Michael Brown's Shooting

Brown's Shooting And Organizational Deviance Michael Brown was fatally shot dead by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9. While the circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation, the incident contributed to several days of protests and conflicts between citizens and law enforcement officers that have been covered extensively by the media. During the time of the shooting, Michael Brown was shot six times and murdered despite presenting no threat to the life of the officer or any other individual.

Therefore, the use of deadly or brutal force by the police officer was not immediately necessary to enforce the arrest of the suspect. The series of protests in the aftermath of the incident was fueled by the fact that the police officer presumably killed an innocent individual and endangered the lives of others by discharging his weapon several times in an area with a high population. Given the aftermath of the incident, Brown's shooting generates a series of important criminal justice issues, particularly organizational deviance in criminal justice organizations.

Even though deviance has traditionally been considered from an individualistic perspective, it is sometimes carried out in organizational terms. Actually, some of the most crucial and devastating deviance is conducted on behalf of organizations and through resources provided by the organizations. In the criminal justice field, it is important for organizational managers to be aware and sensitive of organizational deviance since such actions by police officers may not only have considerable impacts on individuals and the society but also end up being fatal.

Organizational deviance is evident in Brown's shooting because of the events that happened in the aftermath of the incident, especially the actions of the police department or organization. Pazzanese (2014) states that the incident resulted in accusations that law enforcement officers were using excessive force and harassing citizens by firing teargas and pointing rifles toward peaceful journalists and protesters. As the shooting generated numerous discussion and controversies, it was attributed to racial profiling and organizational discrimination within the criminal justice organization.

The Ferguson Police Department opted for obscurity instead of transparency by taking a long period of time before revealing the officer's identity. This was regardless of the huge protests and concerns that followed the shooting of the presumably innocent citizen. As a result, the criminal justice organization was regarded to be protecting racial profiling and discrimination that could have contributed to the fatal shooting of Michael Brown. As compared with other forms of organized crime, organizational deviance is conducted on the premise of an organization with legitimate purpose and functions.

The police officer, Darren Wilson, demonstrated the discriminative practices of the Ferguson Police Department by stopping and shooting an individual who was simply jaywalking. The reaction of the police department epitomized the extent of racism that could still be rooted in criminal justice organizations and other public institutions. The police department should have responded to the issue through transparency, which is the only mechanism to develop.