HPC 3
Denisse Viera
W39C
Police Brutality: A Social Issue throughout American history
The police institution was first developed in 1838 in Boston, Massachusetts and by the
1880’s, all major cities had developed their own police force (Potter 1). The American police
force was necessary to keep order as American cities were growing and public disorder (like
mobs) were difficult to control in the larger cities (Potter 1). Today in America, the police
institution is supposed to enforce the laws and
serve citizens. In fact, “To Protect and to
Serve” is the motto that can be seen on police
patrol cars in the city of Los Angeles and in
others all around the nation. It was adopted
by the Los Angels Police Department in 1963
and has since been used by other police
(Source allpar.com) LAPD patrol car from the 70’s with the words “to
protect and serve” on the driver door.
departments as well (LAPD).
But what happens when the men and women in police uniform do not protect and serve
members of the community they patrol in, when they abuse of their power, and when they
themselves become the criminal? Police brutality is any judgments that police have violated any
citizens’ civil rights (Reiss 11). More specifically, police brutality is defined as, "any action by a
police officer without regard to motive, intent, or malice that tends to injure, insult, trespass upon
human dignity, manifest feelings of inferiority, and/or violate an inherent legal right of a member
of the police constituency in the course of performing ‘police work’” (Barker, Carter). The death
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of Michael Brown, a young unarmed black teenager, at the hand of a white police officer on
August 9, 2014 is one of the most recent famous cases that has brought the issue of police
brutality into light again in America. The riots that occurred in Ferguson, Missouri (the city
where the tragic event occurred) are a direct effect of what many believe was an act of police
brutality. Since then, many cases as such have become news headlines and has caused a greater
awareness of police brutality, mainly toward minorities. However, police brutality is not a new
phenomenon in contemporary America, it is a social issue that has been present for over 100
years in American society and has the most direct negative effects on minorities of color and
society at large.
Police brutality has occurred in society since the establishment of the police force in
America. As mentioned earlier, by the 1800’s there was a well established police force in the
major cities of the U.S. (Potter 1). However, the police department in the south was developed
for different purposes: the police served as slave patrols (Potter 2). Slave patrols were in charge
of returning escaped slaves to their owner, prevent slave revolts, and maintain order (Potter 2).
Therefore, it is safe to say that the police department was developed on the basis of racism, at
least in the South, as white police officers controlled black people. However, slavery is no longer
legal and socially accepted in the U.S. and all American citizens have equal rights. Although the
U.S. has moved onto a less overt racist country, the notion of white supremacy (that the white
race is above all other races) has remained prevalent throughout history.
Cases of minorities experiencing unjust treatment by withe police officers has been
documented for over 100 years. Frank Moss was a former Commissioner of the Police
Department of New York City and wrote an article about police corruption and mistreatment in
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1901 for the popular Railway Carmen’s Journal. In it, Moss describes how
police were well known for being involved with “gambling houses and
pool rooms” which were illegal at the time (339). Moss proceeds to talk
about race riots that occurred in 1900 in which black people who were
trying flee from the mobs were begging the police for help who in turn
beat them and clubbed them (342). This is not surprising given the fact
(Source: Railway Carmen’s
Journal) Image of the front page of
the journal containing news articles
from January 1901-November
1901.
that even after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863,
police officials “condoned lynchings” and “often participated in them”
(Freeman 691). Moss was concerned that “If these policemen be notoriously corrupt, immoral,
brutal, what becomes of respect for the law and respect for the nation?” (344). This question is
critical and still relevant today because Americans citizens need to be able to have trust in an
honest and honorable police enforcement. If the trust is broken (which to many citizens in this
country it is), respect is lost for the men and women in uniform along with the laws they are
meant to enforce.
Nearly 67 years after Frank Moss asked this question, sociologist Albert J. Reiss Jr.
communicates that police brutality continued well into the 1960’s proving that history does in
fact repeat itself (10). Reiss goes into detail explaining what entails police brutality: “the use of
profane and abusive language,” “threats to use force if not obeyed,” “prodding with a nightstick
or approaching with a pistol, and the actual use of physical force or violence itself” (11).
Instances like these where policemen administer excessive and unnecessary force are
disproportionately seen in low income communities (Reiss 11; Weitzer 3). Hubert Williams, an
expert in Law, and Patrick V. Murphy, top law enforcement executive in over 4 states, claim that
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American police prejudice behavior against minority communities is derived from the legal
system that once accepted and endorsed “slavery, segregation, and discrimination” (2). This
claim makes sense because it comes from an era where it was socially accepted for black and
other minorities to have fewer civil rights that white people. History has proved that this
ideology of racial inferiority has prevailed even in the criminal justice system through the
behaviors and attitudes of many police officers. What all of this literature suggest is that police
brutality comes from the racist beliefs against blacks and other minorities of which this nation
was founded on.
Police brutality is a widespread social problem within the United States that is difficult to
address and prosecute for several reasons despite the fact that statistical data shows it is still
occurring all around the nation. One of the reasons why cases of police brutality are often
difficult to track is because of the lack of evidence and witnesses available (Miller 152). This
seems logical since often the only witnesses of such altercations are the arresting police officers
and the alleged criminal. Therefore, it is easy for police officers not to report such incidents.
Also, it is key to accept that because police officers have so much authority in comparison to
normal civilians, their words are held to a hire value than the word of others. Before the statistics
are presented, it is also important to note that there are many limitations in gathering police
brutality data that is 100% accurate. In fact, data is often “incomplete [and] biased” (Freeman
688). For example, as it relates to homicide committed by law enforcements, the FBI does not
have a complete record of such cases because they do not demand police departments to send
their reports of the homicides but rather they gather their data from voluntary reports (Madar;
The Counted).
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This points to another problem regarding the credibility of police brutality cases. Police
officers are granted a lot of authority, including discretionary authority. Discretionary authority is
the kind that allows police officer to use the authority as he/she sees fit in a given situation
(Weitzer 3). This is critical to understand because this can lead to the questioning of police
behaviors (seen as they are not using standard procedures of a situation), including unlawful
situations that can be open to interpretation (as in the cases of public order crimes). What this
means is that in cases of alleged police brutality, police officers can try to justify their actions by
claiming that they were in a situation where the suspect was being either uncooperative, resisting
arrest, or even dangerous and thus their actions were necessary to control and diffuse the
situation. Therefore, it can be difficult to have a concrete case of police brutality when police
officers are given the right to act as they see fit in situations they feel need to be controlled.
Although police brutality affects society at large, it disproportionately impacts minorities,
specifically African-Americans. The Counted is a well known database run by journalist of the
popular newspaper Guardian, that tracks how many people are killed by police in the United
States. To give an overview, The Counted revealed that an estimated 1,145 people were killed by
police in 2015. This database breaks the deaths
down by gender, age, ethnicity, and wether the
victim was armed or unarmed, the classification of
death, and the state in which the death occurred.
But who were these people that died of lethal police
force? The chart to the right from The Counted
breaks down the deaths by race. It shows that
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47.2% of the people killed by police in 2015 were minorities and 53.6% on minorities were
unarmed at the time of death. (Swaine, Laughland, Lartey and; The Counted).
The chart to the left shows that police
killed Black people over twice the
rate of white people (Swaine,
Laughland, Lartey and McCarthy;
The Counted). This data only reflects
the number of people killed in the
U.S., it does not show the stories
behind the fatal confrontations. This is
important to know because not all of the deaths have to have been cases of police brutality, some
cases could have very well been a case of self defense against a violet suspect. However, the data
does show that there are great disparities in the number of minorities killed by police men given
the fact that “Non-white minorities make up less than 38% of [the] U.S. population” (The
Counted). The racial disparities in the deaths by policemen that The Counted displays is very
well a matter of racism and stereotypes. In fact, a study conducted in Florida State University by
experts, E. Ashby Plant and B. Michelle Peruche looked at the role race plays in police responses
to criminal suspects found that police do stereotype Black people as more violent than White
people (180). This in turn influences how police interpret suspect behavior which can lead to
police administering more force with a Black person than a White person for the same offense
(Plant and Peruche 180). In fact, black people are arrested three to four times more than white
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people on drug offenses even though they make up a smaller percentage of drug users than white
people (Staples 34).
Sociologist Robert Staples would account the death disparities found by The Counted, as
a response to the high levels of policing neighborhoods of lower socioeconomic levels face (35).
Staples explains that Black and Latino communities are disproportionally policed more and that
such policing tactics causes tension between the community and law enforcement as the citizens
feel like they are being the target of unfair treatment (35). This feeling of victimization and being
treated as suspicious by the police can lead to hostile encounters between minorities and police
(Reiss 11). Because low SES communities are policed more, there is a notion that there are
simply higher crime rates in those communities. However, there might very well be the same
levels of crime committed, or even higher levels, in other communities that are just not getting
caught. Instead, the overrepresentation of minorities of color, especially African-Americans
males, in the criminal justice system confirm to others, especially police officers, that they are a
menace to society (Freeman 695) and thus should continue to be policed more to keep them in
order.
Although numbers can be compelling, actual details of cases
of police brutality are even more powerful in raising awareness that
police misconduct and brutality is a very serious issue that has
substantial effects to not only the victims but public perception of the
police. One of the most famous cases that was documented in the 90’s
was the beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles, CA. Videos were
recorded of four LAPD officers brutally beating up Rodney King after
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(Source: Complex) Picture of Rodney King
after he was beat up by four LAPD officers on
March 3rd, 1991.
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being detained following a high-speed car chase (Morris). Huge riots arose in South Los Angeles
following the announcement that the four officers were acquitted on the counts of using excess
force on King. Similar and more recent to the LA riots of ’91 came the Ferguson riots of 2014
after the death of Michael Brown. Michael Brown was an unarmed 18 year-old black boy who
was shot and killed by Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2014. Riots spurred
after the murder and continued well after Wilson was not indicted for the killing of the unarmed
Michael Brown (Clarke and Lett). Both of the riots brought national attention to the issue of
police brutality against minorities. Other cases that made national headlines in 2014 were the
case of Tamir Rice, a black 12 year-old boy who was shot by a
white officer, Timothy Loehmann, while playing with a pellet gun
at the Cudell Recreation Center in Cleveland, Ohio (Fantz,
Almasy, and Shoichet); as well as the case of Eric Garner, a
black man who was put in a chokehold (banned by the NYPD)
(Source: CNN) Picture of 12-year-old Tamir Rice
who was shot by a Cleveland police officer and
died on November 22, 2014.
and chocked to death by an NYPD officer on July 17, 2014
(Baker, Goodman, and Mueller). None of the police officers that committed the deadly acts were
indicted of any criminal offense.
All of the cases presented serve as a reminder that police brutality is not a crime of the
past (Moss 342) but rather a social issues that has remained in society since the development of
the police department. This nation was developed on the belief of white supremacy as is evident
with in the times of slavery. Although the U.S. has moved away from an overt racist country,
police brutality demonstrates the same notions of racial inferiority toward Blacks and other
minorities of color that were alive with slavery (Williams and Murphy 2). Thus it is important to
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understand that police brutality is not only a problem of inadequate police training or police
misjudgment but rather it is an institutional problem that has its roots in the ideology of white
supremacy which the country was founded on. It is a social problem that has remained for
hundreds of years and has had little to no improvements as cases are still coming to light today.
Police brutality is an issue that needs to be fixed because it calls into question how just is the
criminal justice system and how much respect should the men and women in uniform get when
they mistreat the very people they are meant to protect.
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Bibliography
Baker, Al, David Goodman, and Benjamin Mueller. "Beyond the Chokehold: The Path to
Eric Garner’s Death." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 13 June
2015. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.
This detailed article written for the New York Times explains the moments before Garner’s death
and describes how he was yelling that he could not breathe while being detained in a chokehold
which was deemed prohibited by the NYPD. Nevertheless, officer Pantaleo held the asthmatic
Garner in that position chocking him to death.
Clarke, Rachel, and Christopher Lett. "What Happened When Michael Brown Met Officer
Darren Wilson." CNN. CNN, 11 Nov. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.
This article gives a detailed explanation of what occurred to Michael Brown through different
witnessed. It is important to remember that human memory is not always accurate and reliable,
which can account for the variations in the details of the event.
Fantz, Ashley, Steve Almasy, and Catherine E. Shoichet. "Tamir Rice Shooting: No
Charges for Officers." CNN. CNN, 28 Dec. 2015. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.
This article is written on CNN, another well known newspaper company which is easily
accessible. It explains that neither of the two officers were charged with the murder of Tamir
Rice who was a 12 year old boy playing with a fake gun in the park.
LAPD's First 1972 Matador. Ray Wynne. 1972. Allpar. Web. 16 Apr. 2016.
This image is to show where the motto “to protect and serve” is displayed in police patrol cars.
Madar, Chase. "Why It’s Impossible to Indict a Cop." The Nation. The Nation Company
LLC, 25 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
This article was published for The Nation journal on November 2014. Although it is not a very
scholarly article, it is still effective in communicating some reasons why it is difficult to indict
police officers. The article includes stats taken from the FBI on the rates of police homicide
which is not a complete report of all of the homicides since they consist of “voluntary reports”
from the police stations. This means that not all homicides are reported to the FBI, at least for
record keeping, which is surprising given the fact that they are deaths at the hands of police
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officers. This article also shows that it is extremely difficult to convict a police officer of a crime
(of police brutality) because of the legitimacy of police “subjective snap judgments.” This article
will be useful when explaining how unfair police officers are treated when they are accused of
violating and even abusing civil rights.
Miller, Marshall. "Police Brutality." Yale Law & Policy Review 17.1 (1998): 149-200. Web.
11 Apr. 2016.
This article was written by Marshall Miller who was then a Law Clerk, and a Yale Law School
graduate from 1993, and published in 1998. Although this article was written almost 20 years
ago, the information it discloses about police brutality in the U.S. is still very relevant to our
society. One of the most compelling parts of the article is a “joint public assessment” that was
communicated in 1992 by ten urban police chiefs which states that “the problem of excessive
force in American policing is real.” The article touches on how difficult it is to build a case
against an incident of police misconduct because of the lack of evidence that can be provided.
However, the modern use of cell phone cameras and social media has perhaps made it more
accessible to present evidence of incidents of police misconduct of brutality.
Morris, Regan. "LA Riots: How 1992 Changed the Police." BBC News. BBC, 29 Apr. 2012.
Web. 17 Apr. 2016.
This was written on a well known online newspaper. Its platform allows the article to be easily
accessed by anyone with internet connection. The article is a rather easy read and gives
background knowledge to why and how the LA riots occurred.
Moss, Frank. "National Danger from Police Corruption." Railway Carmen's Journal
[Kansas City] Nov. 1901, VI ed., sec. 11. Print.
This article was written by Frank Moss, a former police commissioner of New York City and
published in 1901. This serves as my first significant piece of evidence from the past. In this
article, Moss explains all the corruption the police institution was involved in and how easy it
was for them to get away with it. He also explains that there was high levels of police brutality
and misconduct and even says that they were “practically above the law.” This article is a perfect
example of how police brutality is not a new phenomenon in the U.S. but instead has repeated in
history for more than 100 years.
Plant, E. Ashby, and B. Michelle Peruche. "The Consequences of Race for Police Officers'
Responses to Criminal Suspects." Psychological Science 16.3 (2005): 180-83. Web.
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This was an interesting study that looked at how racial biases affect responses to criminal
suspects. As expected, police officers were more likely to respond negatively to the black
suspects than the white suspects. However, after the participants went through enough training
with the simulation, the biases were removed and the performance was more accurate than
before.
Potter, Gray. The History of Policing in the United States. Richmond: Eastern Kentucky U,
2013. Print.
The short book is written by Gray Potter, professor for the Eastern Kentucky University Online.
It is very informative as Potter gives the history of policing in the United States. What will be
most useful is the history of policing in the South as it is a possible root for the problem of police
brutality (white supremacy)
Reiss, Albert J. "Police Brutality-answers to Key Questions." Trans-Action 5.8 (1968):
10-19. Web.
This is an amazing article written by the late Albert J Reiss Jr who at the time was working at the
University of Michigan as a professor of sociology. This article defines police brutality and
explains how it affects low SES communities the most as they were and still are the target of
extreme policing tactics. It is said that history repeats itself and this article does just that as it still
perfectly describes the society we live in today despite it being published in 1968. This article
will be of immense use when writing about the history of police brutality and its origination as
well as to show that a few things have changed due to advances in technology.
Rodney King Beaten by L.A.P.D. Officers (March 3, 1991). 1991. Los Angeles. Complex. Web.
17 Apr. 2016.
This graphic image of King allows the reader to see the pain the officers caused.
Staples, Robert. "White Power, Black Crime, and Racial Politics." The Black Scholar 41.4
(2011): 31-41. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
This article was written by sociologist Robert Staples, Professor Emeritus of the University of
California, San Francisco. This is a very compelling articles that describes several cases in which
members of minorities, especially black men, were wrongfully tried for crimes they did not
commit and even victims of brutal and deadly attacks committed by white officers. This article
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also explains that Black and Latino communities experience levels of over-policing that are
never seen in white communities. This article will be useful when describing who the victims of
police brutality and misconduct mainly are.
Swaine, Jon, Oliver Laughland, Jamiles Lartey, Kenan Davis, Rich Harris, Nadja
Popovich, Kenton Powell, and Guardian US Interactive Team. "The Counted:
People Killed by Police in the United States – Interactive." The Guardian. Guardian
News and Media. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
The Counted is a project that works to bring the most accurate stats of people killed by police in
the United States since the government does not keep a precise record of such incidences. The
“About us” link on the website explains that the government’s inability to track deaths at the
hands of police officers causes more negative tension between members of minorities groups and
police officers. This website will help describe just how many people are killed at the hands of
police officers in the United Sates. However, it is important to note that this data does not
describe death caused by police brutality, but it still shows that black minorities are generally
killed at higher rates than any other race and thus can be inferred that they are most susceptible
to experience police brutality.
"The Origin of the LAPD Motto." Los Angeles Police Department. Los Angeles Police
Foundation. Web. 16 Apr. 2016.
The information on this website is to remind the reader what the police means to modern day
society. The motto “to protect and serve” is suppose to make citizens feel safe and that they can
trust in the police. However, all the media coverage cases of police brutality is getting is
instilling fear and uncertainty in the public.
Weitzer, Ronald. "Is American Policing At a Crossroads?" The Criminologist 40.4 (2015):
2-5. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
This article was written by sociologists Ronald Weitzer from George Washington University to
highlight key issues American policing is facing today. This article is current and useful to
describe that young members of minorities groups are more likely to be “stopped and questions
by the police” in contrasts to young white people. It also explains that rates of police misconduct
are going to continue to rise because police officers are given a “substantial amount of
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discretionary authority” that even reforms cannot control. Discretionary authority means that the
ones in positions of authority are free to use the authority as he/she sees fit and thus some
unlawful situations can be open to interpretation (as in the cases of public order crimes).
Furthermore, this article talks about the important positive effects having a “diverse police force”
can have on the image on police departments and on the community members.
"What Is Police Brutality?" The Law Dictionary. Black's Law Dictionary Free 2nd Ed. and
The Law Dictionary. Web. 16 Apr. 2016.
This website was used to get a concrete definition of police brutality.
Williams, Hubert, and Patrick V. Murphy. "The Evolving Strategy of Police: A Minority
View." U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of
Justice: Perspectives on Policing, no. 13 (1990): 1-15.
This is an interesting article that explains how minorities view were affected through the changes
in policing strategy. The authors remind the reader that minorities, especially black people, have
hardly ever benefited from new policing strategies. In fact, minorities have been oppressed by
the legal system since the times of slavery.
32. Thomas Barker & David L. Carter, A Typology of Police Deviance, in POLICE DEVIANCE 4, 7
(Thomas Barker & David L. Carter eds., 1991).
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