Before discussing police brutality, we must find out what type of police officer commits such acts. James J. Fyfe, author of an article dealing with police shootings and use of physical force, concluded that there is no significant difference in the use of physical force with regard to the race or ethnicity of the officer. Black police officers committed such acts at a rate of 9.8 per 100 officers, while white officers committed the acts at a rate of 8.7 per 100 officers. This lack of difference basically concludes that police officers that commit acts of brutality cannot be categorized by race, color, or ethnicity (Walker 232).

Police brutality has existed as long as policing has been around in this country. These events do not represent all of the policing brutality that has occurred, but

2001 .

One of the most widely known examples of police brutality in recent times was the 1991 beating of Rodney King by the Los Angeles Police Department. The beating would drastically change Los Angeles, and would have repercussions beyond what anyone could have ever expected.

Police brutality played the instrumental role in arguably one of the worst tragedies in this country in the 1990's. The single act of the Rodney King beating has stereotyped police officers as racists with only bad intentions. Citizens have developed a dislike and distrust towards the men and woman with badges on their chest, and it will take a long time period to rebuild the respect for the police in Los Angeles that citizens formally obtained.

Once there, James pulled in the alley besides my place of work. He waited for me there while I went inside. When I came out there was a cop talking to him. He said that he couldn't park there and James said that he was just waiting for me. He looked over and pointed at me waiting there. The cop said ok and *then* I got in the car. Then the cop came back and said, wait a minute...let me see your I.D... James motioned that he was putting his hand in his back pocket but instead put his hand on the gearshift. The cop grabbed him around the neck and James pulled away. I looked back and saw the cop getting up and pointing his gun at us. I was screaming and yelling for James to let me out of the car. We came to the train bridge and there was a train going across. I was just about to get out when we were surrounded by 3 police cars.

Walker, Samuel. The Police in America: An Introduction. United States: McGraw-Hill

The riots continued for three days as tensions between the protestors and police escalated. Just like in Los Angeles, many stores were vandalized and looted. Sixty-six people were arrested, twenty-five were injured and taken to local hospitals, and forty others were injured and treated at the scene. Included among the injured was a Cincinnati Police officer who was shot by someone in the mob. His injuries were not thought to be life threatening. (Officer Shot)

On a typical afternoon, in March of 1991, Stan Chambers, a news anchor for KTLA in Los Angeles, received a freelance video from a man named George Holliday. Holliday had heard a commotion outside of his home in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles the previous night and decided to see what was happening. What he saw shocked him. He witnessed police officers kicking and beating a man senselessly and decided to videotape the horrific scene. Not knowing what to do with the tape, he decided to sell it to the news station for $125 (Chambers).

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2585
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)