...questions later. In the past few years that have gone by we seen a lot of unarmed black males killed by white police officers and how the police officers got a “pat on the back” and let go. This caused an uproar among the black community and it caused them to come together and protest that justice be served. It all started back in 2012 when George Zimmerman was acquitted for the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. But before Trayvon there was Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old who got shot by BART police officer Johannes Mehserle in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2009. Oscar and his friends were involved in an altercation on the train which needed the police to get involved. He was then...
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...When I saw we would be watching Fruitvale Station, I was overcome by memories. I am from the city Pleasant Hill which is no more than half an hour away from Hayward. In 2009 when Oscar Grant was shot, everyone had heard about it. For the entire week you couldn’t talk to someone without the shooting being mentioned. At the time I was only in 6th grade starting high school. I did not know anyone directly related to Oscar Grant, however during this tragedy everyone felt connected to him personally. His case is what sparked many protests in the Bay Area and moved the topic of police brutality into discussion. I thought I had known the entire story based on news reports but seeing this movie really made him seem as more than just a struggling black...
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...Tennessee v. Garner, (1985) is a landmark Supreme Court case that required the court to determine the constitutionality of the use of deadly force to prevent the escape of an apparently unarmed suspect. During this time the officer in question was acting under the authority of a Tennessee statue and Police Department policy. The statue stated, “[i]f, after notice of the intention to arrest the defendant, he either flee or forcibly resist, the officer may use all the necessary means to effect the arrest.” The department policy allows the use of deadly force in the case of burglary, but is more restrictive than the statue. This case never saw action after the incident until the suspect’s father brought the issue to the Federal District Court...
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...Evaluating the Moral Justification of Force in the UK Police Consequentialism and the Use of Deadly Force Among Police Personnel in the UK Against a backdrop of a democratic society, the use of deadly force by the police in countries such as the UK seems implausible for human rights activists. First, police officers are expected to uphold the human rights of every individual hence, civilian rights are always preserved even in criminal cases where the due process of law is considered to be the golden standard in the judicial system. Thus, threading the line between regulations and policies of the agency as well as the ethical and moral dilemma in the use of deadly force predisposes police officers to question the legitimacy as well as the moral justifications in their use of deadly force. While several philosophical theorists have argued for different justifications through philosophical theories, the theory of consequentialism appears to be the one that closely justifies the use of deadly force among the police. Before examining the moral and ethical arguments for the use of deadly force using the consequentialist paradigm, let us first examine the important aspects of deadly force and the use of it by the UK police. First, deadly force as defined by Geller and Scott (23) pertains to the force reasonably capable of causing death or bodily harm. According to this definition, an act that can kill should be consumated before it can be considered as a deadly force hence; threats...
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...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...
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...violence is best contained or ceased once confronted by a violent source. Many argue that law enforcement holds too much power and abuses violent methods. Law enforcement is aware of their capability of violence and amount of power they possess. These characteristics cause people to question whether the acts of violence can be justified. Police...
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...The Effort in Ending Police Brutality In 2015 alone nearly 1,000 lives were taken by police officers in the US. Many are outraged by the excessive force taken by officers who vowed to keep the citizens of our nation safe. When police officers are placed in danger they use their extensive training to handle perpetrators to the best of their ability, but what happens when a police officer uses that training improperly and cannot effectively justify themselves? In an effort to hold those accountable for the violence attributed to police brutality, the public should have access to evaluate police body camera footage. With a large number of deaths claimed to be an act of racism, body cameras must be shown to the public in order to find those responsible...
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...Melissa Wilson Professor Donovan SOC 104 14 November 2014 Tale of Two Fergusons The tragic shooting of Michael Brown occurred on August 9th, 2014, in a St. Louis suburb, Ferguson. Michael Brown, Darren Wilson, a 28-year-old white police officer, shot down an 18-year-old African American boy. Brown and his friend were walking down the street when Wilson drove up and ordered them to move onto the sidewalk. Brown was leaning through the window of the patrol car, and Darren Wilsons gun went off inside the car. As Brown ran away, the officer got out of his car. Wilson shot at Brown six times, killing him, and igniting more than a week of protest and outrage on all media outlets. The police say that Michael Brown was shot during a fight for...
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...faced 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...
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...immediately began to take hostile measures toward the Jewish people. The government passed special legislation that excluded Jews from the protection of German law. The property of Jews was then legally seized, and concentration camps were set up in which Jews were executed, tortured, or condemned to slave labor. The Nazis organized sporadic and local massacres which occurred in a nationwide program in 1938. After the outbreak of World War II anti-Semitic activity increased dramatically. By the end of the war, millions of Jews and others targeted by the Nazis, had been killed in the Holocaust. The Jewish dead numbered more than 5 million: about 3 million in killing centers and other camps, 1.4 million in shooting operations, and more than 600,000 in Polish ghettos. Who were the men that carried out these terrible murders? One would think them to be savage killers specially selected for their history of brutality and violence. But, in fact, these men were typically normal middle-aged business men. How could these ordinary men be influenced in such a way to allow them to commit such atrocities? The governmental policies, pressures of comrades and individual behaviors helped to transform these men into the mass murderers of European Jews that they soon became. The government and the military were very important to the transformation of these men. The men of the battalions were often told how the German race...
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...black male deaths at the hands of white police officers. “For decades the United States has had a history of deadly racially tinged police confrontations, many of them involving unarmed black men.” (Lizette Alvarez, New York Times) The United States police departments have been constantly under review for unjustified shootings within the black community. “ At least seven U.S police departments have been subjects of federal review since the wake of fatal police shootings since 2010.” (Kevin Johnson, USA Today) Are white cops really that scared of young black males to kill them? Or are they just using their race power to kill of black males without getting in trouble? Most...
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...like these are normal by the products of imperialism ask any anglo indian official” Imperialism also promotes racism, prejudice, and resentment. The oppressors continues to break rules and disregards rights in order to stay in power and to show control of the land and people. This increases resentment in natives as shown in the story that even though the elephant does not have any strength the officer wants to make sure that it dies, “lands a bullet after a bullet to put the beast to end”, meaning the oppressor wants to make sure that enough damage is done to those oppressed that they are completely broken and have no ways to resent or to retaliate. Even though the elephant stood their and was calm the officer still made the decision of shooting it basing on the “yellow faces” as he mentions would have thought of him as weak or fool if he hadn’t shot the elephant. This certainly shows that the oppressor would do anything in his power regardless of it being right or wrong, moral or immoral, humane or inhumane, etc...to make himself look powerful and in control and we can also see that in the statement made by the officer Orwell narrates that: “It was a tiny incident in itself, but it gave me a better glimpse than i had had before of the real nature of imperialism-the real motives for which despotic governments act.”...
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...Use of Force “Police rarely face charges after a deadly encounter with a civilian. When they do, the case rarely ends with a conviction.” The use of force has been questioned a lot lately because of the recent police shooting. The amount of force is necessary is unique to each situation, may change as a situation evolves, and often depends on the experience level of the officer. Use of force is an accepted part of police work. Just making an arrest is a use of force. The use of force is allowed by law until the force becomes excessive, at which point the action becomes criminal. Excessive force refers to a situation where government officials legally entitled to use force exceed the minimum amount necessary to diffuse an incident or to...
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...Police Use of Force Introduction When we look at the term, use of force, and how the police use this for the protection of the officers and the lives of others, this becomes a very debatable part of a police officer's job. The U.S. has experienced a number of incidents over the course of 20 years involving police use of force that are cause for concern among the public. People get upset about perceived misuse of police force, but say little when police officers are gunned down or seriously injured during violent encounters or situations that escalate to lethal action. It is important to know that police departments strive to reduce the amount of use of force incidents within their respective agencies. Are there alternatives to a potentially deadly encounter? One may ask, Can the officer step back and call for assistance? If the suspect's identity is known, rather than engaging in a foot pursuit, can an officer make an arrest later? Can the officer not shoot to kill? Can the officer shoot in a non-life threatening part of the body? By nature, every situation is different and must be evaluated on an individual basis. Stepping back is not always an option for an officer. When the life of an officer is threatened by someone pointing a gun at them, or by any other life threatening means, and not knowing the assailant’s intentions, this forces the officer to make a split-second decision. That decision will determine if the officer will live or die. In the early nineties...
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...Introduction Gordon Sinclair’s book “Cowboys and Indians: The Shooting of J.J. Harper” is the author’s account of a Native man’s fatal encounter with police and the aftermath for years to follow. The book opens with a description of the incident where J.J. Harper was killed, and flows into the subsequent police investigation of one of their own members. The resulting court proceedings, inquiries, and inquests are examined where Sinclair cites witness testimony, evidence and exhibits, media stories, and his personal interviews with police and civilians involved. This essay will examine a series of analytical questions in response to the book including the main point and underlying themes, suggestions given by the title, content regarding Aboriginal/police relationships, the author’s attempt at a moral lesson and finally evidence of heavy bias shown by the author. The reason I have identified this book as “the author’s account” rather than “the true account” of the story is because Sinclair’s personal bias shines through nearly every page of this book. Many crucial details have been omitted because they would be oppressive to the Indian perspective and give credibility to the fact that the cowboys acted lawfully in eliminating the threat of Harper. This bias will be further examined later. Background The book opens with a detailed description of the early hours of March 9, 1988 where Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) members were involved in the pursuit of a stolen vehicle. This...
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