Police Brutality Research Paper

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Police brutality is not something that is always shown to the public. Honestly, I had no idea police used excessive force in times when it was not necessary. This paper argues that police today use excessive force to apprehend suspects. The problem with police brutality is the police use of excessive force. The definition of excessive force is unknown and that is what makes this problem hard to grasp. What is excessive to the civilian might not be considered excessive to the police officer. Police officers might know what is excessive and still choose to use that method. Their fellow police officers band together with them to make sure that certain police officer does not get in any trouble (Alpert and Smith 1994). That causes problems for society because it is basically saying that police can use excessive force and typically get away with it. Citizens typically have two different ways they want the police to deal with situations based on whether or not they are involved. They want the police to use enough force to enforce the law on serious offenders, but when the person is personally involved they expect the police to use restraint. This creates a double…show more content…
Brutality is considered to be when a police officer commits a conscious and venal act that they go to great lengths to cover up. Unnecessary force is considered insensitivity or ineptitude. This could be a good-faith police officer’s mistake. Distinguishing between the two is what is difficult. Jerome H. Skolnick and James J. Fyfe identified these forms of unnecessary violence. Fyfe does point out that police officers do get into situations, or put themselves into situations, where force is needed to get the suspect under control. Brutality comes out when a police officer chooses to or intends to use excessive force to get the suspect under control (Alpert and Smith

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