Nestor 1

Nestor, Crystal
English 1A
Professor Taylor
March 3, 2015
Call to Action: Police Brutality

As many of us know, police are here to protect and serve when one is in danger, but not
many people believe that law enforcement is here for that purpose. Their job description is
simply to prevent citizens from breaking the law, and to protect citizens from harm rather than
putting them in harm. Many of us including myself are beginning to question whether law
enforcement are taking advantage of their power and using it to harm, or in some cases
sometimes kill innocent people. Lately there have been stories coming out in the newspapers and
news saying that the law enforcement have been killing unarmed people and have been using
extensive body strength to harm them. Along with excessive body strength they have been using
the use of their guns in situations that are not necessary.
The law enforcement has six steps of force in which are, officers presence and
demeanor, verbal commands, physical control (kicks, punches), serious physical control (pepper
spray, baton, taser), impact and weapons, and lastly deadly force. For example, in the Rodney
King situation, he had broken the law by driving under the influence and not stopping when told
by the law enforcement. Yes he did brake the law, but the excessive use of body strength was
unnecessary, law enforcement continuously beat him even when he was already laid flat on the

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floor defenseless. The officers who brutally beat King later underwent trial but were found
innocent, which led to the Los Angeles riots. People began rioting in Los Angeles by burning
down buildings to show that letting the police who brutally beat King free had done injustice.
This then leads me to believe that police brutality is, and continues to become a big issue
worldwide.
Most police brutality tends to happen within the African-American race, in an article
titled Imaging Racial Justice In America by David Dante Trout he mentions, Thatthestates
victimsthroughoutourhistoryhavebeenoverwhelminglyAfricanAmericanstampsitasan
indeliblebadgeofslavery,whichmeansthatnothingintheworldcanmakeyoufeelmore
black/AfricanAmericaninAmericathanexperiencingpolicebrutality.Thisshowsthatpolice
brutalityismostlyfoundwithintheAfricanAmericanrace,makingitaracialissue.Whyisit
thatmostincidentsoccurwithintheAfricanAmericanrace?CriminalstereotypeofAfrican
AmericansanarticlepublishedonJuly2014,mentionsthat,The criminal stereotype of African
Americans in the United States is an ethnic stereotype according to which African American
males are stereotyped to be criminal and dangerous and it has been associated with racial
profiling by law enforcement This brings me to say that the law enforcement unfairly judges
African-Americans as criminals which causes them to believe that they are a threat to the law
enforcements life, when in reality most are not a threat.
InanotherarticletitledLettersbyJimStewart,hemakesagoodpointthatgoeslike
this,Forceshouldbeusedtoinjureandstopanunarmedsuspect,anddeadlyforceusedonly
whenthesuspectisfiringaweaponorthreateningtodoso.Whathemeansbythisisthatthe

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lawenforcementshoulduseforcewhenwantingtostopsomeonefromdoingsomethingthatputs
othersinharm,andthatadeadlyweaponshouldbeusedwhentheyfearfortheirlife,whichis
whenthesuspectshaveaweapon,themselves.InthecaseofMichaelBrown,Brownwasfatally
shotbyDarrenWilson,awhitepoliceofficerinFerguson.Brownhadstolencigarillosfroma
localconveniencestore.WilsonreceivedthecallandlaterfoundthatMichaelBrownandDorian
Johnsonmatchedthedescriptionthatwasgivingtohim.Wilsonfiredsomeshots,whichcaused
BrownandJohnsontorun.WilsoncameinfullcontactwithBrownafewminuteslater,itwas
saidthatBrownstoppedandwasturningtofacetheofficer,whenWilsonbegantofireatotalof
twelvebulletscausingBrownsdeath.OfficerWilsondidnotpracticeanyofthesixlevelsof
forcewhenitcametoBrown;insteadheskippedthemallandwentstraighttolevelsix.This
provesthatsomelawenforcementofficersdonotfollowtheprocedurestheyaretoldto.
Most people would think that being home would is a thousand times safer than being in
war in Iraq. But realistically we are less likely to die in the Iraq war, than we are in the hands of
law enforcement. In Increasing Police Brutality: Americans Killed by Cops Now Outnumber
Americans Killed in Iraq War by Global Research News tell us that, In the last decade alone
the number of people murdered by police has reached 5,000. The number of soldiers killed since
the inception of the Iraq war, 4489. About 500 innocent Americans are murdered by law
enforcement every year. The law enforcements job is to protect and serve, but instead we are
starting to fear them. We can no longer feel safe when our life is in danger or when we need them
to protect us from danger. They themselves are beginning to become murders that do not get
punished for it.

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In addition, last year, a teenage boy was reportedly shot and killed in his own home in
Euharlee, Georgia. Christopher Roupe was 17 and was enrolled in the ROTC program, he had
dreams of joining the Marine Corps. Law enforcement pulled up to Roupes house with
intentions of serving a warrant for Roupes father for violating his probation for a misdemeanor.
As Roupe was answering the door, law enforcement shot Roupe in the chest. Law enforcement
claimed that Roupe had a gun pointing at them, when all he had in his hand was a Wii remote.
Law enforcement is beginning to take advantage of their power by shooting and killing anyone
without being sure if they are threat to their life, instead they shoot without making sure.
Not only do law enforcement target African-Americans, but also target anyone that is of
color. Statistics show that 8.7% of suspects killed by the hands of law enforcement were white,
whereas black men where twice the percentage leaving them at 18% and under the age of 21, and
Latinos at 11%. In the community of Ferguson, Missouri the community makes of 65% black. In
the year of 2013, about 92% of people whom were arrested consisted of black men and women.
This shows us that law enforcement targets people of color, leading us to think that there is
racism within law enforcement.
In another incident, an unarmed Mexican man in Pasco, Washington was shot 17 times by
law enforcement for hurling rocks at them. The man was unarmed and did not make a threat to
the law enforcement whatsoever. The law enforcement did not have a reason to have to fire 17
shots for a man who was unarmed. Law enforcement did not practice the six levels of forces,
instead they went straight to the use of a deadly weapon. Law enforcement should not have fired

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that many shots, instead they should have approached him. Law enforcement has batons, pepper
spray, and a taser that they could have used alternate to the using their deadly weapon.
In conclusion, with police brutality coming to the attention of United States social issues,
Obama has said that he will begin to take steps to end police brutality. These plans include,
establishing a task forces on police accountability, demilitarizes the police, fund on body
cameras for law enforcement, and convene community meetings. Establish a task force on police
accountability by [proposing] how the federal government can work with state and local
communities to institutionalize these best practices. Demilitarize the police by making sure that
they are not building a militarized culture inside the law enforcement. Funding on body cameras
by spending 50,000 thousands dollars on body cameras for law enforcement, that will video
record everything. Lastly, convene community meetings by having honest conversations with
law enforcement, and communities.

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Works Cited
Bogado, Aura. "What Obama Says Hell Do About Police Brutality - COLORLINES." RSS.
N.p., 3 Dec. 2014. Web. 04 Mar. 2015.
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police_brutality.html>.
Chaney, Cassandra, and Ray V. Robertson. "Can We All Get Along?" Blacks' Historical And
Contemporary (In) Justice With Law Enforcement." Western Journal Of Black Studies
38.2 (2014): 108-122. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
"Criminal Stereotype of African Americans." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 04
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_stereotype_of_African_Americans>.
"Increasing Police Brutality: Americans Killed by Cops Now Outnumber Americans Killed in
Iraq War." Global Research. N.p., Dec. 2013. Web. 01 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.globalresearch.ca/increasing-police-brutality-americans-killed-by-copsnow-outnumber-americans-killed-in-iraq-war/5361554>.
McKay,Tom."OneTroublingStatisticShowsJustHowRacistAmerica'sPoliceBrutality
ProblemIs."Mic.N.p.,18Aug.2014.Web.03Mar.2015.
<http://mic.com/articles/96452/onetroublingstatisticshowsjusthowracistamericas
policebrutalityproblemis>.
"Six Levels of Force." Police Link. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2015.
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Stewart, Jim, et al. "Letters." Nation 299.15 (2014): 2-34. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4
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"TeenShotbyPoliceHoldingWiiControllerinHisOwnHomePoliceStateUSA."Police
StateUSA.N.p.,20Feb.2014.Web.05Mar.2015.
<http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/christopherroupe/>.
Troutt, David Dante. "IMAGINING RACIAL JUSTICE IN AMERICA. (Cover Story)." Nation
299.26 (2014): 17-19. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
"Washington:PoliceFired17ShotsatManKilledWhileThrowingRocks."TheNewYork
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