Police brutality is defined as the use of unjustified or excessive force by the police, usually against citizens. It refers to the violation of human rights by the police (Ellawala, 2016). Forms of police brutality include racial abuse and beatings, unreasonable search, false arrest, and the misuse of agents of riot control such as tear gas and pepper spray (Peter Imber, 2015). An example of a police brutality incident is the police shooting of Daunte Wright on April 11th, 2021. The victim, Wright, was pulled over because his car had an expired registration tag. During this stop, the police officers noticed that Wright also had an outstanding warrant for a gross misdemeanor (Shapiro, 2021). The officers then attempted to take Daunte Wright into custody, but he went back into his car. One officer named Kim Potter announced that she would tase him. Instead, Potter shot Wright with a gun, and the victim died a few minutes later after crashing into another car.
In this incident, Officer Potter could have acted differently and prevented Wright’s death. She claims that she mistook her gun for a taser (Shapiro, 2021). However, she had been a police officer for twenty-six years and was bound to know the difference between a handgun and a taser. She should also have de-escalated the situation in a more professional manner. When the alleged perpetrator tried to drive away, she pulled out her gun and pointed it at him, threatening to tase him (Shapiro, 2021). This shows she was probably aware that she was holding a taser. On the other hand, Wright should not have attempted to resist detainment. Nevertheless, the police officer is more at fault in this incident. The killing of Daunte Wright constitutes police brutality because it involved the use of unwarranted force.
References
Ellawala, T. I. (2016). Pulling the trigger: Dehumanization of African Americans and police violence. Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark, 2(1). Web.
Peter Imber. (2015). The beating- The other story Rodney King. Web.
Shapiro, E. (2021). Police shooting of Daunte Wright: A timeline of the case. ABC News. Web.