Police Brutality: A Minority Group Concern Essay -- Use of Excessive Fo

"Relations between the police and minority groups are a continuing problem in many multiracial societies. Surveys consistently document racial differences in perceptions of the police, with minorities more likely than whites to harbor negative views." (Weitzer and Tuch, Race and Perceptions of Police Misconduct, 2004) A great deal of society views law enforcement officers as heroic and honorable individuals, whose main purpose is to protect and serve the community. For many officers, this description is accurate, however for others; violence and brutality against innocent citizens is part of getting the job done. For years, minorities have fallen victim to police brutality based on racial profiling, stereotypes and other unjustifiable reasons that has cost innocent lives. The involvement of officers in police brutality against minority groups causes tainted and negative views on policing. This reduces their ability to protect and serve the community. Police brutality is a violent incident involving an officer and a victim, usually including excessive force, unnecessary violence and sometimes resulting in a senseless fatality. Minority groups such as African Americans and Hispanics have often been the victims of this form of abuse by officers, however little justice has been done in order to protect these individuals from this form of cruelty by the hands of those with the most power. For many individuals, police brutality is a non-existent matter because it does not directly affect them or the community in which they live. Yet for others, this is an everyday occurrence and few limitations have been set as to what is unjust and malicious behavior of an officer towards the public, therefore, several officers are rarel... ..., 747-763. Simmons, K. C. (2008). The Politics of Policing: Ensuring Stakeholder Collaboration in the Federal Reform of Local Law Enforcement Agencies. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1973- ), 98(2), 489-246. Smith, B. W. & Holmes, M. D. (2003). Community Accountability, Minority Threat, and Police Brutality: An Examination of Civil Rights Criminal Complaints. Criminology, 41(4), 1035-1063. Tyler, T. (2005). Policing in Black and White: Ethnic Group Differences in Trust and Confidence in the Police. Police Quarterly, 8(3), 322-342. Weitzer, R. and Tuch, S. (2004) Race and Perceptions of Police Misconduct. Society for the Study of Social Problems, Inc. SOCIAL PROBLEMS, Vol. 51, No. 3, pages 305–325. ISSN: 0037-7791; online ISSN: 1533-8533 Web. 4 Sept. 2015. http://web.missouri.edu/~jlfm89/Race%20Perceptions%20of%20Police%20Misconduct.pdf