English 102 Essay 4 - Grade: A PDF

Preview

Summary

Essay ...

Description

Kionte Stewart Covington English 102 11/22/16 Police Brutality: What we can do as a community? THE PROBLEM For many years police brutality has affected communities all across this great nation but, for the past 2 years it has caught national attention. Police brutality had been under the radar until it gained media attention in early 2014. Every time a person is shot, injured, or even killed by a police officer we began to question our police force in our communities. Communities across this nation want to know what we can do to fix these problems between citizens and police. As citizens of America we are left with questions about the very people who are hired to protect and serve our communities. Every time police misconduct occurs people say what we can do but never come up with valid solutions or, go through with plans to put an end to a community divide. “We should have respect for the law and we should be respected by the law”-Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Johnson). Police Brutality has effected American citizens all through this country in possibly almost every state. Some instances have happen close to home which has left people questioning our law enforcement. According to an article in the Washington Post, a Kershaw, South Carolina native Lori Jean Ellis was in her home when officers surrounded her home with a bench warrant. They then broke into her home, and the officer gave her a fatal shot to the back of the head (Balko). Officers of the Kershaw Police Department believed she was dangerous but, she only had a bench warrant for open container violation which she failed to

appear in court. They also gave an excuse of her history which only included misdemeanors like driving on a suspended license, another failure to turn over suspended license, and a bounced $219 check. Further investigation led to finding out one of the officers who killed Lori Jean Ellis was an off duty officer and used a high powered rifle. Lori Jean Ellis’s story is the story of so many who fall victim at the hands of police officers all because of the feeling of being threatened. It makes me think had those officers known her and what she had been through they would have been more considerate before just killing her. Part of the problem is that officers have a sense of fear because they don’t know the people they serve and protect. Another incident that took place close to home was in Charleston, South Carolina with Walter Scott and ex-officer Michael Slager. According to an article in the New York Times, Michael Slager shot Walter Scott 8 times as Walter began to flee from a traffic stop. This incident really effected the people of South Carolina because, it was shown in the video that the officer tried to place a stun gun near Walter Scott’s body to come up with an excuse. The officer has been officially been brought up on charges for involuntary manslaughter (Schmidt). This past summer another incident would take place in the Carolinas but, this time in Charlotte, North Carolina. According to an article on CNBC official website, a Charlotte native Keith Lamont Scott was murdered by an officer CMPD (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department). Police claimed the Keith Scott had a gun but, other say he wasn’t armed at the time he was shot and killed (Semad). This incident left Charlotte in a state of unrest as Mayor Pat McCrory would call for a State of Emergency after massive protests erupted in Charlotte (Semad). Police brutality is not only effecting us close to home but, has become national problem. There have been numerous cases of police brutality nationally like the deaths of Mike Brown (Ferguson, MI), Eric Garner (New York City), Sean Bell (New York City), and countless others (see list attached to paper of Police brutality incidents). According to an article in Washington Post, this year alone 839 people have been murdered by police.

The article also say that in 2015, 991 people were fatally shot by police officers. According to a map on the article’s page most incidents take place in Southeastern, Northeastern, and parts of the Midwest of the United States. These incidents have left the American people wondering what can be done to put an end to this growing conflict between police and communities. THE SOLUTION There are many solutions to prevent the increase in police brutality incidents in the United States. If I was a politician running for an office in either state or federal level, police brutality would be an issue I would address. First I would introduce other local, state, or national elected officials to community policing, because we need to build better communications between the communities and the officers that serve in the communities. Community policing was inspired by Officer Tommy Norman of North Little Rock, Arkansas after videos surfaced of him giving back to the community he served. He had been doing this for years but videos went viral of him connecting with the community her served. In his community he connects with the people by giving out food, clothes, and toys to those in need (Joseph). His 18 year experience has taught him to connect with the people by being friendly to the people of his community. We need to map out a plan to have meet and greets with officers who serve our community. I would push for citizens of different communities to put together events at churches, schools, and even hold neighborhood parties so that officers can connect with the community they serve. It should be mandatory that every officer meets every person in the community they serve. This will help close the divide between communities and police officers to prevent things like police brutality. We also need to encourage our state elected officials to fight for laws to be put in place to prevent police brutality incidents from occurring. There needs to be changes in our judicial system because,

officers who commit murder without signs of clear and present danger should punished as a civilian not given special treatment just because they are a part of law enforcement. Laws play a big role in how the police interacts with people of different communities because, some laws are causing rifts between the people and the police. Police really crack down being in certain places after hours, open container laws, and drug laws. I believe we need to lessen the offenses of these laws because some people are being charged for the pettiest crimes we law enforcement should be focused on serving and protecting communities not tearing them apart. As a future politician I would push for laws to put an end to petty crimes because, a lot of people are jailed every year because of small crimes. Crimes like shoplifting, disorderly conduct, and open container should not result in someone having a warrant for their arrest. I would also put an end to paying for expungement of a record after a person has paid their fine because, a lot people are jailed for crimes they committed in the past. A lot of people are arrested over and over again for crimes they have already payed for. I would make a law stating that when a person pays their fine or does time for a crime their records will be immediately expunged. Another way we could prevent police brutality is by listening to the people, we can hold open forums to the public to express their grievances. I think the people we elected into office should here our voices even after they are elected. The people of communities need to know that their vote didn’t go to waste, especially in the black community because the main focus was to look for someone who would take on police brutality. We as citizens need to hold the people we elect accountable to take on issues that concern many people of our communities. In my community I would hold a town hall for the citizens and police because we need to have open dialogue about the incidents that affect us at home. I think it would be great for officers to sit and listen to the people because the world would be a better place if we all just got along.

We also need to eliminate how officer who commit crimes are brought up on charges. In majority of cases the criminal justice system has brought officers up on lesser charges, this brings heartbreak to the victim’s families. Many people believe that the lives that were taken by police don’t even matter because, the criminal justice system seems to be in favor of the officer. We have officers working side by side with lawyers and judges to work in their favor so they can get lesser crimes or even get off. As a future politician I would push for laws to be in place to make it mandatory that they are brought up on charges. The case in Ferguson for example the officer who shot Mike Brown was cleared of all charges. Taking someone’s life no matter who you are you should be brought up on charges. The special treatment that officer who committed crimes while on duty gets needs to come to an end. The worst that an officer has got is a manslaughter charge or second degree murder because, they will make statements that their life was in danger. Our criminal justice system would need to increase special prosecution for police misconduct (Jawando. There are 420 cases that are proven justifiable because, our prosecutors are not indicting officers on charges who commit police misconduct (Jawando). There are a lot of concerns when it comes to the training of the police because, some training tactics have led to the use of excessive force in police brutality incidents. Many police officers are trained to treat every situation is if it were there last which, presents problem number one because why should an officer be prepared to fight for the life in undangerous situations. Simple tasks that an officer takes on should not require the use of deadly force because, they feel like their life is in danger. In most police brutality incidents they are dealing with people on petty crimes which should require a fine or a simple arrest. Reforming police training would costs less tax dollars then having to pay settlements to victim’s families (DeBerry). Many cities have spent millions of state money to pay these families after these police brutality incidents. The training that officers have led to

discrimination because, some of the police misconduct that has taken place is because of the discriminatory training that they receive. As a politician I would put an end to discriminatory training to prevent these deaths from happening. I would make the federal government become fully responsible for handling and overseeing police at states and local levels. Since the federal government funds law enforcements with $3.8 million each year, they should oversee any corruption or misconduct happening in the police departments. I would also push for laws to prevent officer’s use of force in different situations. We need to provide training that only has the officer using force when danger is present. Use of unnecessary force should result in charges against that police officer. Communities and police should have better communications to prevent police brutality in the future. As citizens we should push our politicians and local police forces to work together to decrease the number of people killed by cops each year. As Americans we are tired of seeing our sons and daughter being taken away from their mothers and fathers all because of they looked like a potential threats. I wish to go into politics to change the very way our communities are policed because no mother or father should have a conversation with their children about what to do when pulled over by an officer. I am looking to change the way police interact with communities these senseless deaths are causing a rift between police and communities. I do hope that by the time I am a politician the problem of police brutality is completely eradicated.

Works Cited

Balko, Radley. “South Carolina’s Poisonous Police Culture: The Death of Lori Jean Ellis.” The Washington Post. The Washington Post, 6 May 2015. Web. 10 Nov. 2016. DeBerry, Jarvis. “Better Training For Police Cost Less Than Settling With Brutality Victims.” NOLA. NOLA Media Group, 25 April 2016. Web. 17 Nov. 2016. Funke, Daniel, and Tina Susman. “From Ferguson to Baton Rouge” Deaths of Black Men and Women at the Hands of Police.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2016. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. Jawando L., Michele and Chelsea Parsons. “4 Ideas That Could Begin to Reform The Criminal Justice System and Improve Police-Community Relations.” Center For American Progress. Center for American Progress, 18 December 2014. Web. 20 November 2016. Johnson, Carrie. “The Issues: How Clinton and Trump Come Down on Law and Order.” NPR. NPR, 22 September 2016. Web. 22 November 2016. Joseph, Delenda. “Meet Officer Norman, The Fun-Loving Cop That Social Media Can’t Get Enough Of.” Uproxx. Uproxx, 1 July 2016. Web. 15 Nov. 2016 “Police Shootings 2016 Database” Washington Post. Washington Post, 14 Nov. 2016. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. Quah, Nicholas, and Laura E. Davis. “Here’s Timeline of Unarmed Black People Killed by Police over Past Year.” Buzzfeed. Buzzfeed News, 1 May 2015. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. Schmidt, Michael, and Matt Apuzo. “South Carolina Officer is Charged With Murder of Walter Scott” The New York Times. The New York Times, 7 Apr. 2015. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.

Semad, Jewell. “Police in Charlotte, North Carolina, Fatally Shoot Man They Say Was Armed.” CNBC. CNBC, 21 Sept. 2016. Web. 14 Nov. 2016....