By nature we create habits. Those habits will sometimes catch on with a group of people and then they turn into trends. There are a wide range of trends from fashion, to the market and even political ones. The trend that I want to shed light on is one that is startling for many reasons and unacceptable for many more. The trend that I am talking about has to do with the recent coverage of police brutality.
Recently, more and more of our attention is brought to numerous blacks being unlawfully killed by white officers, and we should take notice. As unforgiving an act that is the overall killings by cops in general are a real problem. As of September 1st of this year, there have been an alarming 161 unarmed citizens who have been killed …show more content…
People have been killed by Tasers, but the likeliness of that happening versus that of a firearm is miniscule. Some officers have gone as far to say that they were reaching for their Taser only to find out after discharging that what they in fact grabbed was their gun. You may be familiar with Oscar Grant’s story which was portrayed by actor Michael B. Jordan in the 2013 film titled Fruitvale Station. The officer, who fatally shot Grant, Johannes Mehserle, testified “he had shot Grant accidentally because he thought he had pulled out his Taser, not his utility weapon” (NBC Bay Area). This accident is one that Mehserle will have to live with for the entirety of his life, and whether he’s telling the truth is up for discussion. It’s difficult to believe Mehserle, because an officer’s firearm is holstered on the same side of his dominant hand, with the Taser being placed on the opposite side (CNN). To make it even less likely that a gun is mistaken as a Taser is their size differentials (CNN). A Taser is manufactured to be distinctly larger than any service pistol an officer is authorized to carry (CNN). There’s also the fact that a gun weighs more than a Taser (CNN). I bring this to your attention, because there have been a number of cases that involve this incomprehensible mistake when a person’s life is …show more content…
Every time someone is killed there is a mother or father or community that has to stomach that loss and many times they revolt. The statistics on police brutality are unsettling and suggest that law enforcement not only shows prejudice against certain ethnic groups, but also gets away with it (Aol). For example, “for every 1,000 people killed by police, only one officer is convicted of a crime” (Aol). How could that be, when there are cases of clear wrongdoing on the officer’s part? Now, more than ever, it seems like officers of the law will be held more accountable for their crimes committed while on duty, because of easy access to recording devices such as cell phones and the ability to quickly spread information through social media. I would expect the number of cops convicted of crimes per one thousandth to increase because of the attention cases like that of Walter Scott’s who was shot in the back eight times, while attempting to flee by then officer, Michael Slager (CNN). It is imperative to note that Walter Scott was not only running away from officer Slager, but also at no point was Mr. Scott ever armed, so he posed no threat to anyone within the vicinity he was headed (CNN). Thankfully in this case the officer responsible for Scott’s death was indicted on a murder charge and we have a bystander by the name of Feidin Santana to thank for that