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Cory Spencer
Mr. Williams
American Lit
8 May 2015
Police brutality against black men has been increasing over the past several years more
and more. Because of the number of black men that are victims of police brutality more so than
any other race it raises the suspicion that racism may play a part in these acts. Several studies,
such as “Racial Profiling and the Fourth Amendment,” support the belief that racial profiling is
one of the reasons that black men have been targeted by the police, and are more likely to
continue to be targeted than any other race. “Racial profiling” refers to the targeting of particular
individuals by law enforcement authorities based not on their behavior, but rather their personal
characteristics, (The Leadership Conference. The National Premier Civil & Human Rights
Coalition).
Over the last decade we have been faced with an alarming amount of unarmed black men
who have been killed by police, or authoritative figures, the most notable being Trayvon Martin,
who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman. There’s also
Michael Brown, who was shot and killed by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson; John
Crawford, III was gunned down and killed by local police in an Ohio Walmart; Eric Garner who
was choked to death by NYPD in Staten Island, and Jonathan Ferrell, a collegiate football player
at Florida A&M who was allegedly, mistakenly shot ten times in Charlotte, NC by a police
officer responding to a breaking and entering call. Police officers have been hired and put in
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place to protect and serve the jurisdictions in which they are assigned. I feel that a lot of times
the very officers who have been assigned to protect and serve in minority communities are afraid
of the very persons they are protecting, therefore leading to an increase in violence and brutality
against those persons.
Police brutality among blacks in general is nothing new in America. Dating back to
slavery, and immediately thereafter, blacks have been racially profiled, and the subject of
extreme brutality by the very persons who are hired to protect them. Over the years little has
been done to correct this problem, and as a result the problem has not gone away, but rather has
gotten worse, and continues to grow daily.Newone published an article called, “Killer’s behind
the badge: Newone’s Investigative Series on Police Brutality in Black America. The article
talked about the treatment of blacks during the civil war era when blacks were abused by being
sprayed with water hoses, attacked by dogs, and the victims of tear gas, up to era when Rodney
King was beaten by Los Angeles Police. It also talks about the need for blacks to feel safe and to
feel protected by the 4th amendment. The 4th amendment clearly states,“That the right of the
people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches
and seizures, shall not be violated and no warrants shall issue without probable cause.” Based on
the number of black men being killed every day, and with that number continuing to grow, it can
be argued that the 4th amendment has not been effective in ensuring their safety.
Several years ago people thought that racial profiling was not real, that it was made up by
minority individuals. However, in light of the many police related killings on black men, the
media has helped the public to realize that racial profiling is indeed real. In the article, “Racial
Profiling and the Fourth Amendment: Applying the Minority Victim Perspective to Ensure
Protection Under the Law, the author, Peter Lyles talks in depth about the reality of racial
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profiling and the effects that it has on minority men. He says, “Despite its newfound popularity,
the real battle for equal protection and justice under the law has been quietly raging across
American courtrooms for decades, and it is a battle that people of color continue to lose.”
I believe that racial profiling is the biggest reason that police brutality against black men
exist. Police tend to profile those individuals who they feel are more likely to commit crimes,
(usually minorities). Trayvon Martin was profiled by George Zimmerman because he was a
young black male walking with a hoodie on, in what one would consider to be an affluent
neighborhood. Other black male victims of police brutality have been racially profiled for the
way that they look as opposed to what they’re actually doing. In order to service black
communities, and protect those individuals in them, the government must figure out how to rid
society of racially motivated law enforcement officers. They are the front line of a justice system
in which people look to for equality. The government must work towards eliminating police
brutality against minorities, especially the black man.They must find a way to get rid of racial
profiling.
Another way to address police brutality and the use of force is by requiring that police
officers are not only equipped with cameras in their vehicles, but they must also be required to
wear body camera’s while on duty.
According to “Racialprofiling.com,” one way to get rid of racial profiling in the police
department is to make sure that all officers are adequately trained and taught to be well
disciplined. Graduates of a police academy in New York were trained and taught what
constitutes grounds for a reasonable search. They were given a copy of the department’s training
manual, which clearly outlined certain guidelines for approaching an individual or suspect. If
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their reason had anything to do with the length of a person’s hair, their race, or any other
personal prejudice or bias, the manual specifically instructed that the act was unlawful.
Another way to address police brutality and the use of force is requiring that police
officers are not only equipped with camera’s in their vehicles, but they must also be required to
wear body camera’s while on duty. If an officer’s behavior is monitored when he is interacting
with the public, he is more likely to behave in a manner that is acceptable and unbiased. A study
was conducted by the Rialto Police Department, in Rialto CA., where body cameras were placed
on their officers for a year. The study was an attempt to increase the officer’s awareness that they
were being watched, and therefore, hopefully motivate them to obey the rules of conduct,
especially those pertaining to use of force. According to the study, “Self Awareness To Being
Watched And Socially-Desirable Behavior: A Field Experiment On The Effect Of Body-Worn
Cameras On Police Use Of Force,” the results indicated that there was more than a 50%
reduction in the total number of incidents of use of force.
In order to become the country that the constitution initially intended for America, justice
must be mandatory for every person in the United States. Justice cannot be served based on one’s
color, or creed, but it must be impartial across the barriers of color lines, and Dixie flags. The
unnecessary killing of black men must end now! There is no room for police brutality in a
society that employs its law enforcement officers to serve and protect all persons, no matter what
color they are. All persons must be treated with the same level of respect, and given the same
liberties as it relates to the law. Police officers cannot continue to be allowed to maim, mutilate,
and kill black men. They must be governed by a higher court that holds them accountable for
their actions. The basis that this country was founded on was truth, “We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
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unalienable Rights,that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” (The
Declaration of Independence). As long as these words are not observed, which were so poetically
written by our forefathers, disaster will continue to rise almost daily. Until these words have
been adopted, and are lived by, the very words on which this country was formed, racial tensions
will continue to grow. When WE accept and realize that not only does BLACK lives matter, but
ALL lives matter equally, then and only then will WE truly reach the level of excellence that the
framers of our constitution intended.
In my research paper, Police Brutality of Black Men, I made several changes. The main
thing that I changed was to get rid of a lot of the direct quotes that I used in the original paper,
and put the paper in my own words. I think that the paper is much better now because it reads
better without all of the quotations. I also took away a lot of the statistics that were quoted in the
original from various articles that I had read. I guess by rewriting the paper I was able to make it
more my own rather than something that sounds like it came from a lot of different websites. I
think that the paper is much better now, and makes a lot better sense.
An example of one of the changes that I made was when I referred to the article from the
website “racialprofiling.com.” in the original paper I used a lot of quotes making references to a
lot of different statistics and situational police pull overs, as well as different data of supreme
court rulings and “reasonable suspicions.” In the original paper I used direct quotes from those
who supported profiling versus the critics of profiling, whereas in the corrected version I was
able to limit my paper by eliminating a lot of the direct quotes and statistics, and put much of it
in my own words. I was also able to restructure the paper and reduce it in size by sticking to my
topic more and not getting off subject by adding other elements into the paper.