A police brutality research paper describes the abuse of authority by the unnecessary infliction of extreme force by law enforcement officers while conducting their duties. In the United States, the abuse by law is one the contentious and debated human rights issue. The violations continue across the country in urban, suburban, and rural regions of the nation, committed by different law enforcement officials including state and local police, federal agents, and sheriff’s departments. Police have been involved in unwarranted shootings, deadly chokings, and unjustified rough treatment. While the percentage of continually abusive law enforcement officers on a particular face is usually small, the authorities who are responsible, including the supervisors, along with leaders in the federal and local governments, are usually reluctant to penalize cases of abuse by officers.
In a police brutality argumentative essay, it is important to note that cultural issues unique to the United States are a key contributor to police brutality in the nation. In his 2014 book titled Coming Home to Roost: American Militarism, War Culture, and Police Brutality, Colin Jenkins facilitates a comprehensive examination at the probable cultural roots of law enforcement violence in the country. The cultural issues include white supremacy, an erosion of empathy, a materialistic culture, a culture of oppression and war among Americans, and the creation of an extremely class-based and hierarchical society. The author also associates the increased involvement of the U.S in overseas wars and transition of soldiers to police officers has increased the racial profiling of poor, working-class minorities. By tapping into his personal experience in the armed forces, Jenkins facilitates some insight into the mindset that is developed by combat training and the way they are used on target populations, which includes Americans.
To that extent, police officers should follow the recommendations of the report titled Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States, published by the Human Rights Watch. The report examines police brutality in fourteen cities across the United States: New York, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. San Francisco, Providence, Portland, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, and Boston. It highlighted that these cities do not have effective transparency and accountability systems, and share a constant failure to punish law enforcement officers who violate human rights and different barriers to facilitating justice. An argumentative essay on police brutality should focus on such issues.
Firstly, federal assistance should only be received by local and state police units that can prove that they are taking significant steps to mitigate police brutality and respect human rights. The steps that police departments are mandated to take include; developing and reinforcing civilian evaluation agencies, creating early warning systems to identify law enforcement officers who have been accused of human rights violations, and developing a discrete prosecutor’s department to investigate officers who have been accused of misconduct.
Secondly, the international covenants of international human rights should be implemented. The United States must enforce the standards of international human rights, and the law facilitates wider reinforcements that U.S legislation in many regions. The law ensures that the human rights of both police officers and citizens are respected. Focusing on such aspects can help one to write a good police brutality paper.
As one joins the police department, one can write to his/her municipality and urge that comprehensive funding be facilitated for citizen evaluation of law enforcement officers accused of abuse of human rights. If one’s regional government does don’t have citizen evaluation of law enforcement officers, one should call for the development of an effective public evaluation department. One should also urge the municipality to require the police department to develop and use early warning systems to highlight officials who have accused repeatedly of human rights abuses. A small number of officers usually paint a bad picture on the whole police force since their superiors do not take any action by discipline, dismissing, or investigating them when suitable. An early warning system that is effective could enable sustainable change and create a difference.
Police officers should engage in discussions with governors and legislators calling them to develop a discrete prosecutor’s department to oversee the investigation and trial of police officers accused of violent acts or corruption. Currently, local prosecutors are typically reluctant to follow cases against their workmates, and federal prosecutors don have adequate staff and are also reluctant. These special departments should be set up in each state and would ensure officers who have committed criminal violations are prosecuted. Consequently, this would deter law enforcement officers who believe they can evade criminal trials for brutality in many cases.
States should stop criminalizing everything. For instance, the state of California has developed 1,000 novel crimes in the past two and a half decades while Michigan state presently has over 3,000 crimes in its legislation. New York City by itself has 10,000 crimes, codes and rules that can be enforced by the police. In many cities, these offenses are comprised of innocuous acts like staying in the park after closing hours, sleeping and spitting in the subway, panhandling, and drinking alcohol in public spaces. Indeed, even the wearing of saggy pants has been criminalized in some regions. Such developments are quite absurd since none of these acts warrant criminal punishment. Studies show that police officers spend most of their time handling minor offenses such as the ones mentioned above and less time dealing with violent crimes. This results in a system whereby minority people are disproportionately taken to court for low-level crimes. To put a stop to this trend, district attorneys and police attorneys should deprioritize prosecuting and enforcing low-level offenses. City charters should be changed to restrict the administrative, tax, and health offenses that law enforcement has the duty of enforcing. Misdemeanors like civil infractions should be reclassified whenever possible (. Further, measures should be enforced to decrease collateral effects of these crimes. Public housing, immigration, employment, and parenting status should not feel the impact.
States should stop using poor people to widen city budgets. Many courts can hand out an arrest warrant if a person does not show up to a court appointment for ticketed violation or summons. The consequence is individuals spending time in jail for not paying tickets. To worsen matters, the action is incentivized as extra fines and court fees are used to supplement regional budgets. To put a stop to this, lawmakers should be pressured to remove “failure to appear” charges in the regional courts. They should deploy reminder phone calls and toll-free rides for people. Such a move will stop law enforcement officers from harassing people to induce them to appear in courts.
Lastly, ICE should be kicked out of cities. ICE agencies heavily depend on local police. Not only does this it also makes individual with potential immigration issues to shy away from the police, even if they require assistance or could be extremely helpful in the case. To that extent, cities should cut ties between local police and ICE. This would reduce unwarranted racial profiling by the police in urban areas and give local people the chance to collaborate with the police without being forced to do so.
In conclusion, the following essay has asserted that police brutality should be halted by the stop to the criminalization of everything, seizing from using poor people to widen city budgets, and kicking out Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) out of cities. By doing so, police departments will be able to collaborate meaningfully with citizens to put a halt to more serious crimes.
The guideline of how to start a police brutality essay is fundamentally the same of each formatting style. The keen part that a writer should look out for is the citation format, that is, how to apply the different styles of citation in the essay.
A strong police brutality paper should focus on the downsides of police brutality and how these negative aspects of the police force can be prevented.
