The charts above show the disparity in sentencing between the general public and law enforcement. Despite officers being convicted on charges sometimes more severe than the general public, for instance a police officer killing on duty and a non violent offender being charged with selling drugs, officers spent 29% less time in jail on average then the people in which they have sworn to protect and serve (Packman, 2011).
This disparity rises when only cases of excessive force are viewed. Of the 2,716 officers who had allegations brought upon them for the use of excessive force, a mere 17 were ever charged with a crime and only 77 being convicted. Moreover, of the 426 fatalities that took place on behalf of law enforcement, only 28 officered were charged and less than half of those were prosecuted and convicted (Packman, 2011). These numbers show that nationally it is
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Barron Bowling was beaten by DEA agent Timothy McCue, who beat Bowling within inches of his life and causing him extreme brain damage (Balko, 2011). McCue claimed that it was Bowling who provoked the attacked by resisting arrest; however, witnesses say this is not true and that McCue, “threatened to kill Bowling, whom he called ‘white trash’ and a ‘system-dodging inbred hillbilly(Balko, 2011) Once witnesses testified against the officer, the DEA officer and officers of the Kansas City Police Department conspired to cover up the beating of Bowling (Balko, 2011). In fact, they charged Bowling with leaving the scene of a crime and also with assaulting a police officer during the initial crash. Despite these charges later being dropped, he was convicted on possession of drug paraphernalia—a small marijuana pipe police found in his car (Balko, 2011). Witnesses said McCue was responsible for the crash and the unprovoked beating of the