Abstract
Due to the increasing issue of police brutality, many have begun to speculate on the legitimacy of the legal process that is taken by members of law enforcement. These legal procedures have existed for many years as an aspect of an organized system that has had many advantages and disadvantages. As times change and we continue to incorporate progressive reforms, the impact of social issues such as the death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor continue to suggest that the reconstruction of these legal systems may be necessary. The goal of this review is to research the specific situations regarding the issue of police brutality that have occurred throughout the previous years, and to determine whether better systems can be put in place to abolish this issue.
Introduction
Throughout a large period of modern civilization, law enforcement has played an integral role in maintaining and developing our society. The general purpose of these groups has been to enforce what is recognized as the law, which is established by the government. The expansive field involves police, courts and correctional careers, with 1 in 400 civilians being within this field. Additionally, according to a 2019 census, there were 697,195 full time law enforcement police officers. It is not difficult to see that many the US population is invested in law enforcement, and that this field is likely to continue to display an increasing amount of popularity in the years to come. However, as the total number of law enforcement officers documented in history increases, so do the number of issues of civil injustice committed by some of them, including that of police brutality.
Law Enforcement and Police Brutality (Body of Review)
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past two decades, and perhaps even before then – I am certain that you have heard of issues covered in media outlets regarding police brutality. These situations have been documented as an excessive and unwarranted usage of force that have led to the unlawful deaths of many civilians. The recognition of this issue has led to the creation and organization of several movements and political groups, including that of the Black Lives Matter movement, following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting of Trayvon Martin in February 2012. A study conducted in 2019 documented the civilian killings perpetuated on police. Studies have shown that out of the 1,099 individuals that were killed by police, black people were three times more likely to be killed. (Smith and Rodriguez, 2020) The same study also found that black people were five times as likely to have suffered from a police intervention related injury than white people, with these injuries being so severe that they have often led to hospitalization, disability, and death.
This study displays that of the many instances of police brutality, many of these instances seem to attract and influence a more severe impact on the civilians that happen to be black. The study also displays that there may be a manner of racial profiling involved in the protocol taken by these members of law enforcement, as white civilians are documented as being treated with less force and aggression, and in far less repetition than their black counterparts. Most people have advocated for the reforming of these legal systems, especially proceeding the creation of the Black Lives Matter movement. A study documented in a 2021 article on the movement displayed that police homicides significantly decreased in the cities that had major protests as a result of these movements, resulting in an estimated 300 fewer deaths nationwide from 2014 to 2019. (Daley, 2021) The many protests and riots in between the establishment of the movement until now showcases that the uproar of the public has influenced the law enforcement system.
More recently, that data statistic has been challenged by the occurrence of two more civilian murders. On the 25 of May 2020, police officers arrested George Floyd, as a result of a counterfeit purchase of cigarettes. George Floyd was a 46-year-old black recording artist who met his death at the hands of white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin. Video recordings of the incident showcase officers following a procedure of actions that violated the Minneapolis Police Department, as Floyd was pronounced dead seventeen minutes after the first squad car arrived at the scene. Derek Chauvin was held responsible for pinning down George Floyd and maintaining his knee against his neck for at least eight minutes and 15 seconds. Floyd was reported to have lost consciousness, and Chauvin persisted to hold his knee against his neck even after a full minute and 20 seconds that paramedics arrived onto the scene. (Hill, Tiefenthäler, Triebert, Jordan, Willis, and Stein, 2020) Is it a part of any legal police procedure to risk the asphyxiation of a potential suspect for an extended period, regardless of the crime that was committed? No. As Derek Chauvin has recently been convicted for the murder of George Floyd, and held guilty of all charges, the system that he allegedly operated under must be put into question.
Conversely, on March 13th of 2020, in Louisville, another black civilian was killed unlawfully as a result of unlawful legal procedure. Breonna Taylor was a 26-year-old black woman who worked as an emergency technician and had just finished four overnight shifts at the hospital she worked at. Later that night, Breonna was struck five times by incoming bullets, as a result of a drug raid conducted by undercover police officers on her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker. Breonna was caught in between the exchange of shots that occurred between her boyfriend and local members of the Louisville department, after her boyfriend suspected a home invasion as a result of the “no knock” warrant that allowed the members of law enforcement to burst into people’s homes without warning. (Callimachi, 2021) This incident did not have the same amount of local media coverage as the incident with George Floyd, but it was responsible for the passing of “Breonna’s Law” in Minneapolis, which was designated to prevent the further institution of no-knock warrants. In this instance, the police department may have been following proper procedure within their department at the time, but it does not change the fact that an innocent civilian casualty was the result of said procedure.
The issue of police brutality has been one that has occurred for decades within our country’s history, institutionalized as the subject of debate regarding the effectiveness of our law enforcement protocol. It is simply a travesty that something so inconsequential to the public health of specific individuals such as the usage of counterfeit bills and coming home late from work, coupled with being at the wrong place at the wrong time can result in something as grave as the death of citizens that did not require it. Since the killing of Michael Brown from Ferguson in 2014, studies have been conducted by several private and nonprofit organizations to reach the conclusion that black people are racially targeted by members of law enforcement. Despite making up less than 13% of the US population, black people account for more than 24% of all deaths in legal incidents, as well as being allegedly reported to commit 50% of all crimes. (Pappas, 2020) What this shows is a direct correlation between the treatment of black people based on the number of crimes that they have committed. As the same studies have shown, crimes are committed by individuals of low economic status with low amounts of opportunities, and the percentage of wealth disparity between black and white people remains as massive as the wealth disparity established in 1968.
Conclusion
This shows that there is a correlation between the treatment of black people in legal instances based on racial profiling stemming from decades of institutionalized racism within the US. The studies that were shown not only displayed a lack of proper procedure following an arrest, and the immoral procedure practice of no-knock warrants, but the direct ineffectiveness that our current law enforcement has in maintaining the peace of our nation. As these systems are put in place, and certain procedures followed, more examples of police brutality occur, resulting in more protests and riots as the frustration of the American people to the legal processes established decades ago, continues to increase in severity. It only becomes clearer as more of these situations occur that the system needs to be altered drastically for these statistics to change. As our nation continues to make progressive reforms to treat its citizens with the sense of liberty, freedom, and justice that they are endowed with, the manner of institutionalized racism, police brutality, and proper legal procedure must all be questioned.
Works Cited
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.livescience.com/amp/evidence-police-brutality-reform.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/30/us/breonna-taylor-police-killing.html
