Mario Leon

Professor Lawson
ENGL 115
11/28/15
Word Count:
Police Force in Excess; This is Now
Today in our society, we tend to overlook the ideas of Police Brutality every way
possible. Some may even forget that this issue is always in full effect because of the fears that
come along with it. In most cases, Police brutality shows us that many Police officials tend to
take matters into their own hands rather than abiding to the book and playing by the rules. Today,
it is not a question as to why this problem exists but more so rather why this problem seems to
keep going. Little to no attention at all is put into pieces of media that portray this violence in
which we don't necessarily take the initiative to stop. More so, we are entertained by such a
gruesome act that many people find terrifying due to the experiences that themselves, family
members or news stories come across. It is most common that we tend to pass over these issues
as not important for they don't really have a direct impact on us. Many people may think that the
portrayal of Police brutality in Movies (TV Shows, Documentaries, etc.) seems rather
entertaining, but the sad reality is that the abuse is taken in little consideration and we forget as to
what the future generations will have to say about law enforcement today.
At first, the question is why all these reports came up almost out of nowhere all on police
brutality. CNN explains that it isnt so much as to why is there a rise in police brutality, but more
so the actual coverage of these cases that makes us aware. CNNs Eliott C. McLaughlin states

that Despite that the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 required the
government to keep data about the use of excessive force by law enforcement officers, no such
database exists.. Explaining such a curve away fro the law explains just how this brutality is
capable of starting. The fact is, it is essential to pay close attention to the people that do our
community wrong, whether being in law enforcement or not. Civilian or cop, we all have basic
morality as to what it necessary and what would be considered too far. Having that the database
was curved and never implemented in the rest of the nation's 18,000 law enforcement entities,
only 564 agreed on having such a record. It is something that would help prevent a certain officer
to commit the same brutal force twice. Dangerously enough, it is enough space to give an official
and allow them to perform brutal tasks without ever keeping a trace of it. However, those stories
that are covered show very gruesome results of the police brutality demonstrated by the law
officials. Being that there is more coverage, the fact that its occurrence is truly devastating.
Many times, the stories we hear on the news tend to be exaggerated, in a forms of almost
yellow journalism in todays broadcasts. Moreover, The New York times tends to cover the latest
news on the east coast of the states. For Example, the report of The New York Times on White
officer Jason Van Dykes brutal assault and murder of 17-year-old black teenager Laquan
McDonald was all over the media when this event occurred. Officials release a dashboard video
showing McDonald being gunned down and shot several more times by Van Dyke. Not Only
was there a minor involved in a fatal shooting, it is understood that the teen was gunned down,
and then shot several more times after McDonald was on the floor. This alone shows how brutal

this encounter had happened. It is to the extent that injuring the victim, then proceeding to
willingly kill the teen seems abstract to the public eye, but the truth is, it actually occurred.

Having used the taser to take the teen down was never thought of. The result was the intentions
of the officer to put this teen down of good. There is more controversy as to why this specific
event occurred the way it did, but many are not surprised that the conflict was between a white
officer vs a Black teenager. Many tend to lean towards this idea of racism, but in actuality it
more on brutal force being used upon anyone that tends to go against law enforcements way. It
does not matter what age, race, or the color of our skin. Many believe its the standards that are
placed and others believe that is the financial stress that some of our fellow american officers
tend to face today.
In the Journalists Resource, we find that they cover that In November of 2014, Tamir
Rice was shot by police in Cleveland, Ohio. He was 12 years old and playing with a toy pistol.
This case not only made nationwide television, but the unjustified shooting to the 12 year old
was also a very tragic one to hear. Playing innocently with a toy pistol, Rice was shot and killed
not even old enough to live through his teen years. Stories like these make the top news and
show just how violent and unnecessary law enforcement has undergone in recent years.
Referring to earlier text, it is all recent activity and coverage that has shown the true side of law
enforcements brute attacks on the general public. It is believed that law enforcement is there to
protect and serve however it is clear that this is beginning to fade away in the years to come.
War between police officials and civilians tend to spark after these subtle occurrences that shake
up the credibility we have on our Law enforcement today. Many believe that American Police
officials tend to be more violent than European officers and the fact is, American officials have
more reason as to why they should respond the way that they do.

The Huffington post makes it clear; Unlike European nations, most states (in the US)
make it easy for adults to purchase handguns for self-defense and to keep them handy at nearly
all times. This indicates that the simplicity of obtaining a firearm in the states is the cause as to
why American Police are more aggressive in retaliation to the general public. It is because of
those firearms that police fear for their lives and tend to act the way they do when it comes to life
and death situations. The Huff post also mentions that the size of the population matters, and that
More than a quarter of deadly force victims were killed in towns with fewer than 25,000 people
despite the fact that only 17% of the US population lives in such towns. With that being said, the
general population is still under control, and only the smaller towns face such dangers. it is also
due to the small amount of people living in those towns that they tend to be at larger risk to be
the vicim of police brutality. It is also something that makes them wonder if it is all actually
worth the trouble of dealing with law enforcement in a way to be deadly, when there really is no
need to. These small cities however don't run away from the media as to how police brutality is
portrayed in movies. Many movies Dictate that police brutality is far off the charts and many that
justify the reasoning as to why such brutal actions are taken into effect.
One of the ways movies make them successful is the encounter the film has with the
audience. Many times we fall short to recognize what efforts are put into these films to make
them credible and understandable to the public. In Spike Lees Malcom X, he starts off the film
very strong as displaying the beatings of Rodney King back in 1993. He sets the strong tone as to
anger towards police and showing the audience how unjustified police brutality was, is and will
become. Another example used in films about brutal force is about Oscar Grant being killed on a
train platform by a Bay Area Regional Transit police officer named Johannes Mehserle.

Fruitvale Station depicts the unjustified actions, as Mehserle was only sentenced 2 years in
county jail for pulling out a gun and shooting an unarmed man. He was also found not guilty for
second-degree murder. This shows how unjust law enforcement, even the law itself may be even
when true stories are replayed on the big screen. They tend to move the audience towards
understanding the unjustifiable actions in all of these cases, big and small. No matter what the
case, the point is to stand that the unjustified actions of police officers tend to go down the line
and continue to pursue our nations corruption. Not only has the coverage and news stories
continued, but the month of September was bombarded with many police cases in which seemed
to be the most brutal, violent cases yet.
Thinkprogress.org puts it that During the first week of September, police killed more
civilians than the total number of police officers killed so far this year. This accounts for 99
civilians dead only in the month of September and at least 77 of them were shot, injured, and
killed. This makes up 873 people were killed by police in 2015 alone. This number reportedly
expected to rise well into the year 2016. Many of these encounters make it that polices
aggression is very controversial and the fact is that many encounters are dangerous. In
Wilmington, Alabama for example, Jeremy Mcdole while sitting in a wheel chair was shot by
police and killed at the scene. Police reportedly told news that the suspect was armed and a threat
to the officers who were there. However, a bystander video showed McDole adjusting himself in
the wheelchair and shown unarmed and was still shot by police several times. The video alone
shows very gruesome tactics. With officers yelling Put your hands up! even after the suspect
had been shot. Bleeding, McDole sat up in his wheelchair and then shot numerous times until
falling out his chair and onto the pavement. Brutality like this is no longer acceptable in what we
consider our safety in dangerous situations. It would be more credible to have to defend against

the police rather than relying on the force of protection. It is this mentality that has the nation on
the verge of questioning our law enforcement agencies and what they truly stand for. Many
people tend to believe that this is just a dramatic issue out of the blue. However it is something
that we can all worry about in equal proportion for the safety and well-being to us all.
In sum, Police brutality in Media is not always portrayed to its fullest until it is compared
to the real life situations we have currently faced in the recent weeks. It is something to change
the way we view our law enforcement before the future generations to come view them as more
scarier things than protection. It is a dramatic turn that the standards these police officers go
through have to be re-evaluated.

Bibliography
"There Aren't More Police Shootings, Just More Coverage - CNN.com."CNN.
Cable
News Network, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

"Why Do American Cops Kill So Many Compared to European

Cops?"Huffingtonpost.com. Paul Hirschfield, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

"The Worst Cases of Police Brutality In September." ThinkProgress RSS. N.p.,

01 Oct.
2015. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

"Excessive or Reasonable Force by Police? Research On law Enforcement and

Racial
Conflict - Journalist's Resource." Journalists Resource. N.p., 28 Oct.
2015. Web.
19 Nov. 2015.
"7 Films That Exposed the Reality of Police Brutality - Atlanta
Blackstar."Atlanta
Blackstar. N.p., 14 Aug. 2013. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
"Police Brutality, Misconduct and Shootings." Police Brutality, Misconduct and
Shooting. N.p., 25 Nov. 2015. Web. 27 Nov. 2015.