police brutality is Unjustified
AMerica wants change:
Some people think that police brutality is an isolated issue and that it doesn't affect them but did you know that from Oakland to Washington and all the way to New York thousands of people have been protesting against deadly force used by police, and blatant disregard for the lives of the public. The people don’t march out of hatred they march out of fear. During the protests in Washington, according to "Thousands march to protest against police brutality in major US cities", Al Sharpton, an American Baptist minister, stated “We don’t come to Washington as shooters and chokers. We come as the shot and the choked, asking you to help deal with the American citizens who can’t breathe in their own communities”. He later stated “This is not a black march or a white march. This is an American march”. A large portion of the American people feel fear when they look at the police force that is supposed to protect them. as " A deeper look into systemic abuses of power "More then 1,000 "choking" complaints were made to the New York police department from 2009-2011, and of those 1,000 only 9 complaints were investigated. less than 1% of the complaints were investigated! An abysmal statistic reflected by the rise in the dissatisfaction of the American people towards the police. It has become clear that the American people desire change in the way that police act towards citizens.
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50,000 people march in New York following the Eric Garner case
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The police and racism:
A deeper look into the police force shows that their views towards race and stereotypes are outdated and unjustified. According to a "A Neutral look at Police Brutality", “25 percent of police surveyed
stated that they have witnessed a fellow officers harassing a citizen most
likely because of his/her race”. The mindset that the police take towards race and profiling is one of the major causes of police brutality in America and in the world.Throughout history people in power have discriminated and miss-judged due to race and social status, and although most Americans like to say that's an issue of the past, the truth is that people in power still abuse
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it, even in America. This issue has also been reflected onto America's "war on drugs". with the fact that "African-Americans comprise only 13% of the U.S. population and 14% of the monthly drug users, but are 37% of the people arrested for drug-related offenses in America". Showing that there is a much higher percentage of black people arrested then of actual drug users who are black. This obvious disparity in treatment by the races from the police is unconstitutional and against what we stand for as a nation.
the victims:
The fact of the matter is that these cases of police brutality are talked about so much and protested against due to that fact that a lot of the cases have resulted in death. death is absolute. There is no taking back a life that is ripped away from its family and loved ones.In The article "4 Police Brutality Victims’ Families Share their Stories Before National Day of Protest", wife of victim Ernest Duenez, who was shot 11 times and killed by police, states "This is my own life tragedy, I live that day everyday of my life since 2011. … We don’t know why this happened. All we know is try to make it better for us and everybody else that it happens to". Even when after this fact, to make matters even worse, the police where shown giving each other high-fives after shooting and killing the victim. The families of these victims are left with nothing but heartbreak as they wonder why injustice remains rampant in this "land of the free". It has become clear that something needs to change within our police force to make sure this blatant racism and cycle of sadness and hatred don't continue. Kathie Cheng states, later in the article, "If there isn’t a very visible alternative to how people see police brutality, we’ll just accept that ‘Well, this is just what happens" . Recently, many different organizations have formed to fight police brutality such as, The Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality. This community and many others are fighting to peacefully put an end to this plaque of hate and violence.
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