The Need for Urban Police Policy Essays - Black Lives Matter

The Need for Urban Police Policy Anthony Hamilton Cleveland State University Abstract This paper talks about the need for urban police policy. The description of what a police officer job is and what is expected of them. The beating of Rodney King and the shooting deaths of Michael Brown and Tamir Rice. The choking death of Eric Garner by the NYPD. How these communities are affected by what these officers have done. New police training and test evaluations for new and seasoned officers. The need for reform right now. Keywords: police brutality, excessive force, police policy, African-Americans The Need for Urban Police Policy What happens when police officers go too far? In today's society that is one of the questions that needs many answers. The past few years has shown that police officers are going far beyond what the law is allowing them to do. These officers are the same people that are called when somebody needs help and also protect and serve the needs of the people. Now more than ever people need the feeling to not only protect themselves from criminals, but also the police. Because of recent events many people feel that police officers are demonstrating excessive force of power they have. "Thanks to social media, better data, and advanced technology, a new light has been shed on the brutality of police violence" (Baptiste, 2015). The main problems that people have with police officers is when they come to the conclusion to use force and when that force becomes lethal. This is most prevalent in the African-American communities around the country. It has become such a big issue in these communities that the need for urban police policy is needed. The job of a police officer is to protect and serve the public. They are here to keep order in the public, averting, and investigating crimes that are reported. While doing all of these things they are to uphold the law at a higher level than most civilians do. As citizens we have put our trust in these police officers to do the right things at all times. People who decide who wants to be in law enforcement has to do this because they want to make a difference and help people in process. Besides when somebody starts their career as a police officer the money is not an important factor because the public safety is. This can be really rewarding to somebody that would like to be a public servant because crime is the one constant that seems to never stop. Although with low pay and helping the public this is considered one of the most dangerous jobs in America. Each day officers risk their lives to make it possible for people to walk around without fear. Police need the use of force but i t has to come when it is really needed. As Markman (2015) writes the fact that making life-and-death decisions in an instant during street encounters is among the most difficult things any human being can be called on to do (p. 11). At some point in an officer's career there is going to come a time when they are face with a decision to use deadly force or not. Police brutality is nothing new in the African-American community. In the earliest case of police brutality was Rodney King in 1991. He was beaten after running from the police in Los Angeles. A videotape of this beating is played all over the national news. The video shows four officers repeatedly beating King while other officers while other officers standby and watch. This instance brought much attention to how officers treated minorities. Four officers were charged with assault with a deadly weapon and use of excessive force. Three officers were acquitted and the fourth was acquitted by a jury because they failed to reach a verdict on the excessive force charge. These acquittals led to the L.A. riots in 1992. In the aftermath of King's beating "confidence in the city's police department plummeted to 31% for Latino residents and 14% for African-Americans" (Weitzer 2015). With these types of numbers about confidence in the police with minorities, police will never get that trust fr om them. In a time were almost everything is on video,