Police Brutality Essay

Police work is dangerous. Sometimes police put in situations that excessive force is needed. But, because some officers use these extreme measures in situations when it is not, police brutality should be addressed. The use of excessive force may or may not be large problem, but it should be looked into by both the police and the public. For those people who feel racism is not a factor in causing the use of excessive force, here is a fact. In Tampa Bay, Florida five men died while in the custody of the Tampa Bay police department. The thing is the Tampa Bay Police Department is made up of mostly white officers, but of the five men who died none where white. Four of the five men that died were African Americans, and the other man was a Mexican. If the incident in Tampa Bay does not show person racism, this event might. In New York City, an average of seven Latin Americans were killed a year between 1986 to 1989, but in 1990, that number increased. In that year, twenty-three Latin Americans were killed by police gunfire. Police brutality is involving the unnecessary and unjustified use of force that is either physical or verbal. Other than the police stopping brutality, the use of review boards can be used. These boards must be able to receive all the evidence in a case, including the police audio tapes, in order to make fair judgment if excessive force was used or not. If excessive force is present in cases, these review boards must be able to punish the police or they are almost useless. Whether or not a person believes police brutality is a serious problem, it must be stopped. In some cases, where more force is needed than in others, it is still there. Even in areas where police and the use of excessive force is not a huge problem, it must be decreased by both the police and the public. Finally, there needs to be rules making sure that this never happens again.