Police Brutality

This is a very large issue especially in the United States. Although a number of law enforcement officers strive to keep peace in each community they call there own, there are nonetheless incidents. In addition, there are ongoing concerns in the African American community that revolve around the issue of excessive force. As well, many cases (of unarmed African American men) like that of Michael Brown Jr. and John Crawford III have put police culture and training under a harsh scope. As of now, the issue isn't a whole lot better. In 2015, (according to the Washington Post) a total of 987 people were killed by police. Of this 987, 9% were gunned down while unarmed and the most prominent race in this category was African American as well. In this same year, African American men were 7 times more likely to die from police gunfire as white men. Despite this, it is also worth mentioning that of this remaining 91%, 80% had a weapon and roughly 25% were mentally ill. Having said this, many organizations and court cases have sparked from these, one of the most prominent being Black Lives Matter. As for the cases there are an absurd amount but some are more verbally recognizable than others like that of; Tamir Rice, Stephon Clark, Eric Garner and a number of others. In addition, books and movies have also become a large way to support this issue. Books like "The Hate U Give" especially. Another factor that plays a large roll is the use of media. As these incidents continue to happen, more and more are recorded and taped as to have proof of who was in the right and who was in the wrong. Unfortunately, these pieces of evidence aren't always recognized as they should be. Another issue that arises from this issue of police brutality is that there is no abrupt  solution. In relation to this, there is a lot of controversy when speaking on the topic of the proper use of deadly force and when it can be justified. Beyond this, there is the view of cops, sometimes they are forced to make impulse based decisions. This is not meant as defense for the officers involved in the cases previously mentioned, however, people need to realize that officers are at risk as well. Alongside this racism plays a race because of the roles each race has had in the past. Although the Civil Rights Movement of the 60's made a difference not everything is perfect and it never will be unfortunately.




https://people.howstuffworks.com/6-civil-rights-struggles-going-right-now.htm

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