Police brutality in America

Police brutality in America

Recently a majority of the recipients of Police brutality in America have been people from the African American community. Although there are other causes of police brutality, the main reason is racism. African American citizens have been the main target of police brutality in the US. This study is meant to determine the impact of the excessive use of force by the police towards African Americans in the United States. According to a study by Pew research, Africans Americans are more likely to states that the cops mistreat them, criminal justice is racist. This study will provide a glimpse into the different experiences and how it’s affecting the African Americans in America. This study aims to provide insight into unlawful acts towards African Americans in the United States. The fundamental question of the study is what is the impact of police brutality against black civilians?

Unlawful treatment of people by the police is the use of excessive, unnecessary, and illegal acts afflicted by the people when dealing with citizens and suspects.  With the excessive force used towards the African American people, it is only fair to say that the lives of black people are not valued. With the emergence of the black lives matter movement, it wasn’t very easy to ignore the matter anymore. A consequence of the police brutality is that some of the innocent white citizens pay for the wrongdoing of the white police officers. This is because a majority of the African Americans feel inferior and are countered with brutal treatment from the white police officers. For example, a young man was convicted after killing a police officer, years before the young man’s father had been shot and killed by white police officers; therefore, he was retaliating.

According to Robert F, Kennedy, the police violence against the African American is deeply rooted from way back. The report states that the abuse of police in America is among the highest in the developed nations. For many years the killing of African American’s by the policeman was always side-lined. According to the census bureau, the percentage of African Americans is 13% in 2014. Robert describes that the number of black people who were murder was too high: by the end of 2015, the guardian estimated around 1139 people had been killed through the police violence, 26.5% of the dead people were African Americans. Among the unarmed people, the number increases, Among the 223 unarmed people, 33% were black. Also, the author stresses that all the killed people apart from one black victim were men. The police violence affected both black men and women; however, according to the data, more men affected than women. Black men contribute only 6% of the population of America; however, as of 2015, they were 25% of the people killed through police violence. The statistics released by the state attorney’s general a total of 984 people were killed between 2005 and 2014. Approximately 200 among the group were black which 19.9% of the total number was. The number of black people killed by California police is eight times the number of people in the state’s population. Among all other ethnic groups, no other group was over presented like the black people.

(Chaney & Robertson, 2013)Explains that the media views the black men as uncivilized. Most often, the media portrays the black men as aggressive and criminals, that the more evident the African features are, the more one is expected to be deviant. This has contributed to how people the police included perceive the black community. The author indicates that such perceptions lead to the black people being the prototypes of criminal activities. The depiction of African American people, which is on the media outlets, is far from flattering; this helps activate the stereotypes possessed by a majority of the white people. Oliver, 2004 states that media consumption is an ongoing process with the existing viewers’ beliefs and attitudes, playing a significant role in how the images are attended to interpreted and remembered. The primary effect of the negative media about lack of people, according to the author, is how others a majority of the white people believe that black people are more inclined towards committing criminal activities and that they deserve the treatment they are getting from the criminal justice. Ultimately, the negative portrayal of the black community about crime and class identities contribute to the framing of the African American people on illegal activities. In return, this shapes and supports the excessive force of the police towards African Americans in the US.

According to the commission, the information received is that the rate of injustice is evident from the level of impunity cases of the police killing African Americans. The commission had complained from the UN about the ongoing excessive police brutality against black people. The commission also          indicates that very few of the police officers involved in violent activities are held accountable for their behaviors. According to a study, only 54 police officers were held responsible for their actions since the 2005-2015 (Macaulay, Troitiño, & Praeli, 2018). The study also found out that for a police officer to be accused, there should be strong evidence against the police, such as a video taken during the action or an incriminating testimony. However, even with all this evidence, police officers are rarely convicted. The author adds that even when they are convicted for the use of violence against the black people, they are given very light sentences. The commission also states that according to the data they receive, there is a pattern in the impunities of police officers taking place. All cases end either by an indictment of the police officer or acquittal of the police officer in the trial. The continued impunities of the police officers towards the African American people increases the impact on their families of the victims. This contributes towards the mistrust of the police departments and also distrust among communities. The commission has received information about the impact of excess violence on people towards their families.