Abstract
Police misconduct has escalated against the Black community and other ethnic groups. Mistreatment by police officers is primarily determined by two significant factors: race and sex. The United States of America is home to many people of different ethnicities, contributing to increased discrimination against the non-White community (McGlynn-Wright et al., 2022). The study will demonstrate why Black men are more likely to get killed by the police during their life at the rate of 1 in every 2000 men. However, the odds for their female counterparts are 1 for every 33000 women (McGlynn-Wright et al., 2022). African Americans are more likely to die at the hands of law enforcers, with men being even more predisposed than women.
The study will focus on the health and social justice inequality for Black people. Health inequality in the United States is high among the Black community due to the high risk of police battery. The unfair treatment of African Americans by the police has adversely affected their physiological health and mental well-being since they have to live in fear of being mistreated by the police (McGlynn-Wright et al., 2022). Age, sex, and race are risk factors for criminal justice because they are used to identify possible suspects of crimes (McGlynn-Wright et al., 2022). It is a significant concern that these people are already perceived as threats just because they fit the target mark sheet.
Introduction
Police brutality is among the leading causes of death among young Black people. Over the years, the rate of police violence and related deaths have increased, and this is because of practice policies that have increased policing contact (Beardall, 2019). Some of these policies include; the stopping policy and frisking policy. Officers can stop and check an individual’s documents; this activity has increased police contact, resulting in increased brutality. The frisking policy permits police officers to frisk suspicious individuals during traffic stops (McGlynn-Wright et al., 2022). In some instances, the officers require the civilians to get out of the car with their hands up to prevent any unprecedented movements. Most civilians view this as abuse since officers mistreat civilians and claim they are resisting arrest or assaulting an officer.
The third policy is the investigatory stop policy, and it officers the right to investigate suspicious vehicles. Most officers take advantage of the policy by discriminating against Black drivers. Officers treat those civilians who try to speak up as hostile and thus result to using force. For instance, George Floyd died of suffocation at the hands of officers since an officer had pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes because he was resisting arrest. The officer claimed it was a snap decision because Floyd was violent (McGlynn-Wright et al., 2022). Police officers have a history of discriminating against and maltreating people of color under the pretense of doing their jobs.
Rationale
Many researchers have conducted studies about police brutality with the aim of better understanding why different officers discriminate against other civilians yet take oaths to protect all people. These studies are thus very significant to the topic of this proposal. The study will focus on understanding how interactions between law officers and Black community members result in bloodshed and or even death in extreme cases (O’Brien et al., 2020). The available literature has been crucial in illuminating the conundrum, thus ensuring a better understanding of the subject and creating the necessary awareness (Ray, 2020). Literature has illustrated the various scenarios that demonstrate how the Black community has been subjected to discrimination, harassment, and mistreatment by various officers (Edwards et al., 2019). Some of these circumstances are categorized into three major groups, and they are; police cruelty, use of excessive force, and police impunity. Current literature is crucial to study because it provides the basic foundation and supporting material.
Police Cruelty
Anti-brutality campaigns have been launched in many cities all over the United States of America and on various online platforms. The campaigns have increased their robustness over the past few years following the killing of unarmed Black men like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Diallo Amadou (Edwards et al., 2019). Even though Black people are the primary victims of police cruelty, other ethnic groups have also fallen prey to mistreatment by the police (Santhanam, 2020). Various media groups established surveillance systems to aid in data collecting to better understand the rate or frequency of these brutalities. The findings were frustrating since it was discovered that over 1000 people die annually at the hands of officers (McGlynn-Wright et al., 2022). The data also proved that Black people were three times more likely to get killed than their White counterparts (Wood et al., 2020). The campaigns have been crucial in shining light on unlawful police practices and thus a reduction in the killings.
Due to increased brutality, police and general public relations had diminished over the years. A recent study established how people felt about the police (Taylor, 2021). The study revealed that only 35% of the general public believed that the police treated all people equally (Santhanam, 2020). 48% of Black people and 20% of Latino had very little or no confidence in the police as they were the primary victims of their cruelty (Santhanam, 2020). The study showed that these two ethnicities, especially African Americans, were often under surveillance and profiling.
Excessive Use of Force
Law officers have used brutal force when dealing with civilians, often injuring or even killing them. Various law enforcement agencies have varying definitions of force. Each agency has established guidelines on how the officers must deal with the ‘suspects’ and how much force they should employ (Peeples, 2020). According to the Bureau of Justice and statistics, 1.4% of the people who encounter the police report use of force, and 74% of them reported that the force used on them was excessive and hurt. Recent studies have shown that police agencies have acquired over 500,000 ECDs Taser brands (Peeples, 2020). Therefore, excessive use of force by police officers has increased over the years and is more on people of color than other ethnic groups.
Police Impunity
Many researchers and organizations have extensively researched the issue of police brutality; nevertheless, there are some gaps in these studies that are yet to be filled by most researchers. One of the major breaches in the literature concerns the appropriate action that should be taken to curb police misconduct (Peeples, 2020). Most researchers have exhausted the aspect of abuse of power by the police. However, few have suggested suitable action toward reducing police callousness (Beardall, 2019). Therefore this study will be focused on determining the most suitable course of action toward officers who abuse their power. Despite irrefutable evidence of officers abusing the law, little to no action is taken against them (Ray, 2020). Most of these offices are put on paid leave as ‘investigations’ into the matter are conducted, after which some of them are rehired back into the force. The officers involved in crimes against civilians will be held accountable for their actions.
The Missing Gap
The literature researched and developed in the past has played an important role in developing the study proposal. Nevertheless, it has a significant gap; most researchers did not fully exhaust studies on police brutality (O’Brien et al., 2020). Most of these researchers based their research on the causes and consequences of police misconduct; they barely studied the possible solutions to this issue. In most cases, if not all, officers charged with misconduct were only fined and set free (Ray, 2020). In other scenarios, these officers would resign to avoid further investigations and be re-hired by different agencies after a given period (Edwards et al., 2019). Therefore, this study will work towards a better understanding of how to combat this problem. By the end of the study, the gap will be well explained and understood, and the most appropriate course of action determined.
Research Purpose
This research study aims to understand the relations between police and Black people and the consequences of these interactions. The study will also focus on mitigating these consequences by developing the necessary course of action for police misconduct.
Qualitative Approach and Data Collection
The study proposal will employ different qualitative approaches to facilitate sampling of adequate and relevant information regarding police misconduct. Some of these approaches will include; unstructured interviews, case studies, participant observation, and direct observation. Data collection will be through observation, social media monitoring, and surveys. Police focus on the Black Community, which, as it happens, has been the most hit by the consequences of policing contact, and the Black community will be the population of interest for the study.
The Rotten Barrel Theory
Pierre Delattre proposed the rotten barrel theory, arguing that police misconduct is not just an individual aspect. The theory contends that as much as police misconduct is viewed as a personal issue, there is more to it than meets the eye (Jean, 2020). The system is corrupt and is designed to protect its own; this means the system shields its members from prosecution. Police unions have regulations that guard officers against being charged for their misconduct (Jean, 2020). The theory will be crucial to the study in determining the best way to cleanse the system.
State laws have significantly hindered exerting of justice on officers who abuse power. For officers found guilty of misconduct and fined, the state takes responsibility for services and the fines while the officer goes free. As such, officers voluntarily disregard the law because they are seldom held accountable for their actions except for paid leave or resignation to avoid investigation (Ray, 2020). A recent study showed that over the past 20yrs the state of Chicago has paid over $650million as compensation to victims of police misconduct. On the other hand, New York has paid over $230million for 6500 police misconduct cases (Ray, 2020). Therefore it is barely possible to bring officers to justice since they are ‘protected.’
Conclusion
Interactions between the police and Black people have more than often resulted in the death and mistreatment of African Americans. Over the years, police officers have abused their power against various ethnic groups, especially Black people. The misconducts result from increased policing contact, which has been increased over time through the implementation of new policies. Misconduct among the officer of the law has been difficult to root out because the officers are protected by their unions. The rotten barrel theory argues that the officers are part of a system determined to shield its members, promoting impunity.
References
Edwards, F., Lee, H., & Esposito, M. (2019). Risk of being killed by police use of force in the United States by age, race-ethnicity, and sex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(34), 16793-16798. Web.
Jean, T. (2020). Black Lives Matter: Police Brutality in the Era of COVID-19. SURFACE at Syracuse University. Web.
McGlynn-Wright, A., Crutchfield, R. D., Skinner, M. L., & Haggerty, K. P. (2022). The usual, racialized, suspects: The consequence of police contacts with black and white youth on adult arrest. Social Problems, 69(2), 299-315. Web.
O’Brien, T. C., Meares, T. L., & Tyler, T. R. (2020). Reconciling police and communities with apologies, acknowledgements, or both: A controlled experiment. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 687(1), 202-215. Web.
Peeples, L. (2020). What the data say about police brutality and racial bias — and which reforms might work. Nature, 583(7814), 22–24. Web.
Ray, R. (2020). How can we enhance police accountability in the United States? Brookings. Web.
Rocha Beardall, T. Y. (2019). Transactional policing: Reframing local police-community relations through the lens of police employment. Cornell.edu. Web.
Santhanam, L. (2020). Two-thirds of black Americans don’t trust the police to treat them equally. Most white Americans do. PBS NewsHour. Web.
Taylor, C. (2021). Fight the power: African Americans and the long history of police brutality in New York City. NYU Press.
Wood, G., Tyler, T. R., & Papachristos, A. V. (2020). Procedural justice training reduces police use of force and complaints against officers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(18), 9815-9821. Web.