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Police Brutality Analysis

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It was just a regular summer’s day, watching cartoons in the back of the restaurant as my mom worked. The mood was mellow and the day was slow, but the calm was broken abruptly when I witnessed police brutality first hand. My uncle stormed in the dining area, panting after being chased by the cops for a crime they assumed he committed. Scenes like these occur too often among our society. This issue of police brutality has been hovering over America for a number of years and has yet to be put to a stop. History continuously repeats itself with various cases that frequently end the same. Police officers take advantage of their power and wrongfully abuse suspects during the process of an arrest. The only difference in police brutality from the …show more content…
Neighborhoods all over seek trust from police officers but are let down by their acts of corruption. One survey taker said, “Officers get away with this crime because they are supposed to be protectors of the city, but their actions are just the same as some criminals or violent people” (Scafe). In addition to the protection the police are expected to provide, they are also placed on a pedestal because of their position in law enforcement overall. This combination of supremacy urges media outlets to secure the “super hero role” associated with police officers. Edward J. Enrlich explored the reason behind the media glorifying violent events by saying, “Many program directors simply claim that they are giving viewers what they want. In contrast to this claim, Gebener found that when people were given a choice between violent and nonviolent content, they typically chose nonviolent” (Ehrlich 78). Most media outlets create stories not to provide facts, but to entertain the viewer. Pieces that contain criminal happenings are presumed to be among the most popular works. It is unfair that police have an iron arm over what the public can discover about the abuse some officers enforce upon …show more content…
Both Murray Lee and Alyce McGovern examine how media structures the news in their writing “Cop[ying] it Sweet’: Police Media Units and the Making of News”. The piece included discussion about the power of the police, they said, “As agencies responsible for maintenance, and with a monopoly over the state-sanctioned use of force, police are in a privileged position when it comes to ownership and dissemination of crime information” (Lee and McGovern). Journalists receive information for their articles from police reports or interviews from officers. This information may not contain the total truth and may dispose any actions of police brutality. In an ABC News article they reviewed an altercation between an officer and an unarmed Black male. Like many news outlets the article only included words from the police, it even said “Law enforcement sources told ABCNEWS that the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is reviewing the Sunday night beating” (ABCNEWS). Nowhere in the article was there the voice of the suspect since he was killed, or the voice of any witnesses. Law enforcement has the power to develop the story they want the public to know without being questioned. Journalists simply take the word of the officers and hold it to be the final truths. Instead they need to investigate all parties involved to provide the most accurate

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