Police Brutality Against African Americans and Hispanics
This paper examines the issue of police brutality as it disproportionately affects African Americans and Hispanics in the United States. Drawing on sociological theory, historical data, and specific case studies, the paper traces a racialized pattern of excessive force and misconduct from the early 1990s through 2003. It discusses how social norm theory and myths of Black criminality have normalized discriminatory policing practices, reviews landmark incidents in New York City, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, and Los Angeles, and concludes with a call to address racial profiling and overcome preconceived racial biases within law enforcement.
- Introduction: Overview of rising police brutality reports
- History of Police Brutality and Racial Patterns: Racialized policing patterns and New York City data
- Past Cases of Brutality Against Minorities: Key cases from the 1990s and early 2000s
- Present Cases of Police Misconduct: Notable 2003 incidents in Minneapolis, LA, and Cincinnati
- Conclusion: Call to end racial profiling and bias
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What makes this paper effective
- Uses specific, named case studies — the Carter family, Timothy Thomas, Federico Pereira, and Nathaniel Jones — to ground abstract arguments about systemic racism in concrete, verifiable incidents.
- Incorporates quantitative data (the 40% rise in civilian complaints, the 35,000 unwarranted detentions) alongside qualitative evidence to strengthen its argument.
- Applies a named theoretical framework — social norm theory — to explain why racially biased policing is often perceived as acceptable by the broader public.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates the use of case study evidence to support a sociological argument. By presenting individual incidents chronologically and tying them back to the overarching claim about racialized policing patterns, the author shows how specific examples can be used as evidence for systemic claims rather than treated as isolated events.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a clear four-part structure: an introduction establishing the problem, a historical context section grounding it in theory and New York City data, a section presenting past cases from the 1990s and early 2000s, a section covering more recent cases from 2003, and a brief conclusion calling for attitudinal change. This chronological and thematic organization makes the argument easy to follow.
Introduction
In recent years there has been an increase in the number of reported cases of police brutality. It is important to examine police brutality against Hispanics and African Americans in order to gain a better understanding of this serious problem.
History of Police Brutality and Racial Patterns
The contrast between "law-abiding and lawless people is racialized, making the depreciation of liberty it legitimates equally racialized (Roberts, 1999)." This in turn creates a racist pattern of police brutality. Social norm theory helps to explain why this pattern strikes most Americans as benign. As Roberts (1999) argues, "Myths of Black criminality are so embedded in the white psyche that it seems perfectly natural to many Americans that Blacks are disproportionately stopped for traffic infractions, arrested for drug offenses, swept off the street for loitering, and sent to prison."
New York City's police department has a long history of racial abuse. Police officials there report decreases in crime rates; however, they often fail to mention that "civilian complaints of police abuse has risen almost 40% since 1993 and the amount the city has paid to settle these claims has doubled (Roberts, 1999)." Between 1997 and 1998, out of the 45,000 people detained, only 9,500 were arrested. This illustrates that over 35,000 people were stopped for no reason, most of whom were African American or Hispanic. Some of these innocent citizens became subjects of appalling cases of police brutality, which heightened resentment toward the police and raised serious concerns about the city's policing policies (Roberts, 1999).
A 1999 survey found that 43.8 million people — including people who called to report a crime — had contact with police, and less than 1% experienced force or threats of force. That figure was double, at approximately 2%, among African Americans and Hispanics. In most cases — 72% — people said officers pushed or grabbed them, while 15.3% said police pointed a gun at them, 10.2% claimed they were kicked or hit, and 5.4% said they were sprayed with chemicals or pepper spray.
Past Cases of Brutality Against Minorities
There have been a number of documented past cases of police brutality against African Americans and Hispanics. One case involved an elderly African American couple from Pennsylvania, Charles and Etta Carter, who were stopped by Maryland State Police on their 40th wedding anniversary (Taslitz, 2003). The couple had their car searched by troopers and drug-sniffing dogs, during which "their daughter's wedding dress was tossed onto one of the police cars and, as trucks passed on I-95, it was blown to the ground (Taslitz, 2003)." Due to fears of possible flight, the police denied Mrs. Carter's request to use the restroom. While the vehicle was being searched, items that were removed were thrown along the highway, where they were "trampled and urinated on by the dogs (Taslitz, 2003)." After the couple endured this ordeal, the police conceded they had found no drugs, nor did they issue any citation.
Another case, which occurred in April 2001, involved an unarmed teenager, Timothy Thomas, who was shot to death by Cincinnati police officers (Taslitz, 2003). The shooting occurred as officers were pursuing Thomas on an outstanding arrest warrant for two alleged misdemeanors and numerous traffic offenses. This was the fourth time since 1995 that Cincinnati officers had killed a Black male, "sparking protests in Cincinnati's African American community, which alleged that the officers used excessive force because of Thomas's race (Taslitz, 2003)."
In 1991, five New York City officers were indicted on murder charges in connection with the February 5 death by suffocation of a 21-year-old Hispanic man suspected of car theft. The officers were accused of having "hit, kicked and choked Federico Pereira while he lay face down and hog-tied — his wrists cuffed behind his back while another set of cuffs bound his hands to one ankle (Lacayo, 1991)."
Conclusion
Although cases of police brutality against Hispanics and African Americans are capturing the attention of the public, these groups continue to face racial profiling. Many times, people are stopped for no reason and subjected to callous behavior at the hands of police officers. It is important for everyone to overcome their preconceived notions about different races in order to put an end to this deeply troubling behavior.
References
Chanen, David. (27 October 2003). "Chief Olson's legacy is like his tenure: Complicated; As Minneapolis' top cop prepares to leave, he gets credit for a lower crime rate but criticism for being more politician than leader." Star Tribune.
Federal data on police shootings lacking. (accessed 07 May 2004). www.enquirer.com/editions/2001/04/14/loc_federal_data_on.html.
Lacayo, Richard. (01 April 1991). "Law and disorder: for cops, fear and frustration are constants. Sometimes even the best of them snap under pressure." Time.
Roberts, Dorothy E. (22 March 1999). "Foreword: race, vagueness, and the social meaning of order-maintenance policing." Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.
Taslitz, Andrew E. (22 June 2003). "Racial auditors and the Fourth Amendment: data with the power to inspire political action. (The Political Geography of Race Data in the Criminal Justice System)." Law and Contemporary Problems.
Unknown. (04 December 2003). "Death Ruled a 'Homicide' / Struggle with cops likely killed man." Newsday.
Unknown. (30 July 2003). "U.S. police brutality trial collapses as police brace for violence." Agence France Presse English.
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