Police Killings: A Continuous Problem
Police killings happen because law
enforcement has the power to do what they want and make it look like the citizens were wrong.
Not all cops are bad when it comes to these situations, but some cops are
crooked and may look for opportunities to harm people that look like they are doing
something wrong. If they are caught, they cover up the situation. Some police officers really kill because they just have a hate for a particular race. Other killings are just simply an
officer being scared for his or her life or their life, as in, there is a person holding a gun
to them or someone else and they really have to shoot. Most of the killings we see in the news, now, are not like that and there is really no explanation for these killings.
We can stop the problem by getting
rid of the racist’s cops and we can do that by doing full background checks.
The cops shouldn’t pre judge and kill people for no reason. So sometimes the
problem can’t be stopped and we can only act on it when it happens. Sometimes
we try to get justice and sometimes we act in violence.
We
as citizens don’t know if a cop is racist. As citizens, we are naturally
supposed to trust the police. However, sometimes we don’t know what to expect. I doubt we are going to
stop the problem, because its racism everywhere, so that means racist police
officers will multiply.
A solution to try to prevent the
problem is to have all police wear a hat with a camera when they are on duty, so they
would think twice before acting out of hate and racism. Most of the
time when we see the officer, who we all know was wrong. They walk free, because it's
police word over a dead persons' word or white mans' word vs black mans' word and 9.9 times out of 10 the black mans' word will never win. We
need explanations for these killings, it seems like we here about this problem
too often.
In the world we live in, blacks are considered
monsters and we've been treated like we don't count. It’s been like that
forever, even though, we are legally equal. Racism will never end, there are
people still with hate in their hearts and it is showing with these police
killings. Racist police get away with it because they have an advantage over
black people. They have the advantage of their authority. The violent police do not get punished because the person is already dead and cannot speak for himself, which means they can lie and get away.
The
problem is affecting us. Its, mostly, black people and that’s the reason
why you see black people saying, fu@$ the police; it seems like the
cops pick on black people. Police killings make us feel unsafe; because who are you
going to call, when the cops are the one shooting you.
- Corey Russ
Police
Killings: Legalized Murders
Killing and murder, in general, are wrong, but police
brutality and killings are shocking, because police officers are the people that
promise to protect normal citizens. I feel police officers know they can get
away with criminal behavior because they are the authority figures. A reason why police
brutality happens is because some police officers are just violent and racist. In 2014, white people where the biggest victims of police
brutality with 414 white people killed in that year, compared to 233 black
people killed that year. Over half of those killed where black despite being 13% of the population. I believe that blacks are still
frequently targeted due to racism.
America isn’t the only place with police
brutality. In China, at the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989, about 300 college
students were killed and over 10,000 were arrested during a peaceful protest.
This shows that not only police brutality happens in America, other counties police forces
have violent officials.
The police know they can get away with the murder of
innocent people. I don’t think we can stop police brutality, because if we could
stop it, we would have stopped it a long time ago. As long as the America
justice system believes that the officers that kill innocent people are right,
there’s no way we can stop it. Even if we catch the officers killing the victim
and violating rules, like the Eric Garner case, nothing will change.
It
personally doesn’t affect me because I’ve gotten used to it. It’s to the
point where I’m almost expecting to hear another case of police brutality on
the news when I wake up in the morning. One way it does affect me is that it
lowers my trust for police officers because as a young black teenager, I feel
there is a target on me, my family and friends heads just because we’re black.
It disappoints me because when I was younger, I wanted to be a police officer.
But instead of protecting the peace, I feel like I would be working the enemy
and I would be looked down by my family, friends and loved ones. In conclusion,
I feel like police killing is the biggest betrayal the citizens of the US.
Every police officer is sworn in to protect the peace. Well how do you “protect
the peace” when you’re killing the people you promised to protect?
- Joshua Pleasant
Police
Killings
Recently, the
police killed a young man by the name of Freddie Gray. I really don't know about why they killed him, but I know the cops of Baltimore had the young man
in handcuffs and a choke hold. Some witnesses say that Freddie was innocent and
some say that the police was being to rough on the young man. One witness has a
video of the police beating the young man savagely while stilll in handcuffs.
By time he had been moved to the police station, he had already died. I think “police killings“ or whatever you want to call them are crazy. I think that some
police are bad police and some are good. I honestly think the bad cops are going
around killing innocent people ,because their bored with there job. The
killing of Freddie Gray turned the people of Baltimore into angry people. His
friends and family were truly hurt, their pain and frustration helped cause the riots.
This
situation makes me feel like police are not here to protect me. Police, today
are getting a little out of hand every since Trayvon Martin case. These “ Police
Killings “ are making me feel as though our PROTECTERS ARE HERE TO KILL US. Its
making me feel that I should doubt the men that are supposed to be the good guys. They
are killing innocent souls. I
think in every state police squads are all having issues like this. What
do they expect us people of the U.S. to think?
I really wish this could stop, because
the police are taking good lives and leaving the bad. Police think just because
your black that is how you act, which is not true. I think to stop this we
should protest in a civil way. The police stations should come together and
talk about the situation and get to the bottom of it. I also think that the
president of the United States should start a talk movement so everyone can
voice their opinion. The police are
taking so many innocent BLACK LIVES and that is not fair, because black lives
really do matter. ALL BLACK LIVES MATTER! If everyone just come together in a
peacefully way, we can get our point across. I think situations like this is
making our cities become worse than what they are. Stuff like police killings will
just egg things on for people with no mind to start doing more crazy things. If
police just do their job and put the victim in cuffs and sit them in the car,
we wouldn’t have to be writing or protesting about this today.
I really want this to end, because we
don’t want our next generation to think they can be shot. I just wish the police department leave the men
behind that think abusing or killing is the answer to get justice. I want
people’s voice that have a problem with police killings to be heard. We shouldn’t have to feel unsafe around police
officers, just because their trigger happy.
- Ayonna Gallmom
Police Killings: False Titles
Police Officers are bound to protect the peace
and its people, police are people that have the power to protect the people, but that’s just not how it works
with “cops”. They aren’t the protectors that they
are supposed to be. Police brutality, the killing of African Americans, and crooked cops are the things that make some cops terrible “peacemakers”. What makes it worse is
the fact that cops are creating excuses for what they are doing and hurting the
parents, hurting the community that knew the people who were killed.
Cops simply just do not care;
the deaths that are happening aren't coincidence, despite what the cops are saying. When it comes down to it, it’s a
racist situation. Now, it’s not
like other races are not being killed, but its only blacks
that are being killed at such a high rate. In the Frederick Gray situation, he was beaten and then killed. Cops are
just not in their right mind. They do not have the right murder people, period. No
one should take another's life either, unless their life is actually endangered
and not like how cops say. Cops should make killing someone their
absolute LAST option.
If cops do kill someone, they should still get some type
of punishment; them getting off is not the right or a way for people to get
their justice. I don’t really
know if, we the people can stop such a powerful force such as the police. They’ve been around for so very long and in reality been doing what
they are doing now, killing innocent African American men, it just wasn't important to the government.
If there was a way to stop it; what I think would be a smart approach
is a peaceful protest or attempting to show cops that they are wrong in every way, but I just don’t see it happening; cops just do not care. They’re going to keep to killing or seriously hurting us people. It doesn’t mean that I’m completely against cops, there are still a few
that are good.
Actually, cops know when their lives are in danger, they actually know the consequences of
killing another man. The fact remains that cops are covering up the killings
that could’ve happen or the killings the
public does not know about. It’s not
like people especially; African Americans will all of a sudden believe, trust
or like cops. After the incidents that happened up to now, African Americans are less likely to have anything to do
with a cop. What makes it worse for us, as people, crooked cops, people who we in trust our
lives to, are easily persuaded with money.
"Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an
endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction". This quote explains why,
maybe, most news stations aren’t showing the exact truth about how many African
American really are dying.
Sadly, on the other hand, this does affect me, I shouldn’t be scared to walk by a
cop or be terrified to get shot down in front of my brother or sisters. I don’t know what I do would, if I found out if a relative of mine happened to
get shot by a cop; what would you do? There will be a lot of hate in my heart and I would want
justice, but I know deep down that just would not happen. I believe that if cops would just do their
job without the killing and African Americans, stop making the rest of us African Americans look
bad, then, maybe the killing will stop. These excuses must stop as well, anybody who hears the same
excuse over and over will get sick of it, eventually.
This explains why African Americans in
Baltimore started that riot. Leading something or someone
should not be with fear; instead you lead them with courageousness. This is not
a world I could live in, if I’m supposed to fear someone because of how much power they have. To
make a very long story short, I don’t believe that cops are protectors of peace. I hope that things change
and the protectors return because, “claiming a title doesn’t mean it is actually what you are”.
- Kevin Whitmire
POLICE KILLINGS: Treat People How You Want To Be Treated
Since the police are the law, they think that they can do whatever they want to people. They shot Mike Brown and he
really did not do anything. Police think that since they are higher than other
people that we have to bow down to them. If the person does not have a weapon,
the police should not shoot or mace them, because it’s against police rules.
Their job as a police is to protect the people, not kill them.
They should be stopped, because they
are killing innocent black people and children. It’s just wrong to murder
someone. Police think that since we are black, they can just kill us because of
how it was back in the day and because of racism. The public image of black
people in America has been degraded.
Police
should have little cameras so the public can see what happens, also, we can
use it as evidence. It would help to see if what the police officer says is
true or not. In order to fix this situation we could fight back or boycott.
It
doesn’t really affect me directly, but it affects the family of the person who
was killed. It makes me feel angry, because of how many black people are being
killed in the USA. It also makes me feel sad, because it could have been one of
my family members or close friends. The police are basically targeting black people.
I really don’t exactly know why the police are targeting black people. White people control government and the laws; it seem as though they don’t value
black lives as much as they do with white lives. These things are just not
fair.
For example; compare Michael Vick & George Zimmerman, Michael Vick was sent to jail for dogs fighting and George Zimmerman
was let go on murder charges. George Zimmerman should have been locked up and
charged with murder because, Trayvon Martin was innocent. White
people look at what Michael Vick did and say he a bad person, but look at George Zimmerman killing Trayvon Martin. The same people say, "ohh," "It was an accident" or "its okay because he was black" or try to make his hoodie he had on, while walking, into an excuse.
- Ceaira Ball
Police Killings: A
Recipe for Civil Dysfunction
White
police officers are viewed as domestic terrorists by a lot of people these
days. The reason behind this is because of one specific issue. They are constantly
killing people for no good reason. They frequently kill African Americans in
particular, and it’s been like this for a very long period. One prime example
of police killing would be the shooting of an African American named Michael
Brown. Unfortunately, he fell victim to police killings at the young age of
eighteen years old.
It’s no
secret that America has had ongoing racism since slavery back in in the early
1600s. It still goes on today as I type this essay. The racism
in this country has had a severe effect on black folks, in particular, for
ages. White folks have disliked black folks because of the color of
their skin, for being different from them, and for being who they are. White
folks just felt as though that they were superior to any race. It’s resulted in
verbal disrespect, physical disrespect, segregation, dog bites, beatings, angry
mobs, rioting, hangings, and lynching. All of these wicked things connect to
police, because, first of all, there are racist white people in America and it is those racist white people in America who take their racism with them
when they get into the police force. That is when they use their authority to
do racist wicked things to people.
Instead
of using their authority to protect and serve, they misuse their authority.
They use it for cruel treatment and exploitation. They unnecessarily judge,
question, and search us black folks. There’re times when they constantly abuse
their power. One example, would be the Rodney King case back in 1992. Rodney
King was arrested for a traffic violation on March 3, 1991. During the arrest, Rodney King was struck
with nightsticks over fifty times after initially resisting police orders. A witness
to the event, George Holliday, videotaped the arrest, which was later broadcast
on local station KTLA and commercial news networks nationwide. Over a year after the night of the beating, the
LAPD officers indicted in the trial were acquitted of the charges brought
against them. As a result of the verdict, many residents of Los Angeles reacted
with shock and anger which resulted in the 1992 L.A. Riots.
Honestly,
I feel as though I can describe the police killing in one word. That word is Tyranny. Police killings nowadays of African
Americans or any ethnicity or any race is due to cruel and oppressive power
that the police have.
We have
got to stay strong if we’re going to get through this and grow from this. You
know, bad things, tragic things happen all over, so there isn’t any hiding from
it. What we as people have to do are stay strong and stay optimistic. We have
to stay strong and stay optimistic to recover mentally, spiritually, and
emotionally.
I’ve
learned that what the authority says is not always true. In other words, the
official statement is not always true. People say that one thing’ we as people
should do to avoid these situations is obey the law and do what is right. This means that if we do not cause any trouble then all these killings would
not happen. America has already shown that you don’t need to commit any crime
or cause any trouble to get killed by an official. The point is that even when
laws and rules and regulations are obeyed, because of the racism, racist white folks will find ways to physically and verbally abuse
their power to humiliate and degrade African Americans.
I was
asked how this affects us. My answer to that is that it makes us hungry for
justice. The police killing truly devastates us and makes us wonder why and so as
a result of that we are hungry for our justice. As a result of being hungry for
our justice, people go to court, people riot, people loot, people protest, and
people conduct civil unrest. People do these things because they know that they
aren’t getting their justice. So, until they feel that their voices are heard
and until they get their justice, the controversy will continue and the
tension will grow because of that dissatisfaction. People simply need justice
and that’s something that’s just self-evident and vital.
- Lansana Fofana
Police killings: Protect Us Don’t
Hurt Us
Police
killings are bad and wrong in every way. Police killings are worse than regular people
killing people, because we look to them to protect us from harm. When I think
about police killings, I think about people being seriously injured and people
dying and dying when they are innocent. Police need to protect people not hurt
them. I am going to explain why it happens, how do we stop it, and how does it
affect me.
Police
killings happen because people are misunderstood, racism, and because some
police think it is cool that they killed a person. Most people die for being
misunderstood, they look like they have a weapon or are reaching for one and
they really are not. I think that is where most of the problems come from.
Racism is a part of the problem as well. Most people think that racists white
officers are killing black people and that is kind of true. For some reason the
officers think black people are known for having weapons on them. Some officers
think it’s cool to kill a person. It is not cool to kill a person at all
because it is like killing another you, another human being. Just think what if
someone killed your brother and he was innocent.
We can stop
police killings by punishing the police people who did the crime. We can punish them by putting them in jail for
life just like any other person. Doing this will make people think twice before
they take the life of another person. Also, I think the police officers should
be kicked off the police team if they take another life of another person.
Police
killings affect me, because it makes me lose trust. I should not lose trust or
be scared of police, because they should protect me. This affects me in a
negative way. All police should think
twice or take better actions, when it comes to handling dangerous situations.
Killing a citizen should be the last resort.
- Amari Davis
Police Killing's: Fight for Justice
About the situation in Ferguson, I feel like the government didn’t care about the situation like they should have.
The government is not giving us what we want, which is Justice. I feel like it’s a disappointment that we have to protest or burn down our own community just to get our point across. Why are the officers killing people without a reason? Why is nobody doing anything about it? The officers are being let off because it’s somehow self-defense, but how? Most of the victims were unarmed. I want the families who lost somebody to get the justice that they deserve. I really need for the government to stop taking the police side and think about us African Americans as well.
I say we protest to try and get our point across, and try our best to try and stop this mess. Instead of destroying our own community, we should get together and come up with some type of ideas that we think would end this. We should get them to understand that Black Lives Matter and we are also humans. We should go down to every police station and get our problems solved.
This whole situation has me feeling sad. I never thought I would see or hear something like this in my life. I also feel scared, because what it if it happens to my family or me and we aren’t be able to get justice. Sometimes, I think it’s best if we stay in the house. It makes me mad. Why can’t we just get along with one another? I don’t want this country to go back to racism.
- Alyssia Simmons
Police Killings: U.S.A Needs Peace
Police killings happen because people don’t respect the
laws and police officers.
To stop it, they should respect the laws and follow the law rules. It affects
people because people can’t trust all police officers anymore. Some people get
killed, even though they don’t have a
bad record or haven’t done any wrong. When people disrespect the laws the
police have the right to say something to them to correct what they doing
wrong, but some people don’t listen and that’s when police officers have to do
something. That’s when they kill people they don’t have to, but they choose to do. If people would of listened to the police officers when
they said something to them, they probably wouldn’t of gotten killed.
You have to treat others the same way you want them to
treat you. Some police officers think they all that, because they wearing the uniform.
So they go around telling people what to do. Everybody doesn’t break
laws. Some people don’t like when police officers comes in tells them what to do, so that’s when
they start with police officers. Some people are crazy and they have weapons or
some with them and that’s when police officers shoot them because they
protecting themselves.
This affects me because we can’t trust all police
officers. We don’t know if they are racists. Some police officers are
racists. If someone is black or Hispanic, they think that they done something bad.
They don’t trust, so, how can we trust them. Now, when you really need help
from them, we won’t know what to do; ask them for help or help yourself. Mostly,
white police officers don’t trust people from other race.
The five states or jurisdictions where is most likely to
be killed by law enforcement are New Mexico, Nevada, District of Columbia, Oregon,
and Maryland. African Americans , 13 percent of the population, are victims in
26 percent of police shooting. Police don’t give them time to talk, the police just go
by the way they are look and dress.
To stop all this, we have to respect the laws, follow
directions, don’t argue with just do what they say. I think police killing is
not right , because one day somebody going kill them and their families
wouldn’t like it, so, they don’t have the right to take other people lives if
they don’t want to lose theirs.
- Joaquin Carranza
Police Killings: Year of Destruction
When I hear of police killings, what come
to my mind is petty police officers, racist cops and innocent people being killed. When
the police commit these crimes, I wonder do they feel guilty. Why do these
things occur? Maybe, because cops have too much power. In some cases, maybe the
cop on duty was having a bad day or the victim wasn’t following directions as
the police pleased. In most cases, the police do not get indicted or sentenced,
which gives other cops the idea of getting away with murder. Who is there to
blame and why? The jury is responsible because they are likely not to convict
the police at all. And the government doesn’t pay stuff like this any attention.
How
does it affect us? When being stopped or in custody of police, black people
shouldn’t be scared for their life. Family and love ones fear for their love
ones & relatives to be in custody of police. I even feel as though they
have to be more careful of what they say or act a certain kind of way when
dealing with police because they do not want to be the next victim. Every time a
family member leaves the house, they should not have to think of the worst because
of the police in our society. When I hear the word police, I actually think of
them stopping the violence and not committing the crime. If people
weren’t committing high level of crimes and violence then maybe they wouldn’t
be on the police radar or draw that type of attention? However, that still
doesn’t give police the right to end anybody’s life, especially if a life
wasn’t in jeopardy or there was not any type of threat to their life. If you
look at the crime rates; African American teens are most likely to commit a crime 2-3
more times than a white teen. Coming in to that, police don’t know what they’re
going to get into or what’s going to be the outcome, maybe the police feel as though
they just need to take action.
Since
the beginning of 2013, there has been more than 100 deaths in the month of January
due to police, this has to come to an end. As you think, we are already losing a
generation of people due to black on black crimes yet police killings now. As
you look at most cases, the main similarities are that the officers are white,
people that were killed was either seen or had been mistaken to have a firearm.
- Datashia Price
Police Killings: Legalized Murder
For the past several months, there has been a
lot of tension between the public and the police. This is due to the recent
unexplained, and lightly punished killings of would be criminals or completely
innocent people. Examples of these would be; Fredrick Gray, Mike Brown, and
Antonio Martin. Why does this happen continuously? How can we stop it? How does
it affect us all? These would be good questions
First, why does it happen?
This question often varies, depending on the officer and the victim/suspect. For
example, in Antonio Martin’s case he was armed and considerably dangerous. The
officer’s name and background is not available at the moment, but in this
situation Antonio Martin pulled a gun on the officer. The officer reacted with backpedaling
while firing three consecutive shots. One of those killed Antonio. There’s video
evidence that the officer was clearly defending himself yet there was still
cries of outrage. So, back to the question. Why does it normally happen? To
look at this form the officer’s perspective, they risk their lives daily
protecting the community. They are normally alert and aware or often times
overly alert and paranoid. If the victim seems suspicious and reaches for
something the officer may respond with a non-lethal solution. Their gun. It’s
understandable, but by no means a legitimate excuse. This is why these things
will often happen. However, there are times when an officer will take a
stereotypical approach towards blacks. The officer nor the police department will
admit to this, so it will be assumed by the public.
How can we stop this? This is the most
difficult question out of the three. It’s honestly not something that can just
be stopped, but it can possibly be reduced. It cannot be stopped because there
will be actual accidents that occur or an overzealous police officer will use
unneeded lethal force. Killing the innocent can possibly be stopped or again,
reduced. There will always be questionable officers and people will always
question their actions. But if law enforcement and the public can come to a
mutual understanding the problem can be “reduced”. If a person would willingly
follow police instructions and the officer respected the citizen’s personal
space and rights there shouldn’t be a problem. That or the officer can use his
or her other non-lethal resources instead of a gun. Personally I would think
that the police should undergo a sort of retraining process so they can
familiarize themselves wit less lethal options. This includes: Pepper spray, Taser,
and Baton.
How does this affect me personally?
Arguably the easiest question, it affects me because I will, in one time or
another, will come into contact with law enforcement. I am a young black teen
who an officer can label as suspicious. I am rather large for my age so there
is a chance that I too, can end up like Freddie Grey or Mike Brown. I am
disturbed about the riots and police assassinations. The police are our
protectors and if we fight against them or disperse them or simply give them
less of a reason to protect us then crime will increase and society as we know
it; will plummet. This problem isn’t simply the police fault; it is sometimes
everyone’s fault. A lot of black people claim its racism due to black people
being the victims in these cases. Partly true, but the officers aren’t always
white. Antonio Martin was killed by a black officer. Is it still racism? I
wouldn’t say so. There are always retaliations for police killings like the
assassination of two officers in their patrol car, Ferguson riots, and the
violence in Baltimore. If this continues, violence will engulf the nation and
everyone, including myself, will get involved.
In
conclusion, police killings are a serious problem and needs some type of resolution.
The reason this happen is because paranoid officers or misinterpreted actions.
How can we stop it? By fully cooperating with each other and by using less
lethal means if the situation calls for it. How does it affect me personally?
It does so because of the recent retaliations and if the trend continues the
nation will be rioting. The situation needs to be controlled while it still can
be controlled.
- Nathaniel Matthews
