Government Laws of USA- English Essay

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English Essay
According to the laws of the USA and any other governmental jurisdiction, the police
officers have the right to use legitimate force when called up to maintain law and order.
Arguably, the law gives the mandate to the police to use immutable force to regulate the conduct
of the citizens to uphold law and order. However, there lie boundaries towards which the police
need to use this force. In instances whereby the police officers use extreme force, they breach the
law. On many occasions, police brutality is mainly channeled towards any suspected citizens
who in most cases are from marginalized sections such are racial minorities (Adler). The use of
excessive force causes both physical and psychological torture to the victims. At times, it as well
causes substantial financial costs to the affected parties in the society. This trait has significantly
undermined the legitimacy of the policing unit of the USA government (Moore). Most of the
victims of police brutality in the United States are people of Hispanic or Black origin. Is there a
link between police brutality and the ethnicity of American Citizens? Two distinct approaches
have been used to explain the link between police brutality and racism, traditional perspectives
trace the causes of police brutality in the police institution while conflict viewpoint still claims
that police brutality is a true reflation of the racial discrimination evil within the society.
In most situations, cases of police violence end up not being reported. Much as the police
are supposed to maintain and uphold law and order in the society, some illegitimately use this

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power to undermine the rights and freedoms of the common citizen. The issue of police brutality
is not only an American story but also a global issue. It manifests in both physical attacks as well
as psychological tortures in the form of words (Alang et al.). The issue of police brutality hence
remains to be a great global concern as it has continuously ruined the relationship between the
citizens and the police forces and ultimately ruined peaceful coexistence among citizens in the
society. This essay aims to discuss the link between police brutality and racism and possible
ways to mitigate the issues.
The media has far and large covered the issue of police brutality. From the media, it is
evident that the police officers kill annually many civilians and a substantial amount of these
incidences put to light the issue of police brutality (Reynolds-Stenson). In most of these
incidences usually, it’s always between a white police officer and a black offender or persons
from marginalized communities such as the Hispanic or Indian-American people. From this, it is
evident that the marginalized groups in the society bare significant pain due to police brutality.
Scholars have argued out that police brutality is not linked to any mode of racial discrimination
in the world. However, police officers have repeatedly racially profiled most of its Afro-
American subjects (Body-Gendrot). From this, one cannot disregard the link between police
brutality and racial profiling. In the society, most marginalized sections are powerless people,
much as they have right; the police departments usually overlook some of these rights. Crazily
enough, these marginalized sections are the most oppressed by the police forces. For example,
the police officers without any investigations would term people from the marginalized sections
as criminals from their manner of dressing, communication or any activity in the society. Does it
mean the police will criminalize an American if he does the same act as the Hispanic or Black
American? Ethical profiling has undoubtedly led to discriminating against the rights of the

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minority citizens of the USA. People of African origin have been reportedly killed by police
officers for resembling past criminals. The same has not been reported for any whites for quite
some time. Are Afro-Americans born criminals?
Statistically, twenty-five percent of the assailants of police brutality is always Afro-
Americans. Besides, a larger percentage of the blacks meet their death in encounters with the
police officers. Arguably, unlike their white counterparts, most of the blacks at the point of death
are usually unarmed (Angus and Crichlow). Globally, the aspect of brutal police actions is not a
new thing. Nevertheless, the recent campaigns by the blacks themselves and some humanitarian
agents prove to the face of the world the unfairness depicted in the manner in which the police
handle the non-whites in the USA. As much as these protests are radical, very few officers are
held accountable for such evil deeds (Elazab). Discriminatory police brutality infringes the state
mandate of respecting and protecting the rights of the citizens, freedom from unbiased detention,
humiliating and inhuman treatment and equality before the law (Carr). The black origin plays a
vital role in how police officers handle the Black Americans. The issue even gets worse when
blacks are assigned police officers who have limited social contact with the. The police will use
past incidences rather than current facts to apply justice with a black citizen in the picture. These
police officers lack the prerequisite trainings on how to interact with marginalized communities.
With the prevalent stereotypes towards the marginalized communities in the American Society,
the fairness of the police forces when dealing with the Afro-American is always put to question.
Over the past years, police forces have always treated the whites as superior to the blacks. For
instance, the war against drug trafficking mainly concentrates on the minority groups; this
increases the discriminatory feeling and resentment towards the police forces.