illegally performing searches and giving the court system and other agencies the power to protect an individual’s rights and privacy. The Fifth Amendment is most known for giving the people the power to avoid self-incrimination and protecting ones right to remain silent in accordance to the Miranda rights. The Sixth Amendment gives the people the right to counsel during interrogation and at trial whether they can afford the attorney or not they are entitled to representation. With the Amendments in mind and the rights of individuals protected some may argue that the work police can do is limited but with the safeguards in place for not only protecting those suspected of criminal activity the laws and policies protect the police as well. When my nephew was 15 he and a friend were shooting at cans with a bb gun and got the not so bright idea to shoot an aerosol can of hairspray the can exploded and shrapnel cut my nephew’s best friend very badly. When the boys got to the emergency room the hospital called the police because the way the can cut the boy they believed...
Words: 897 - Pages: 4
...Police Killings of Unarmed Blacks Introduction According to Fox News, the recent Baltimore riots following the controversial arrest and death of Freddie Gray has left the city with an estimated $20 million in damages (FoxNews, May 28 2015). Besides these damages caused by Baltimore riots, the long-lasting economic impact in Baltimore is even larger than that of natural disasters since businesses see Baltimore as a less attractive place to invest. Additionally, earlier in 2014, after Michael Brown’s shooting and Eric Garner’s chokehold death, violent protests against police killings of unarmed blacks had already taken place across America in many cities. Those outbursts led to huge economic loss and were harmful for social stability. Freddie Gray, Michael Brown and Eric Garner were not the only black unarmed men killed by police. The Guardian’s statistics illustrates how disproportionately black Americans are killed by police: among the 102 unarmed victims killed by police this year, 32% were African Americans compared with 15% of white people (Swaine, Laughland and Lartey, June 1 2015). In other words, unarmed black Americans were more than twice as likely to be killed during encounters with police as white people. Consequently, those outbursts or protests are rooted in legitimate anger toward a justice system that has in many ways failed them. Not as simple as "thugs" and "criminals" Some public and leaders consider Gray’s death not serious enough...
Words: 2025 - Pages: 9
...Lying by omission occurs when the media is hushed and keeps news from the public, and this act happens in the daily lives of Americans. In the modern day, after the law has been enforced on a person, the case is brought to the American Court System. In this system, there are prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and a jury of the peers that work to serve a correct verdict. However, a fair trial does not often happen, especially in the police shooting trials. Therefore, the race of the police officer and the race of the victim creates different punishments during trials. To start off, it might seem that African Americans feel that they are treated inferior to Whites, so they might say that they are often singled out in criminal circumstances and trails even. Some might claim that America has not yet...
Words: 1341 - Pages: 6
...Police Action Shooting Opinion Paper After reading this article, you can see that it shows numerous facts about police action shootings. However, the facts make the situations seem negative. People who aren’t educated in criminal justice would think that police are just shooting to shoot. The only part that would stand out is how many shots were fired at the assailants. Many readers would assume that police are out to kill civilians and criminals, but that is not the case. Police training was sparked after a gunfight on April 5, 1970 that left four CHP officers dead in Newhall, California. There were two convicted felons and four officers involved in this shooting. Between the four officers, there were fifteen rounds fired, yet only one was...
Words: 661 - Pages: 3
...Police shootings have covered media headlines for the past couple of years. As a result of police shootings in 2017, 982 people have been shot and killed. Citizens have continued to riot in cases where this brutality exceeds the standard range of punishment. Fatal shootings have and are becoming common. Police officers responsible for the killings are not held for long before they are released to their normal duties. Studies have noted that police use this force to the minority groups. For instance, African-Americans have confidence that the police use this force on suspects, rather than the ideal victims of the offense. On the other hand, a number of people think that the excessive force is necessary to prevent additional crimes in the society....
Words: 354 - Pages: 2
...In light of recent events, tensions amongst American citizens and police officers have risen due to the alleged use of excessive force and the unjust shootings of African Americans. In the aftermath of such incidents, the integrity of police officers has been called into question, raising the issue of whether or not police should wear body cameras. With increasingly widespread reports of such incidents, it is clear that body cameras do need to be implemented into police forces in order to restore public confidence in police officers. On the 17th of July 2014, Eric Garner was approached by NYPD police officers, on the suspicion of selling cigarettes without tax stamps. Garner responded by saying that he would not be harassed and that he...
Words: 1806 - Pages: 8
...States has recently been combating a war on its own soil, the War on Police. In the last five years, we have seen more negative coverage of law enforcement via the media. Mainstream media has found a way to give only parts or bits of information and use it to their advantage. The information the media uses is not always complete and journalist spin it in a way that is either negative or puts law enforcement agencies in a tough situation in a stressful time. The following will take a look at the most recent coverage the mainstream media has done on law enforcement officer-involved shootings. The following analysis will consist of three parts. First, a general analysis of...
Words: 1764 - Pages: 8
...Police brutality in America is an everyday truth of life. The issue posed by the illegal exercise of police power is a current reality for individuals of color and class. Like the Patrick Lee case, a twenty-one-year-old who was allegedly acting in a strange manner, the officers decided to tasered him nineteen times, spray him with pepper spray and beaten with batons to death for resisting arrest. The jury found that the police did not use excessive force in this case and lawyers said that they (police officers) had done their best with the tools they were given. Another victim was Sean Bell; he was killed by the NYPD when his car was shot at fifty times because they saw a gun inside the car. These two men that were shot at by the police have...
Words: 1929 - Pages: 8
...Roughly four in ten African American citizens actively support the Black Lives Matter movement. Black Lives matter protesters have not only been violent, but they are getting to the point where the protestors are killing and injuring citizens, but they also are vandalizing non supporters property. It began on July 23, 2013. Black Lives Matter protests affect African American lives, police lives, and American citizens live. The effects on the black lives matter movement on African American lives. The protests have affected a lot of lives. A young male named Michael Brown got shot by an officer in Ferguson, Missouri, that's how the Black Lives Matter protests rose. This is an example of how Black Lives Matter protests started and how African Americans feel about white police officers and their decisions. The shootings caused citizens to record videos on their devices because of the fights that happen between African Americans and police officers. That means that people have to record every time a police officer touches someone because if they hurt them then they have evidence against the officer that harmed the citizen, and they should go to jail and be fired instead of getting warnings like some police officers....
Words: 472 - Pages: 2
...my nation and the agency I serve.” The people that take this oath are considered the finest, and noblest people that decided to, selflessly and humbly, dedicate their life to the greater good. According to the oath police officers are supposed to embody honor, faithfulness, integrity, character, courage, accountability, community, and wield the public’s trust. The question is: how many police officers are actually like this? How many can purge themselves of all selfish, irrational beliefs and treat everyone equally? I used to believe that most police officers were exactly what the oath said they were with the minority being the wicked ones, but recently I am starting to believe that reality is the opposite. I’m starting to believe that the wicked police officers are the majority and the just are scarce. “FERGUSON, MO (KTVI) - A shooting in Ferguson has tensions riding high between residents and police. Saturday afternoon, a police involved shooting occurred at the Canfield Green apartment complex in the 2900 block of Canfield. A teenager was shot and killed. An officer from the Ferguson Police Department was involved in the shooting,” says Fox news. This is the news report from August 14, 2014 about the murder of Michael Brown. He was an unarmed African American boy that was “slaughtered by...
Words: 897 - Pages: 4
