Police Brutality Crime Or Collateral Damage - 1762 Words

Police Brutality: Crime or Collateral Damage? Imagine riding home after a fun night out with your friends, but never making it there. This is what happened to a young man named Oscar Grant who was fatally shot by the police for a crime he did not commit. Police brutality is the use of excessive force, physically or verbally, by a police officer. In one year, how many incidents of police brutality or misconduct do you think have occurred? In the U.S. alone, statistics show that over 2,500 incidents have been reported. Police work can undoubtedly be dangerous and police officers are trained and authorized to use force as part of their jobs. However, the misuse of such authority has resulted in damage to families and communities, the loss†¦show more content†¦Additionally, the suspect’s prior criminal record should not impact a jury’s decision to convict the accused police officer since â€Å"prior felony convictions of the plaintiff/victim of excessive force ar e neither relevant nor material to civil rights litigation† (243). I live in Oakland, a city with high crime rates and a reputation of being dangerous. With such high crime rates come large amounts of police action, and with this, a higher probability of police misconduct. Statistics indicate that in Oakland alone, more than a hundred federal and state cases of police brutality have been brought to court in the last decade. Tragically, several of these cases have been dismissed despite clear evidence against the offending police officer. The number of such cases in Oakland represents only a small fraction of the number of reported and unreported incidents of police brutality that occur nationwide. Police brutality is unjustifiable, and its consequences are detrimental to our society as a whole. Police misconduct has divided communities, destroyed the lives of its victims and their families, and at times has resulted in the killing of innocent people. Statistics show that there is a clear disparity between the police departments and the communities they serve. Many police departments are comprised mainly of Caucasian individuals while the majority of those affected by police brutality are part of a minority. In more than 2,000 incidents of