The Pros and Cons of Police Brutality Introduction There are certainly "cons" when discussing the problem of police brutality, but are there also positives ("pros") when those events occur? This paper points to the issue of police brutality from several viewpoints and critiques the literature. Police Brutality Cases on the rise since 9/11 Incidents in which police, prison guards or other law enforcement authorities have used "excessive force" or otherwise have violated civil rights "…have increased 25% from fiscal years 2001 to 2007 over the previous seven years" (Johnson, 2007). Why are there more incidents that involve police misbehavior? James, Pasco, the executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police (the largest police union in the U.S.), believes part of the problem can be explained because there has been "…reduced standards, training and promotion of less experienced officers into the higher police ranks," and that tends to undermine "more rigid supervision" (Johnson, p. 1). Johnson believes the economic downturn may have been one reason for the reduced standards (i.e., tighter police budgets and downsizing of city budgets).
¶ … Police Brutality
There are certainly "cons" when discussing the problem of police brutality, but are there also positives ("pros") when those events occur? This paper points to the issue of police brutality from several viewpoints and critiques the literature.
Police Brutality Cases on the rise since 9/11
Incidents in which police, prison guards or other law enforcement authorities have used "excessive force" or otherwise have violated civil rights "…have increased 25% from fiscal years 2001 to 2007 over the previous seven years" (Johnson, 2007). Why are there more incidents that involve police misbehavior? James, Pasco, the executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police (the largest police union in the U.S.), believes part of the problem can be explained because there has been "…reduced standards, training and promotion of less experienced officers into the higher police ranks," and that tends to undermine "more rigid supervision" (Johnson, p. 1). Johnson believes the economic downturn may have been one reason for the reduced standards (i.e., tighter police budgets and downsizing of city budgets).
The Literature on Police Use of Force -- the Officer's Perspective
Meanwhile, is the perception of police brutality exaggerated -- or is that perception a correct one? A peer-reviewed article in the International Journal of Police Science & Management explains that while there is a presumption of "…widespread use of excessive force" when it comes to law enforcement officers in the U.S., this presumption "…may be overstated" (Pinizzotto, et al., 2012). This article's authors used questionnaires to survey 295 sworn, active police officers across the United States. The results from the questionnaires show that "approximately 70%" of officers responding to the survey "…had been in a situation where they could have legally used their firearm but chose not to" (Pinizzotto, 285).
Moreover, Pinizzotto asserts that up to 93% of the situations in which police officers could legally have used their weapons -- they exercised restraint instead (285). The authors make an attempt in their narrative to explain why officers -- in tough situations when they are face-to-face with an offender in a "high-risk" situation -- chose not to use deadly force. The authors of this article go to great lengths to assert that they do not "…justify, or even attempt to explain away, any use of excessive force in law enforcement" because abuse and brutality is "unnecessary, unwarranted and disproportionate," as well as being "unlawful and unethical" (Pinizzotto, 286). However, they have interviewed "thousands" of law enforcement officers over a thirty-year period, and their narrative is intended to present an objective reflection of the problem.
Of the 290 officers that were surveyed, 96% (260) reported that they had drawn their firearms at least once a year; those incidents were serious enough that the officers believed they needed to show their weapons because of the seriousness of the threat. Eighty-three percent of the 290 officers responded that they had been "…involved in at least one critical incident" in their police careers, and 59 of the 290 said they had used their weapon at least once.
Eighty percent of the 290 officers (228) reported they had been assaulted at least once and 27% (78) had been injured during an assault by a suspect (Pinizzotto, 293). Clearly the point of this research was in defense of the perception of police brutality. It should be noted that even a very small percentage of misbehaviors on the part of law enforcement is unacceptable, and when the media learns about a specific incident of brutality -- or a citizen captures a horrific beating scene on video and puts it on the Internet -- the public's perception becomes inflated and hence unfair to police departments. Still, the "con" side of police brutality is that: a) it harms the victim; b) it turns the community's perception of police to a negative; and c) it shows a lack of training and/or flawed hiring strategies by police departments.
Meanwhile, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) reports that police are abusing the use of Taser stun guns; indeed, the NYCLU's research shows that in 60% of incidents in which Tasers were used, the incident "…did not meet the recommended criteria for such a weapon" (Harris, 2011). Forty percent of the Taser incidents in New York involved "at-risk" individuals like children, older people of "mentally ill" (Harris, p. 2).
The "pros" of police brutality
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