Police Brutality Riots

While police brutality is only recently taking the media by storm, it has been a large scale issue in the United States for over one hundred years leading to various riots, petitions, and presidential panels. In 1938 at the time of a great riot regarding police brutality the National Negro Congress stated “Our lives, our homes, our liberties each day are made less secure because of unrestrained and unpunished police brutality” in their petition against police brutality (Contemporary Police Brutality and Misconduct 1). African Americans have repeated this same sentiment in recent years regarding the large influx in police brutality. They feel as though the people that are charged to protect them are the ones that they are the least safe around.
The 1992 Los Angeles Rebellion was a response to the March 3, 1991 brutalizing of Rodney G. King by three Los Angeles police officers. Twenty-three other law enforcement officers watched as King was beaten kicked and shocked by officers wielding batons and stun guns” (Contemporary Police Brutality and Misconduct 2). In such a stark overstep of power it was clear to the people of Los Angeles and others across the country that police reform was necessary. The riots allowed the issue of police brutality to be brought mass public attention and spurred some law enforcement reforms. While some reforms were brought about the problem was never completely handled. On top of this, police administrators have often ignored or been lax in using internal department policies and procedures to punish officers who have displayed a pattern of brutality and/or misconduct (Contemporary Police Brutality and Misconduct 2). While the problem is a difficult one that will require compromises from everyone, it is important to understand its complexity and importance to
In contemporary America, police brutality is the preferred form of social control (Contemporary Police Brutality and Misconduct 2). The police are so feared or disrespected by people in certain communities that it gives officers great latitude in handling people when they respond to incidents. A 2015 report for the Justice Department analyzed 394 incidents involving deadly police force in Philadelphia. It was found that officers "need more less-lethal options” (Wihbey &Kille 3). A pervasive problem in dealing with police brutality is the obvious lack of training. Officers are not given the resources to handle situations that they will most likely deal with. Because they do not have the proper training there is no way to hold them accountable for their actions, leaving large grey areas for police brutality to fester. While it is clear that officers should be held accountable for senseless shootings it is also important to acknowledge how dangerous their work is. America has a higher homicide rate compared to other developed nations, and many more guns per capita. Citizens seldom learn of the countless incidents where officers choose to hold fire and display restraint under extreme stress. Instead, due to the intense media storms, citizens only ever hear about incidents that