Essay On Police Brutality

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Many Americans are of the belief that police brutality is more prevalent today than it was in the past. This, however, is not the case. Police brutality has been a long standing problem in the United States. The only difference today is that an act of police brutality has a chance of being caught on camera. Thus, it is not the violence that is new-It is the cameras. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “Police brutality in the United States is the unwarranted or excessive use of force against civilians by U.S. police officers.” Today, police brutality comprises several forms, the most common being physical force elicited though assault and battery, mayhem, torture and murder. Furthermore, false arrests, verbal abuse, psychological intimidation, sexual abuse, police corruption, racial profiling, political repression and unjustified use of Tasers are additional forms of police misconduct. A thorough reasearch of the history of police brutality in the United States revealed that police brutality dates as far back as the nineteenth century. During this period, police misconduct was mostly directed towards the poor laborers and working class. The aim was to control and suppress labor and leisure activities of the masses which, however, ended in large scale violence. Strikes were one of such labor activities that…show more content…
The shooting of Eric Garner, Walter Scott, Alton sterling and Philando Castile were recorded by citizens who witnessed the killings first hand. Civilians who capture such incidents today play a significant role in bringing forth evidence and offer a broader perspective to Police Brutality. This has marked the beginning of a phenomenon called Citizen Journalism or citizen

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