POLICE BRUTALITY ON AFRICAN AMERICANS 1

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Police Brutality on African Americans

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POLICE BRUTALITY ON AFRICAN AMERICANS 2

Police Brutality on African Americans

Introduction

The study examines how members of the black community have faced police brutality in

numerous occasions and at some points the brutality has been so severe to the point of causing

life threatening injuries or even death. It is a shameful and wrongful act that police officers of the

United States engage in and it should be keenly looked at and corrected before more damage is

done. The Africans Americans are equally taxpayers and should be treated with utmost respect

and honor as they form an essential part of the United States population. The study also checks

on how the police are ignorant that every person is innocent until proven guilty and act with

prejudice when dealing with the African Americans even for ones who are not suspects of any

crime. The study also looks at the possible solutions that can be implemented to stop the vice of

police brutality against the African Americans in the United states

Literature Review

The first literature I reviewed on the subject of police brutality against the black

community was an article by Tyra Jean which is on Black Lives Matter: Police Brutality in the

era of COVID -19. During the covid19 pandemic the ‘Black lives Matter’ campaign started in

the United States and grew to get local and global attention. The movement at this point was

particular against the brutal killing of George Floyd by the police (Jean, 2020). George Floyd

was a black American who allegedly stole from a store but the store owner reported to the police

who responded to the issue in a quick manner. In the effort to administer justice, the police acted

in a brutal manner by one of them chocking George Floyd to death (Jean, 2020). Derek Chauvin

who is the police officer who was found guilty of killing George Floyd acted in an insensible
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manner as through the videos captured on that die he continued to oppress a man who was

defenseless and powerless in a situation which was already neutralized.

Police killings are a serious problem to the black community as they form part of their

leading causes of death. Over three and half times black Americans experience police brutality

compared to the whites. During the COVID 19 era the black community were fighting against

two high death rates, one from the covid 19 deaths and another from the police killings (Jean,

2020). Stereotyping, prejudice, colorism and racism are societal problems that need to be looked

at with seriousness to prevent such issues as police brutality and police killings. While the white

children are trained by their parents on how they should carry themselves as superior than their

black colleagues then this already is a problem that grows into the future (Jean, 2020). The black

parents on the other hand have to learn how to teach their children on how to deal with an

already existing bias, stereotype and prejudice.

The second literature that will help me in my study is an article by Hannah LF Cooper on

war on drugs policing, and police brutality. The study looks at how some two policing strategies

of having a unit dealing with fighting the war on drugs and another unit, Special Weapon and

Tactics (SWAT) fighting against the illegal possession of firearms have escalated the police

brutality against the black community (Cooper, 2015). The stop and frisk principle has been

widely used by the police to instigate brutality on non-violent offenders. The 4th amendment and

the ‘Posse Comitatus Act’ were for a good cause to bring an end to the war against drugs and

curb the menace of illegal gun ownership but the police use the privileges in the two to act

brutally against the black community.

The third literature that I reviewed is an article by Sirry Alang et al. about Police brutality

and black health: Setting the agenda for public health scholars. The study establishes that there is
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a connection between police brutality and the poor health of the black community (Alang et al.,

2017). Police brutality according to the article results into fatal injuries that cause is harmful to

the health and are part of the high mortality rate of the blacks. Another health effect of police

brutality on the victims and their families according to the article is the psychological effects that

police brutality has especially for people with already underlying medical conditions (Alang et

al., 2017). Stress, financial struggles and the creation of a system that is geared at oppressing the

black community are also other elements that are discussed in the article. The article also

suggests that public health scholars should work at doing more research proving that police

brutality greatly affects the health of the black victims and focus on remaining anti-racist while

at it.

Theoretical Assessment

The articles presented in the study have profound information on the subject of the

African Americans facing police brutality. The first article for example looks at a recent case of

police brutality on a black man, the case of George Floyd which caused a global attention on the

whole issue and which was captured on camera while it happened. It therefore paints a clear

picture of the situation at hand. The second article sorts to lay an historical background of the

police brutality and black Americans issue. The article clearly shows that police act out of order

when they carry out police brutality on the black victims. The third article in the literature

review gives the results of police brutality on the victims. The article looks at the police brutality

issue from a health perspective bringing out the effects that black victims have to endure on the

hands of careless police officers.

The fact that there are numerous articles touching on police brutality shows that it is a

serious problem in society and that a serious solution too needs to be crafted. Black victims of
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police brutality are all over as the data from the articles is from victims who have faced various

ordeals in the hands of police. Police brutality starts from things that do not seem big like

harassment, profiling and escalates to severe problems such as fatal injuries to victims and death.

The articles also offer solutions part of which are reviewing the police officers’ powers

downwards, engaging in issues touching on police brutality, changing the culture and

perspectives of each other and generally looking at policing for best reforms.

Conclusion

As seen in the literature that I reviewed, police brutality is a more serious problem for the

black community. a solution needs to be looked for to deal with the problem for the betterment

of the future generation. Police training should, for example, include the ways that the black

community needs to be treated fairly. It is shameful for the police force to use excess force on

the black civilians and worst on innocent souls and cause them lifelong scars. Educating the non-

blacks is another possible solution to the entire problem as while the societal influence affects

the actions of the blacks and non-blacks a change of the narrative is necessary. Crime is a vice in

the society that needs to be fought by all means. When fighting crime by the police officers

becomes an issue of profiling and brutalizing a particular community then it becomes distasteful

and out of order, it needs to be corrected.

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References

Alang, S., McAlpine, D., McCreedy, E., & Hardeman, R. (2017). Police Brutality and Black

Health: Setting the Agenda for Public Health Scholars. American Journal of Public

Health, 107(5), 662–665. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2017.303691

Cooper, H. L. F. (2015). War on Drugs Policing and Police Brutality. Substance Use & Misuse,

50(8-9), 1188–1194. https://doi.org/10.3109/10826084.2015.1007669

Jean, T. (2020). Black Lives Matter: Police Brutality in the Era of COVID-19 Educating non-

Blacks ISSUE BRIEF #31.