Death In Custody Report

Police brutality has been an issue for more than a century. Between police officers and people of the community there has always been conflict on the rights for the people and how they are applied on the street or in action. The laws that were put in place to protect civilians were not strongly enforced at first but now today things have started to change. The most common reported abuse was towards African Americans, and the mentally ill. When police brutality started becoming an issue it was obvious that it was racism. Mentally ill are more susceptible to police brutality due to police officers not having the training to be able to handle situations. Every department should have the proper training to be able to handle every situation they

In 2014 congress passed the Death in Custody Reporting Act also known as the DCRA. (Rushin, 118) The DCRA requires that all police departments report the death of a person no matter when it happened if they were in the process of being arrested, under arrest, or detained it has to be reported. The FBI and Bureau of Justice created this database; it’s a national database that was created to log all the civilian deaths caused by law enforcement, in the hopes to show what can be done to fix the problem. The U.S. Attorney General is required to study the results and make the recommendations needed to congress on the federal government decisions to help reduce the amount of deaths in custody. (Rushin

“The First Amendment grants the people of the United states the right to peacefully criticize law enforcement. This law doesn’t come without conditions, criticism of law enforcement duties loses protection when ‘no essential part of an exposition of ideas and [is] of such slight social value as a step to truth that any benefit that may be derived from [criticism] is clearly outweighed by the social interests in order and morality’”. ( Shah, 226) Included in the First Amendment is the right for free speech and press.

“The Forth Amendment is the general right to be from ‘unreasonable searches and seizures.’ That provision has generated a complex of body case law focused on the use of force by police. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement could only use force proportionate to the threat faced by officers or the public.” (Garrett and Stoughton, 216) The First Circuit Court of Appeals addressed an issue on a case that took place October 2007. “Glik saw three officers arresting a young man, and out of concern the officers were using excessive force. Glik stated o take a video on his cell phone approximately ten feet away. One officer asked if Glik was recording audio and he stated he was, the officer arrested him for violation of the wiretap law and confiscated the phone. Charges were dismissed.” (Shah, 218) Glik later filed a civil action against the officer under the 42 U.S.C. Glik stated in the civil action against