Police Brutality
Police brutality remains one of the most serious and divisive human rights violations in the United States. The excessive use of force by police officers persists because of overwhelming barriers to accountability. This fact makes it possible for officers who commit human rights violations to escape due punishment and often to repeat their offenses. Police or public officials greet each new report of brutality with denials or explain that the act was an aberration, while the administrative and criminal systems that should deter these abuses by holding officers accountable instead virtually guarantee them impunity (Williams 45). Investigations find that police brutality is persistent in all cities, and the systems set up to deal with these abuses have all had similar failings in each city. It was also established that complainants often face enormous difficulty in seeking administrative punishment or criminal prosecution of officers who have committed human rights violations. A national survey was taken by the Seattle Times and states that seventy percent of all police crimes against the public go unreported (Database of Abusive Police). Despite claims to the contrary from city officials where abuses have
The majority of these human rights violation are against minorities. Racism plays a huge role in this type of behavior. There are cases within the inner cities in which a particular group of kids will be stopped, searched, and harassed for "looking suspicious" or "fitting the description of a suspect" daily by the police with no reports filled out at all. These incidents are common within minority communities. In New York City between the years of 1997-1998 the Street Crimes Unit stopped and over 45,000 men, mostly African American and Hispanic in order to make slightly more than 9000 arrest (Chua-Eoan 26). In New Jersey, Governor Christine Todd Whitman openly admitted to racial profiling on the New Jersey Turnpike. In the case of Abner Louima while the officers were committing this hanis crime they were quoted for saying that this is Guiliani time. This type of action implies that these are not a few isolated incidents and that it goes much deeper than just that group of officers. Don Jackson a former police sergeant in Hawthorne California states, "Excessive police force against blacks has always been tolerated. Investigations won't make a difference the investigators support the police and more importantly the support the racist mentality that is responsible for most of the brutality". (Burris 72) These types of statements tell a shocking story of how racism permeates police culture so deeply that it will require a monumental national effort to change the status quo. become scandals in the media, efforts to make meaningful reforms have fallen short. Williams, Brent. Shielded from justice : police brutality and accountability in the United States. New York, Washington, D.C. :Human Rights Watch, 1998 Database of Abusive Police: http://www.doap.com/doap.com/ Feuer, Alan. "Detective Tells of His Torment Informing on His Peers in Louima Assault Case." The New York Times, 10 Feb. 2000, late ed.: Section B; pg. 6
Some common words found in the essay are:
Michael Bellomo, Police Despite, Amadou Diallo, America Police, California Excessive, Justice Department, Rights Division, Abner Louima, Justin Volpe, human rights, York Times, human rights violations, rights violations, police officers, officers commit, abner louima, justice department, civil rights, commit human, police brutality, commit human rights, officers commit human, officers accountable, civil rights division, 6 march 2000,
Approximate Word count = 1584
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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