Police Brutality: Race, Accident, or Purpose?

Throughout history, the police has become a united organization to enforce local and federal laws of the United States. Even though the job of the FBI and local police officers is to put criminals away and to enforce the laws, many issues have rose from the police such as police brutality and race. Is police brutality and race an issue in the FBI, and if so, how? Are most police brutality done on purpose or is it an accident?
Many cases that involve police brutality evolve from race. This is true on many occasions because according to Vox, over 60% of minorities who are unarmed without a gun are shot compared to only 30% of whites. Blacks who do get killed by the police are 31%, even though blacks only make up 13% of the US population. Whites, who get killed by the police is 50%, even though they only make up 63% of the population. There is a huge racial gap in police brutality between whites and minorities, minorities often seeing the worst of the police.  
Even though race is an issue for police brutality, another issue has rose in society: is police brutality done on purpose, or is it merely an accident? One such case just recently happening on March 21, 2018 states that some police brutality happens on accident. A report from ABC News about Stephan Clark, 22 at the time of his death, who was holding a cellphone was reportedly mistaken for a gun by the police. Clark was shot fatally 20 times before the police realized their mistake. The police mistook Clark because they were trying to track down another man breaking into a car in the Sacramento area. From this incident, many protests have come about such as a delay in the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks versus Sacramento Kings.  
Not all of police brutally are done on accident, however. The death of 25 year old Freddie Gray on April 19, 2015 just shows how brutal police force can be. Gray, who was arrested on April 12th that same year, was accused of carrying an illegal switchblade in Baltimore. According to BBC News, police who suspected Gray ignored his request for his inhaler and put Gray in leg irons to hold him before throwing him in a van. These were not the only injuries Freddie Gray faced. From this multiple injuries occurred from police brutality such as an injured voice box and three broken collarbones. The most fatal injury was however his spinal cord, which resulted in his death. Baltimore erupted from Gray’s death and police brutality. Protesters were up and down on the streets. The Baltimore Orioles hosted the Chicago White Sox on April 29th for the first ever crowd less MLB game, responding to the incident.
Based on these two incidents, is police brutality an accident or done on purpose? Is race a factor? As more cases get revealed and more results from these cases provide evidence, these questions still remain a huge debate in society.  

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 29, 2018 at 10:00 AM

    I'm impression with your research on the percentage on how the races are categorize on being unarmed citizens and how much of the population of a certain race. It is terrible to see such a rise in police brutality, worse to know that it is on purpose. The sources are good as well.

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  2. UnknownApril 1, 2018 at 1:23 PM

    I really enjoy the fact that you highlighted big statistics within race encounters, as it adds justification to your argument. Police brutality is an ongoing issue that society faces day to day, and you did a very good job in expressing your argument behind data. There should be severe consequences for the actions of law enforcement, and there does not appear to be enough at the moment compared to the same rate of shootings. Great argument overall, well rounded post with valid points regarding race encounters.

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  3. Julie Quinn TACApril 2, 2018 at 6:13 AM

    This is an interesting post. Many issues surrounding race have affected police departments and their surrounding communities. Even if the issues like Stephon Clark's recent shooting have been done by "accident," wouldn't you argue that there is some sort of underlying bias or institutional racism that happens after the fact? I mean, why did those Sacramento police officers turn off their cameras after they shot Clark? Why not document what happened then? It seems as if they were trying to "cover up" their actions; perhaps it was a CYA sort of behavior, but either way, it does seem to implicate them in wrongdoing.
    I'd be careful however, with your terms. The term "police brutality" indicates bias, motive, or both, in the actions of police. Accidental shootings by the police would be considered negligent, but not always brutality...

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