The PBS film “Policing the Police” brings an insider view into the Newark Police Department. As denoted in the documentary, Newark is one of the most violent cities in America with crime rates nine times higher than New York City’s. The Department of Justice investigated multiple cities including Newark and found that reform was a necessity: 75 percent of the time the Newark Police Department stopped people without legal justification. This is evidenced in the film itself through Jelani Cobb’s experiences; many stops he witnesses are done so based on hunches and use excessive force rather than the cops having reasonable suspicion. In my opinion, the Newark PD as portrayed in this documentary desperately requires reform. Based on the stops shown in the documentary, it it evident that, more often than not, the police in Newark overstep their authority. As previously stated, police often rely on hunches rather than reasonable suspicion to stop a person. In one instance, a man who is walking home is stopped and because he backs away he is thrown to the ground: he has no weapons or anything illegal in his possession. Jelani Cobb forms an important question here: “if you’re surrounded by police officers, do you feel more safe or less safe than you were two minutes earlier?” Personally I believe that the lack of reasonable suspicion to …show more content…
At the Newark Municipal Council’s public meeting shown at the beginning of the documentary, Newark residents claim that police assault, rob, and retaliate against them, and that the police “are supposed to be serving and protecting the community, but they serve and disrespect the community”. According to the textbook, mainstream ideas of criminal justice include the war on drugs and crime, punishment, crime as a rational choice rather than a social problem, and crime can be eliminated whereas a crosscurrent approach states nearly the
In a viewpoint by Nicole Flatow titled “History Indicates Varied Results in Improving Police Brutality in America,” She believes that there has been little reforms regarding police brutality. Nicole argues for years, America has barely made any effort on improving the use of force by police officers. For example, victims such as Rodney King and Amadou Diallo, led to some reforms, but did not solve the violence of police brutality. With the beating of Rodney King that was captured on camera, it sparked massive outrage that led to a riot when the police officers received no charges. Because of the riots, it created a momentum for a reform of the police.
“...Much of the recent crime increase threatens the vitality of America’s cities–and thousands of lives–it is not, in itself, the greatest danger in today’s war on cops. The greatest danger lies, rather, in the delegitimation of law and order itself’ (Mac Donald). In the book “The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe,” published in the year of 2016, author Heather Mac Donald provides credible evidence to expand on her viewpoint of our country’s current criminal crisis. In addition to “The War on Cops, Mac Donald has written two other books. Her works “Are Cops Racist?”
The readings of the Ferguson Police Department, 21st century Policing Task force, and research of social movement all have similarities, as well as differences. All of these reading come into connection with policing and the troubles and mistrust between policing and their community. All readings were attempting to bring attention to the United States of American that racist stereotyping, and profiling from police officer to particularly our black community still exists. Although these readings have similarities they also have differences. Starting with the Ferguson police department report, which was a very extensive report.
The incidents I chose that have shown the most criminal justice malfeasance is the Eric Garner incident in New York and the killing of Justine Damond. All five contextual themes can be seen in this case and the administrative concepts that could have prevented these situations can be seen as well. I will go over these cases one at a time to not be confusing to the reader. The first case I will discuss is the case of Eric Garner and the incident that ultimately led to his death. “Eric Garner was lumbering along a sidewalk on Staten Island on a July day when an unmarked police car pulled up.
The author expands his explanations with various sociological theories. Moreover, he discusses why the poor urban areas attract police officers to patrol them more often. The content of certain chapters is used in sociological and political explanations of police brutality. Holmes, M. D., & Smith, B. W. (2008). Race and police brutality: Roots of an urban dilemma.
The Ferguson Police Department was harming not only the citizens it served but also law enforcement agencies everywhere. The norms associated with public safety must be focused on the prevention of crime and the health, safety, and welfare of the public. It is unknown for how long the Ferguson Police Department ingrained the deviant behavior into its officers but regardless, the damage was
A.) The social problem that the article “When Schooling Meets Policing” is focusing on is the negative issues police officers have on students and their education when police officers are in the school. B.) The big problem that is emphasized in the article is what police officers are doing to young children when the children misbehave. One issue that is emphasized in the article is when at water balloon fight at a high school went down as a senior prank, eight students were arrested and two dozen police officers came to the campus. Students are being arrested for spit balls, temper tantrums, and other childish things that kids are expected to do at that age. In the past the education system would discipline the students with detention or something similar, but now the police officers are actually arresting students for very small things.
All throughout America, individuals are taught at a young age that police officers are always the “good guys.” Police officers are painted to be trustworthy, honorable, and advocates of justice. This idea is often displayed in the media through television shows, movies, and news specials. For some, this idea still holds truth, however there are many, particularly individuals of color, whom would quickly disagree. Numerous persons of color have been subjected to racial profiling by officers resulting in stops, searches, and false accusation of crimes.
Richard Wright was born after the Civil War but before the Civil Rights Movement. If Wright were writing an autobiography titled “Black Boy”, today in 2017, about a black boy growing up in the United States, he would write about white people horribly expressing racism against African Americans, the brutality police officers perform on blacks, and the positively protesting movement, Black Lives Matter, which people engage in fighting for the rights of African Americans. During the time period of “Black Boy”, whites were awfully expressing racism towards African Americans. They would discriminate, despise, and violently mistreat them. If Richard Wright would be writing an autobiography about the life of a black boy today in 2017, he would write
Bullying Essay Bullying is definitely prominent and for sure exists to this day. It is based on the color of your skin, and still are stopped based on what they look like rather than what they are doing. I personally have never been stopped but, i know that it exists and i know how i would react.
One of the more charged debates at this time in Minnesota is the actions of Police officers. In the past couple of years, Minnesota police have made headlines in incidents such as the deaths of Jamar Clark, Philando Castile, and most recently, Justine Damond. This has created a distrust of the police force that shouldn’t be there and can be fixed. This past summer, I went on a mission trip to Detroit, where I was blown away by what I saw and heard. I learned about the past in Detroit, which is plagued by racism and police brutality, most notably in the riots of 1967.
Annotated Bibliography Books Dudley, William, et al., editors. Police Brutality. D.L. Bender, 1991. • Police Brutality gives information on how police brutality is a widespread issue in the United States and explains different controversies and cases that relate to police brutality. • The editors of this book include activists and nonfiction authors who provide reliable information on what happened during different incidences of police brutality and the viewpoints and controversies that come with it.
The media makes the severity of the situation much worse. In some instances, a situation is represented in way that conveys a case as deceptive. Police misconduct, in this situation, is preposterously distorted. For example, the scene one sees on television may be completely inaccurate. In the article Unpacking Public Attitudes to the Police: Contrasting Perceptions of Misconduct with Traditional Measures of Satisfaction, Miller states, “…research found that people's fear of crime was related to crime content in the newspapers they read…”( 6).
Police brutality remains a common yet controversial topic around the world. Police brutality is “the use of excessive and/or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians” (thelawdictionary.org). It’s a topic that segregates communities and makes each other their enemy. Specifically, a white officer has been the enemy of the black community. Unfortunately, the tension between police and blacks grew over the past few decades.
Police Brutality is an ongoing problem and existent concern in the United States and should be resolved immediately. Law enforcement must function as an element that consists of organized and civilized officers. The presence of police brutality is becoming more of an issue as society grows. The problem posed by the illegal exercise of police power is an ongoing reality for individuals of a disfavored race, class, or sexual orientation. Police brutality must be stopped so that police do not forget who they are serving – not themselves, but the public.