different questions aked when talking about police brutality
A recent series of highly publicized episodes of police misconduct, culminating in an incident in August, 1996, which newspapers dubbed “the police brawl” lent new urgency to the Coalition’s efforts. Representatives of the Coalition were tapped by the Greater Indianapolis Process Committee to serve on a Working Group of citizens charged with reviewing the Civilian Review Process and recommending changes in jurisdiction and composition. A co-chair of the Coalition served as co-chair of the Working Group.
How common is police brutality? Unfortunately, measuring this problem in a scientific fashion has always been very difficult. In the first systematic study, The Police and the Public (1971), Albert Reiss found the overall rate of unwarranted force to be low — only about one percent of all encounters with citizens; even less than that by another calculation. But Reiss hastened to point out that individual incidents accumulate over time, and since poor men are the most frequent victims of police abuse, they experience both real and perceived harassment by the police.
Notwithstanding the variety among groups that have been subjected to police brutality in the United States, the great majority of victims have been African American. In the estimation of most experts, a key factor explaining the predominance of African Americans among victims of police brutality is antiblack racism among members of mostly white police departments. Similar prejudices are thought to have played a role in police brutality committed against other historically oppressed or marginalized groups.
Police brutality in the United States, the unwarranted or excessive and often illegal use of force against civilians by U.S. police officers. Forms of police brutality have ranged from assault and battery (e.g., beatings) to mayhem, torture, and murder. Some broader definitions of police brutality also encompass harassment (including false arrest), intimidation, and verbal abuse, among other forms of mistreatment.
Editor’s note: This web package was originally published in December 2014 under the title “Teaching About Ferguson: Race and Racism in the United States.” We update this page periodically to reflect currents events. For the latest statistics on police-related civilian deaths, see the Washington Post resource “Fatal Force.”
Educators’ silence speaks volumes during moments of racial tension or violence. Our students are listening.
Bias in policing can be intentional or unintentional, but citizens currently have almost no recourse if they submit allegations of such conduct. Data collection (which we’ll go into more below) is an important tool for establishing evidence of bias.
Communities should have significant say in how they are policed. Current civilian oversight commissions — maintained in more than 100 jurisdictions — often feel like they lack meaningful control in this respect.
References:
http://www.britannica.com/topic/Police-Brutality-in-the-United-States-2064580
http://www.tolerance.org/moment/racism-and-police-violence
http://populardemocracy.org/news/15-things-your-city-can-do-right-now-end-police-brutality
http://jcme.ca/blog/argumentative-essay-topics