Why now is there this rise is police violence? I believe it began much earlier than the general public is actually aware of. The public only knows what the media reports, meaning that there are more instances of this brutality than we are aware of. Why now is it getting such media coverage? This is a widespread issue that is occurring in more places, further from the big city than anyone would expect. Is this really about race? That cannot be since there was an incident of brutality involving a Caucasian man who had Down Syndrome while with his caretaker. This is not an issue of race, this is an issue of police feeling that they are above the law, and this being justified in the legal system with no prosecutions across the board. To watch the videos from eyewitnesses shows that these officers were not only unjustified in their actions, but they also showed no remorse or regret for their actions. A prime example of a video that I have seen recently is that of the Eric Garner case. This is clear cut use of excessive force by not one but two officers of the NYPD. To date no one has been prosecuted for the death of Mr. Garner or the Florida man. In all of the recent incidents, the police officers have been vindicated, basically told they are allowed to use banned chokeholds, taser guns on heart patients, and the shooting of unarmed "suspects".
The most attention and media coverage is focused on the African American victims, with communities across the country, even as far as Pakistan showing support for the victims through protests, vigils, even rioting when yet another police officer is cleared of any wrong doing. The question must be asked, who is in the wrong, the officers who caused the deaths of these victims or the members of the communities policed by these officers who are fed up with the way they are being treated by these officers? Are the rioters wrong for the overwhelming emotion that has boiled over from the vindicated violence of those who have sworn to protect them? In the opinion of this mother, I do not believe that they are wrong for what they are doing, I do believe that they are taking out their anger in the wrong direction. When they destroy businesses in their own community, they do not affect those who have actually injured them, they affect other members of their own community. This is what makes no sense to me, why would you destroy that which serves you?
Most of the victims of this police violence are African American, which shows the stand many in this race have taken against the warrant less harassment they face from the police department. I have watched video of Black males being arrested by police for absolutley no reason, and these men being abused by these police for simply asking why they are being arrested. I am able to speak from experience in saying that when you ask a police officer why you are being arrested or even stopped, they seem to become agitated and even violent. I have been assaulted by a police officer on two separate occasions, the first time I was assaulted and my wrist was broken. I had done nothing more than given a friend a ride and dropped him off at another friends house. The officer attempted to detain me at a red light and when I asked him why he was stopping me three times he pulled me out of my car by my wrist, through the window! This is a very true story which resulted in my arrest and release from police custody. Police brutality can happen to anyone, but it only happens to those who question the abuse of authority.
The police are at fault for their inexcusable actions, yet why isn't the judicial system being held accountable for their lack in ability to bring an indictment against these offenders. I personally believe that the cases for the victims are not being presented strongly enough. I watched the video from the Eric Garner case from beginning to end and I saw absolutely no reason for the two officers to have not only used an illegal technique on Mr. Garner, they also blatantly ignored when Mr. Garner repeatedly said that he could not breathe. The officers should have been held responsible in some way for causing his death. They used their bare hands, a banned technique, and ignored the pleas of their "prisoner" for his life. What evidence could have been lacking for there to be no prosecuton? This case seemed as clear cut as they come, yet these men have not been held responsible for their horrific actions. When a person kills another person by means of strangulation, they are sent to prison, yet we as a society are shown that the police are now in fact above the law. I do not think this is a question of race and profiling, I do think that it is a matter of abuse of power. The police are a using their power more than ever before.
What do we as a society do to change this fad that has evolved? I have heard people state that we as a society out number the police force, so why are we allowing them to treat our members like this? My answer to this is that our society is not that unified to be able to do something like this. We battle each other so much over the simplistic things, that other less civilized countries have taken notice to how violent we are to each other, but we do nothing to protect our society. At first sight of the Eric Garner video, I was outraged and wanted to organize something to take a stand for the members of our community who have lost their lives to over zealous, under trained police officers. This type of violence is becoming so widespread that I am almost not surprised when I hear that yet another Grand Jury has failed to indict the people responsible. This only says that police officers are above the law and are allowed to take the life of a person who is (a)not a direct threat, (b)unarmed, and (c) not actually breaking any laws at the time of initial contact with the officers. Simply put, I just gave any jury with sense reasonable doubt.
This legal form of homicide will not stop until the people responsible are held responsible. Each time a police officer is vindicated for their actions, another is given permission to do exactly the same thing. These officers will never be held responsible for their actions until society tells them that they are no longer above the law. They are no longer allowed to "stop and frisk", harass a person for standing in one spot if they have not committed a crime, detain us for freedom of speech, use excessive force against anyone, or assume a person has committed a crime because of the neighborhood they are in, the color of their skin, or the the way they dress. People actually live in high crime, low income neighborhoods that your would not expect. I am one of those people. I am Caucasian, my husband is Black, and we live in a low income, urban neighborhood. I too get profiled not only by the police but also by people in the neighborhood. I have been approached by the police because they thought I was looking for drugs, and also by the "dope boys" to buy drugs. I do not choose to live in this area, but circumstances as they are have put our family here for the moment. We all have potential to be profiled by the police as well as others in our community. Until this stops, the above the law, closed mind sets of the police and actually become a civilized society, we will continue to see the senseless violence that we have seen with the victims of police violence.
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