Police Abuse and Power

There are many people who are aware of the police brutality that is going on. Police brutality is an act of misconduct done by a member of law enforcement. They use an extreme amount of force to physically, mentally, or emotionally attack a member of society. This is a ruthless act that goes on in our society that is serious and life-threatening for both the officer and the victim. Before entering law enforcement, officers have to be sworn in to protect and serve, but many of these officers have repeatedly abused their authority.

Officers who have abused their rights leave citizens with physical or emotional scars which will make them vigilant of law enforcement in the future. There have been many cases where some officers took it too far causing legal problems. Many officers who have abused their powers do not get fired, they get suspended or they are given probation. People see this as a minor punishment for such an unjustifiable crime.

Police abuse has come to the attention to the public. Citizens have to naturally worry about criminals, but now they must keep an eye out for those who are given the right to protect and serve. There are many reasons why officers decide to abuse their powers. Most of the time they pick on individuals who are from a disfavored race, class, or sexual preference. Due to all of the assaults from officers it has generally made their jobs a lot more dangerous. The public has become furious at how law enforcement can get away with almost anything. They think they should take matters into their own hands. An example of the type of abuse is when the SWAT team is called for minor things that police officers can do themselves. According to the report by the ACLU, local police is increasingly using the SWAT team to execute search warrants and drug searches which have led to devastating consequences.

The SWAT team is usually called in by police when they feel like the case is way over their heads. There has been many cases where the swat team has used deadly force when it was not necessary. An example is, in January 2008 SWAT officers killed 26 year old Tarika Wilson while she was holding her infant son. They were originally looking for her boyfriend on suspicion of drug dealing. They knocked down her front door and opened fire in her home. Tarika was just holding her baby when she was shot. Her 14 month old son was injured, but he survived.

Many people have agreed that the consequences of using the SWAT team in minor situations have proven to be severe. The Phonsavanh family had recently moved to Georgia and had become the face of alleged police brutality overnight. Police officers were looking for the Phonsavanh’s nephew for suspicion of making a $50 drug deal. The SWAT team barged in their temporary residence at 3 am. They threw a flash grenade into a room occupied by 4 small children, the grenade landed in the playpen of the youngest child. No drugs were found and no arrests were made that night, but the baby named Bou Bou who was in the playpen faced life-threatening injuries. He faced life-threatening injuries because the flash grenade exploded right next to him. The nephew they were looking for never even lived or stayed with them. That family has been scarred for life and will always be on alert for any type of law enforcement.

It is obvious that law enforcement has double standards when it comes to shooting someone. If the police were to barge into somebody’s home and shoot somebody even if they were not doing anything, it is usually ruled off as an accident or something else. Now, if the police were to barge into someone’s home late at night the residents might think they are intruders and get their firearm and shoot at the police without realizing who they are. If that were the case, they will most likely be charged for putting the police officer’s life in danger.

At least 1000 people were killed by police officers in 2017. Some of those people were unarmed and they shouldn’t have been killed. This is terrifying to think about, police are allowed to take the lives of others, even if they do not present any type of threat. Police should think about the kind of impact they are having on the citizens. Citizens are now fearing police officers because of all the brutality that has been going on. People should be able to live in peace, not fearing those who are supposed to be protecting us. Police brutality needs to be addressed immediately and put to an end once and for all.

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