The Beating of Rodney King
The Beating of Rodney King
The Beating of Rodney King Throughout police history in the United States and around the world there have been numerous incidents of reported police brutality and other forms of corruption including taking bribes, theft, sexual deviance, and many more. In our present time corruption has decreased significantly from what it once was decades ago but still exists. One of the most publicized cases of police brutality, if not the most, was the beating of Rodney King. Most people have heard about the case and seen the video of the brutal beating that took place in Los Angeles on the night of March 2, 1991. The video shown to the public contained officers appearing to beat Mr. King while he is on the ground while other officers appeared to be “Observing the beating”₁ and doing nothing to stop it. After an initial view of the footage it is very easy to jump to conclusions that the beating was simply an act of unnecessary police brutality and that Mr. King was just an innocent African-American man being subjected to racism and brutality by white police. There is no question that the force used by the officers in this case may have been excessive but what preceded the event must come into consideration when looking at the ethical issue of the officers conduct. On the night of March 2, 1991, King was driving on Foothill Freeway when at around 12:30 am when a husband and wife team of the California Highway Patrol, spotted King’s Hyundai behind them at a very high speed. The Singers than began to pursue King with their lights flashing but King did not respond and exited the highway forcing the highway patrol, along with other officers and a helicopter, on a high speed chase that lead to speeds up to 117 mph. Eventually King’s vehicle was cornered and he surrendered although displaying bizarre behavior such as “smiling” and “waving his hands”. Officer Singer yelled for King to get on the ground which he complied with. King then appeared to reach
The Beating of Rodney King Throughout police history in the United States and around the world there have been numerous incidents of reported police brutality and other forms of corruption including taking bribes, theft, sexual deviance, and many more. In our present time corruption has decreased significantly from what it once was decades ago but still exists. One of the most publicized cases of police brutality, if not the most, was the beating of Rodney King. Most people have heard about the case and seen the video of the brutal beating that took place in Los Angeles on the night of March 2, 1991. The video shown to the public contained officers appearing to beat Mr. King while he is on the ground while other officers appeared to be “Observing the beating”₁ and doing nothing to stop it. After an initial view of the footage it is very easy to jump to conclusions that the beating was simply an act of unnecessary police brutality and that Mr. King was just an innocent African-American man being subjected to racism and brutality by white police. There is no question that the force used by the officers in this case may have been excessive but what preceded the event must come into consideration when looking at the ethical issue of the officers conduct. On the night of March 2, 1991, King was driving on Foothill Freeway when at around 12:30 am when a husband and wife team of the California Highway Patrol, spotted King’s Hyundai behind them at a very high speed. The Singers than began to pursue King with their lights flashing but King did not respond and exited the highway forcing the highway patrol, along with other officers and a helicopter, on a high speed chase that lead to speeds up to 117 mph. Eventually King’s vehicle was cornered and he surrendered although displaying bizarre behavior such as “smiling” and “waving his hands”. Officer Singer yelled for King to get on the ground which he complied with. King then appeared to reach