Police Abuse Essay Example for Free

Police Abuse Essay An officer who uses more force than policy allows is said to have used excessive force and may be guilty of police brutality, the excessive and lawless use of police force. Police officers are often seen as a thin blue line of protection between criminals and law-abiding citizens, but when they use excessive force, they cross the line and become criminals. Police brutality damages the image of law enforcement as well as the justice system. It leads to loss of trust in the policemen, which then creates a gap between them and people in the community. According to the early policing principles imported from 19th century England, it is the lack of centralized control which forms a corruption in America when opportunities of bribery were widespread. Police reforms from the 1930s to the 1950s sought to establish professionalism among police forces by introducing military-like command and higher performance standards. Not everyone agrees with this type of procedure when critics see the March 1991 beating of Rodney King by officers of Los Angeles Police Department which used professional policing. From Rodney King beating in 1991 through the O.J. Simpson trial, the rift has widened the threatening racial discrimination. The reasons for the gap are complex and deep. According to the experts, it is based on the nations painful racial history. The current practice of racial profiling, where skin color is a criterion to pull over a driver is ongoing today. For instance, when Reggie Miller, who is Black, had been ordered to pull over by a Nashville police officer for driving with expired tags, had suffered chronic back problems as a result of the beating. It was about 8:40 p.m. when he was shot on his chest and ordered him to lie face down on the ground. Within couple of minutes the officer, who didnt have a chance to identify himself, called for backup. Suddenly Miller found himself as a cushion using his body from five police officers that had surrounded him. Miller also recalls that the officers gouge his eyes and choke him. This 1992 incident of Miller made him suffer a permanent back problem due to the beating and the shot he encountered. Police officers have no right by any  means to harass a person. Otherwise, they are more considered as criminal because of such inhumane acts. In general, brutality is a form of punishment. Police officers are not supposed to punish but are expected to protect and serve. However, they seemed to expose brutality as punishment when they beat up Adolph Archie in March of 1992. Archie was shot by a police officer and the police officer did not even bother to rush him to the hospital. Instead, they waited in the parking lot until they found out that their injured colleague had died. Then the officers took Archie in the hospital while beating him dead. Unfortunately, Archie only breathe for 12 hours and was diagnosed with two skull fractures, a broken larynx, fractures of the cheekbones, bleeding testicles, teeth had been kicked in, and his entire body was exposed to blunt trauma. Brutality is an inhuman or savage form of cruelty. Police officers need not use too much force to stop a sus pect. Police brutality is an important topic to discuss because it deals with the life of a person, the misconduct of some police officers, the burden it caused and the lesson that everyone should get from it. Police officers must realize they were not given their badge to show that they are ones to be afraid of but to keep the peace and order of the community. They have the right to discipline a suspect which will depend on the physical condition of the latter. Police need not use the force if the suspect is already injured because it may only lead to a more tragic situation. In several cases, people died after being restrained by police officers. Police brutality does not cause anything positive. It only leads to racism, disrespect among people, loss of respect and confidence for the police and it makes citizens feel less safe. Not a single act did brutality explicit an advantage to the people. The possible solution to police brutality is to include in their training new techniques in handling suspects and criminals geared towards the demand for public policies that promote social and racial justice. Furthermore, police officers should receive antiracism and diversity training as a part of their education in police academies. Police officers must learn to conduct themselves in multiethnic and multicultural communities. To fund this  solution, everyone must cooperate by respecting the police officers in our community and the law of United States of America. Without the cooperation of everyone, the prevailing widespread of police brutality will continue to grow. The people should give a serious thought of what they are doing in order to avoid violence. Lets just think about the victims of violence and how thousands of people die every year because of brutality. Lets not make one of our families and our next generations become a victim of these humiliating, devastating and inhumane acts of the police. We, as a nation, need concerted effort in protest for all the victims whose lives have been stolen and sacrifice. The goal must be nothing short of creating a just, humane, peaceful and less violent society. If there is no justice, there will be no peace in the United States. The widespread of police brutality has widened all over the world. The nation must join together to eliminate repression, unjust and abusive treatment by the police in order to have a more peaceful and harmonious nation. To terminate police brutality means calling for justice for our brothers and sisters whose lives have been stolen. In addition, this will give time for the government to open their eyes for the families of those who are unjustly locked down behind prison walls. It will allow balance of justice between the government officials and the people regardless of racial status. Our world would be a better place to live in because it lessens violence, death rate, and increases the confidence and harmony between the police and the community. Moreover, the absence of such brutality will terminate arrest and harassment based on racial origin. Bibliography: Activists Protest Against Police Brutality in LA, MAS magazine, (August 16, 2000), 2 pages. Call for a National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation, http://www.mojo.calyx.net/~refuse/ndp/071400oct22.html, October 22, 2000. DNC Activists Protest Cop Brutality, MAS magazine, (August 16, 2000), 2 pages. NYPDs Bloody Month of August 1999, http://www.mojo.calyx.net/~refuse/ndp/090699ndpnyc.html, September 6, 1999. Anderson, Kelly, Police Brutality, San Diego California, Kelly Anderson, 1995. Bender, David, Policing the Police, San Diego California, David Bender, 1995. Charles, Nick, Criminally Suspect, SIRS, (September 1995), 4 pages. Conroy, John, Unspeakable Act, Ordinary People, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 2000. Fitzgerald, Terence, Police in Society, New York, Terence Fitzgerald, 2000. Meeks, Kenneth, Driving While Black, New York, Kenneth Meek, 2000. Nelson, Jill, Police Brutality, New York, Jill Nelson, 2000. Roleff, Tamara, Police Brutality, San Diego California, David Bender, 1999. Steinhorn, Leonard, By the Color of our Skin, New York, Leonard Steinhorn, 1999.

The Individual vs. Society in Mrs. Warrens Profession Essay -- Mrs. W

Often in life there is a conflict between what is good for the individual and the moral values placed upon the individual by society.   This is true of the characters in George Bernard Shaw's play Mrs. Warren's Profession.   Shaw clearly demonstrates that actions frowned upon by society are not necessarily evil so long as they benefit the individual.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Perhaps the most obvious example of societal morals conflicting with individual need is the case of Mrs. Kitty Warren.   Mrs. Warren is a woman whose economic standing and lack of any professional skills forced her into becoming a prostitute. Obviously such a profession is against the beliefs of the society that she lives in.   Not only is she not ashamed of her occupation, she is proud of the amount of money that it, as well as managing several houses of prostitution, has made for her. When asked of any shame about her job by her daughter she states, "Well of course dearie, it's only good manners to be ashamed of it: it's expected of a woman." This statement shows that the only reason that one would be ashamed of it is because of society says that one should be.   She feels that the restrictions that society has placed on women has made it impossible for her to pursue any other lifestyle.   She demonstrates this by saying, "It's far better than any other emp loyment open to [women]...   It can't be right, Vivie, that there shouldn't be better opportunities for women."   Shaw is attempting to evoke sympathy for the character of Mrs. Warren by pitting her against a society that is against her.   He is quite obviously in favor of the actions that Mrs. Warren has taken, as demonstrated by the very reasonable rationalization for what she has done and the approving reaction of her daughte... ...in acting as the representative of Shaw's views, is constantly blowing off his attempts at winning her affection.   Finally gives up his attempts when he realizes how her mother earns the money. He states , "I really can' bring myself to touch the old woman's money now."   Vivie is quite glad to be rid of him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Shaw's opinions on society against the individual are clearly outlined in this play.   Through the actions and words of the character Vivie it can be clearly seen that he finds nothing wrong with breaking the rules placed on people by society, providing that it is for a good reason and not simply for self indulgence.   The conclusion could be drawn that Shaw feels that these morals are fine in a perfect society, but since we do not live in one they must be broken occasionally in order to attain a better life, providing that it is done only in moderation.

Critical Response Paper

The development of political thought was always close-knit with the author’s epoch and regime of governance he lived under; however, in spite of the ethical and technological limitations, associated with the temporal factor, the majority of political scientists sought to build a universalized framework of justice and legitimate state power.John Rawls is distinguished for his positivist, or â€Å"realistic utopian† approach to justice and principles of peaceful coexistence among individuals as well as peace between government and population. However, the proportion of utopianism is much higher in his writings, as compared to the realism ratio, given that he fails to address the challenges, related to diversity and class inequality which are dominating the modern North American society.First of all, it is important to pay attention to Rawls’s dynamic and positivistic model of justice. According to the article, instead of seeking the ideal of justice beyond the exis ting order of affairs, the scholar tries to enable reasonable and gradual improvements of the internal structure and situation: â€Å"We can see this idea through the rather well-worn metaphor of the difference between the efforts needed to fix a boat that is at sea one plank at a time rather than trying to rebuild it from scratch. Generally speaking, it makes more sense to engage the first sort of repair job than a complete rebuild† (Mini-lecture, p.4).Interestingly, the author focuses predominantly on the strong points of the current ideas of justice as articulated both in legal terms and through societal behaviours.However, this task might appear extremely challenging given the focus of diversity in most European and North American policies. Diversity is a delicate issue, since there is a number of conflicts among beliefs, interests and practices, underlying each cultural or social group. Obtaining true impartiality also turns into a difficult task, as the society, which l acks uniformity in certain vital political issues, is likely to encourage its groups to perceive and assess the objective reality from the intragroup value system; as a result, such judgments can seem neither objective nor neutral.According to the article, â€Å"He does not propose a vision of justice that would stretch our character too and tries to build a theory that is responsive to our current conditions† (Mini-lecture, p.5).However, taking into consideration the above provided chain of reasoning, one can assume that the existing disproportion and divergence of political values will inevitably result in the necessity of â€Å"stretching† the philosophies or ideologies of certain minority groups, either religious or cultural. However, for the purpose of maintaining/ establishing social cohesion, this step can be justified, since the vast majority is likely to benefit from it.This excessive pluralism is partially addressed in the reading: â€Å"Bearing this point i n mind, he tries to find a way to build an impartial model for deliberating about principles of justice that everyone can reasonably be expected to endorse despite holding different religious and moral views† (Mini-lecture, p.5).The statement is quite abstractive, whereas the particular scenarios of its realization point to the existence of disparities in core values of each group. For instance, in the United States, there are several large Muslim communities, whose polity greatly resembles the lifestyles of Middle Asian societies. The U.S.-based communities might engage with political activity and unite into a faction, requiring, for instance, the cancellation of women’s right to take certain jobs, and referring to the fact that the existing state-of-art offends their vision of gender morality.Surprisingly, this faction might be supported by other political groups, which also share this view on gender equality – as a result, the society might be torn by the deba te over the true justice. As one can notice, the representation of the core values of liberty might be uneven in our society, so both federal and state legislations necessarily challenge the beliefs of a certain minority.  Furthermore, Rawls’s concept of justice and stability is quite unrealistic, since it provides an abstractive picture, barely imaginable in the current world. According to the political philosophy article, â€Å"His core insight is that a stable and enduring society is one that is also just, that is, where citizens are considered to be free and equal. More importantly, citizens have to be able to see themselves and each other as free and equal† (Mini-lecture, p.6).However, inequality is inescapable, it is often referred to as an engine of social and political development, which motivates individuals to participate in political processes. The true equality, as articulated in the paper, consists in people’s outlooks and convictions, yet the for mation of â€Å"equality beliefs† is normally realized only partly, since there still exist economic, social, regional, gender and age boundaries which make people feel underprivileged or superior.In this sense, Rawls refers to Kant and observes that the greatest political ideas were realized from the personal to the public, i.e. if an individual considers certain pattern ‘fair’, this pattern is likely to appear to be ‘fair’ in the whole society.However, this logic of reasoning fails to take into consideration the fact that the idea of equality was first born in autocratic societies, bearing much higher uniformity within its aristocratic and power circles, as compared to the modern Western world. Given that Rawls himself states that the relevance of political ideas depends on temporal and spatial (regional) factors, so the ideas of liberty and equality, which existed in the ancient world and Enlightenment society, are not fully suitable in the modern North American society.Thus, given that the author implies a positivist approach o the development of political values and proposes that they be formulated â€Å"from within†, Rawls should have also looked closely at specific cases and considered the workability of his perspective in real macrogroup situations.Reference listMini-Lecture. A Brief Introduction to Rawls’s Project, pp.1-10.

Argumentative Essay On Poverty - 825 Words

What does not discriminate against gender or race, and ultimately affects everyone? Poverty. The big bad wolf of an issue. Something we never consider until we dig ourselves into a hole. But what about us as a society, surely something must happen to the body when we are plagued with a disease as such. If someone below the poverty line suffers, can someone thats well above it be suffering as well because of a cause and effect relationship. After reading these New york times articles, as well as thinking a great deal of the idea of poverty in contrast to the mindset of someone who does thanks to the New York Times ive concluded that poverty is something that exists because an infinitum of scenarios, we could say it was the U.S government†¦show more content†¦Though this plague consumes us by bit, we always seem ever vigilent in wanting to fight it. Llike every other challenged we as people have faced. But at this point it may seem that we have been fighting the same fight sin ce hoover. Though we have made huge improvements over time, it may seem that we have lost steam. It may seem that we are on a slow fall to the ground, we are hearing the referee count off 6..7. At this point it may seem that any solution is lost or as effective as pepto to treat a cold. There is one last play, one last hail mary. The only way to kill poverty, is to destroy money, market, and the economy. Even at that theres the question of how will we function? So far in these articles ive read, we always as a people seem to have an idea of how things function or work. We have ideas like the poverty line and the success sequence. These ideas however strong or daunting they may be, are only ideas that are barely grasping the full concepyt of them. Ive learned that we have improved, and that any slight improvement is deemed a great success. But ive noticed that all we have are ideas, ive noticed that however much improvement is we can still be in the negative. 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