Police Brutality: The Story Of Nicholas Naquan Heyward

Protectors?

In a life threatening situation we are told to call the police. Who are we supposed to call when the police are the ones putting us in the life threatening situation? In the beginning of America the police where watchmen who often slept and drank while on duty, and there were people who were put on watch duty as a form of punishment (cite). From there the change of urbanization rendered the night-watch system completely useless as communities got too big. An organized police force with officers on duty full-time was created in Boston in 1838. (Cite) The police have been around for almost as long as America, however so has the abuse of power committed by those in power.

Police brutality has historically been perpetrated against

Such as the story of “Nicholas Naquan Heyward Jr. who was born in Brooklyn on August 26, 1981, the first of two children of Nicholas and Angela Heyward. Nicholas attended Public School 20, where he was a B+ student. After graduating, Nicholas attended Nathan Hale Middle School, where he became an honor student and role model among his peers. An active member of the Church of God in Christ, Nicholas Jr. had very high expectations, and at 12-years old, had already decided to pursue a career as a doctor or professional basketball player, both of which were well within his reach.(cite) He was a well-rounded child with the world at his fingertips. On September 27, 1994, Nicholas Heyward, Jr., at 13-years old, was shot and killed by a New York City housing cop in the housing complex where he lived with his mother, father and younger brother. Nicholas Jr. and his friends were playing a game of cops and robbers in the stairwell of the Gowanus Houses, using plastic toy guns with bright orange-colored handles and tips. When Officer Brian George came upon Nicholas on the 14th floor stairwell, Nicholas dropped his toy gun, saying "We're only playing, we're only playing," but Officer George shot Nicholas in the stomach. (Cite). The police officer who killed Nicholas like many other police officers was once again let of the hook by pleading that he feared for his life from a 13 year old

The facts behind this ‘according to the FBI's 2014 Uniform Crime Reports, close to 90 percent of African-American homicides were committed by other African Americans. Meanwhile 82 percent of white American homicide victims were killed by other white people.’’(cite) but Crime, like housing, is racially segregated in the US, which means it's way more likely that a crime committed against someone is going to be by someone who lives in their neighborhood and probably looks a lot like them. The term "white-on-white crime" is essentially nonexistent, even though it does happen, but isn’t addressed like black on black on crime. So to address the problem of black on black crime we need to address to problem of segregated community’s by countless decades of racial