Dru Smith

ENGL 2010
Spreading Awareness of Police Brutality

Almost everyone in America has heard the term police brutality. But how many

actually know about it and how many actually care? Many people, despite hearing about it,

refuse to believe it is a problematic occurrence here in America. I will be exploring the levels of

awareness that the public has regarding police brutality, and how that awareness can be

increased.

First, a contextual definition of awareness must be established. The Oxford Dictionary

defines awareness as Concern about and well-informed interest in a particular situation or

development (Oxford Dictionary). This is exactly the definition I will use. The two important

parts of looking at the awareness of police brutality is how many people are well-informed on the

issue, and even further, how many care.

Looking at the data, cited by Ikedi O. Onyemaobim in the George Mason University

Civil Rights Law Journal, the majority of police brutality is directed toward people of color and

other minorities. Onyemaobim says, While not always motivated by racism, police brutality is

undeniably associated with race (Onyemaobim 163). The communities that are made up of

those people affected by police brutality are very aware of this trend and the problem of police

brutality in general. An article from the Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment

outlines a study that has consistently shown that young African-American boys health is being

negatively impacted, both mentally and physically, by their awareness of police brutality

(Staggers-Hakim). Even young children within this demographic are supremely aware of this

issue. This would lead us to the conclusion that the least informed about police brutality are

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those that are not people of color or those that do not belong to a minority. It is human nature to

easily ignore a problem that does not directly concern us.

That said, the problem is not necessarily that the issue of police brutality does not bother

people that hear about it. The problem is more that the infrequency of seeing evidence or news of

it might lead people to feel as though there is not a real issue or trend. Out of the cases that were

outlined by Onyemaobims article (Onyemaobim 164-165), all being the more famous cases,

only one went viral, and gained the attention of millions of Americans nation-wide. That case

was when Michael Brown, an eighteen year old African-American, was shot and killed by a

police officer in Ferguson, Missouri (Mirzeoff). This instance was the first, and is still the largest

outcry about police brutality from the public.

Now, despite the lack of public awareness about police brutality, bringing awareness to

the public masses will not alone create change. Those in the public need to speak out, and

become a voice and force of change, by writing and calling their legislators, and by becoming

involved in their communities in order to build unity and rapport between the people and police

departments. Police departments themselves also need to be building relationships with the

community members in order to establish their roles as protectors, to disprove the growing fear

of police being bullies.

Even for those who still do not feel that police brutality is an issue, they should regard

their intervention as an investment in their own and their offsprings futures. The famous poem,

First They Came by Martin Niemller ends with, Then they came for me, And there was no

one left, To speak out for me (Niemller). This is a perfect example of why anyone that can

raise awareness and influence change, should. They are investing in their futures, to even further

minimize the chances of a police brutalizing them or their offspring.

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Police departments should be pining for change as well, since their personal safety is

greatly determined by the status of their relationship with their communities. Legislatures have

motivation to move to reduce police brutality, as it would demonstrate that they care about the

safety of all their constituents. Also, more obviously, rallying behind change to prevent and

punish police brutality is simply the morally correct thing to do; helping other humans in their

plight is simply right.

In conclusion, I explored the awareness of police brutality by presenting the fact that

awareness is already at an unhealthy level for many of those belonging to groups that most

frequently experience police brutality, while those not affected have very limited awareness. The

most effective ways to bring about change is to combat police brutality at its source, by making

police trustworthy again and putting laws in place to further discourage this atrocious act.

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Works Cited

Oxford Dictionary. Oxford Living Dictionaries,

en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/awareness. Accessed 28 Feb. 2017.

Onyemaobim, Ikedi O. "The Michael Brown Legacy: Police Brutality And Minority

Prosecution." George Mason University Civil Rights Law Journal 26.2 (2016): 157-182.

Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Feb. 2017.

Staggers-Hakim, Raja. "The Nations Unprotected Children and the Ghost of Mike Brown, or

the Impact of National Police Killings on the Health and Social Development of African

American Boys." Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, vol. 26, no. 3/4,

Apr-Jun2016, pp. 390-399. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/10911359.2015.1132864.

Mirzoeff, Nicholas. "The Murder of Michael Brown." Social Text, vol. 34, no. 1, Mar. 2016,

pp. 49-71. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1215/01642472-3427129.

Niemller, Martin. First They Came. Holocaust Memorial Day Trust,

hmd.org.uk/resources/poetry/first-they-came-pastor-martin-niemoller. Accessed 1 Mar.

2017.