Policing The Police

6 Pages 1497 Words

Policing the Police
Police, get on the ground, now! For many Americans this is a reassuring and calming statement, but to far to many it instills fear, fear of unwarranted abuse and brutality. There are thousands of cases involving police brutality in the U.S. yearly, while thousands more slip through the cracks. Human Rights Watch, in it’s extensive report Shielded from Justice, examines the issue of police brutality, and discusses why the brutality goes unchecked. The majority of the time the brutality consists of a few extra kicks or billy club whacks, but far to often the abuse becomes serious. Take Abner Louima as an example, he was beaten and sodomized by four police officers in a Brooklyn police station bathroom. After the beating, it took over three hours before the precinct commander provided the required police escort to take Louima to the hospital (Kirschner). Police brutality is a terrible violation of ones human rights, and it is essential that the system is improved so as to stop the abuse. With harsher punishments for offending officers, a separate investigation department for brutality cases not affiliated with the police, special prosecutors for these cases, and by holding those in charge of the offending officers partially responsible, police brutality can be stopped.
Many cases of police brutality end with the officers receiving a slap on the wrist. Verbal reprimands and reprimand letters are the most common forms of punishment. If a thief is punished by a reprimand letter do you think his unruly behavior will ever stop?
Harsher punishments must be installed to stop the brutality. Counseling and retraining are some popular forms of “punishment” for police that abuse civilians, while a citizen that assaults a police officer is likely to spend at least a month in jail (Shielded). Shouldn’t those that are trusted with enforcing the law be held to the same standards as everyone else? The fact...