On November 22, 2014, 12 year old Tamir Rice was ruthlessly shot by police for reportedly having a gun. Subsequent to his shooting, it was found out that the gun was actually a toy. Police brutality is an ongoing problem in our country today. Police brutality is the use of excessive force in situations where force is not needed. About 7,000 Americans have been killed by U.S. police officers in the past 15 years. It has been going on for a long time, but over the past 20 years there has been a shocking increase in police killings. With the use of modern technology, we have been able to witness these acts firsthand which is why it is being talked about so much lately. As I have researched this topic, I have found few causes as well as some detrimental effects.
Racial profiling is an extremely notable cause of police brutality. Racial profiling is The New York Police Department has a program called “stop-and-frisk” which allows officers to stop and question an innocent bystander and then check them for weapons and other illegal substances. According to the Washington Post, about 90% of those stopped are black or Latino and only 1 in 10
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When at the academy, a training school for potential officers, students are taught self-defence. They are told if there is a situation where deadly force is necessary, then they can use it. Unfortunately, some This happened particularly in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch captain who called 911 because he saw a “suspicious person” walking at night. 911 operators told him to stay in his vehicle and avoid approaching the person, but he completely ignored these instructions. He got out of his SUV and approached Martin. Without warning, Zimmerman cold-bloodedly shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Reasons like this is why we need not only more trained officers, but also ones who are mentally able to keep calm in situations like