Police Brutality and its Impact on the Criminal Justice System
Police brutality is explained as officers applying more force than what is needed to control a situation. For example, police brutality is when too much physical force is used or pulling a weapon against a civilian. Police officers have weapons supplied to them like handguns, pepper spray, batons, and stun guns, but they can only be used to the extent that is necessary to control a situation. However, if an officer shot a jaywalker or used any force at all it would be unreasonable. In addition, when threats or intimidation is used it is considered police brutality (Smith, 2016). Above all, if I witnessed police brutality I would contact a local law enforcement agency and inform
…show more content…
As a result, the “BlackLivesMatters” movement has been brought to attention because of all black people that have died due to the actions of police by the mainstream. However, police brutality isn't just a problem for one individual ethnicity. Providing that, police departments are dissolving claims of brutality out of hand, the statistics are from self-reporting, or the issue begins from not following department policy (Small-Jordan, 2015). As a consequence, police brutality in America has reached such a turning point that society has reached an “us against them” attitude with criminals targeting officers and law enforcement. Also, the constant media coverage has impacted society and resulted in the need for reform or laws to minimize police brutality. In addition, in 2015 the Senate passed the “Death in Custody Reporting Act” due to the BlackLivesMatters movement. This bill requires police departments to report every death while taking an individual into custody to the Department of Justice. In the hope that, the number of people dying can be reduced. Additionally, this bill requires the Department of Justice to analyze deaths at the hands of law enforcement to make policy recommendations (Burke,