Johannes Mehserle a 28 year old white 2 year Bart officer from the South Bay area. During his duty he made a dreadful mistake of killing Oscar Grant on New Years Day in 2009. Oscar Grant a 22 year old African American and father to a 4 year old daughter at the time of his death. Mehserle and Grant crossed paths that night changing both of their lives. To Many cases have been seen on the news channels, newspaper, and social media where an officer has responded to a disturbance that ends in the death of an unarmed black man.
According to Wikipedia “The trial began on June 10, 2010 in Alameda County where the prosecutor charged Mehserle with murder for the killing of Oscar Grant. On July 8, 2010, Mehserle was only found guilty of involuntary
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As routine officers arrive on scene to carry out the purpose of the police department by providing peace, safety, and to maintain order emotions, rights and authority can disrupt judgment. In the case of Oscar Grant one officers actions were quickly misunderstood because another unarmed person would be killed by a police officer.
In my opinion the officer failed to carry out the purpose of the police department because officers are expected to not do unnecessary harm but protect and serve. With new policy educating the public and police officers on how to commutate and react to one another could help decrease these types of actions. Including new policy that could help prevent this action of police brutality against unarmed individuals by increasing police training on de-escalating situations verbally before becoming physically aggressive. Change in policy could enforce more penalties for officers who carelessly do not recognize the difference between their Taser and gun or the difference between a suspect walking home with candy wearing a hoodie from one walking from a crime scene wearing a hoodie. Public relations could increase community activities or involvement that include the police force in a positive