Kevin Fauntleroy

2/18/15
UWRT 1102-029
Professor Connie Douglas

Dear Connie Douglas,

I am looking into the issue of police brutality today since it has been such a
constant thing. We live in America, the land of the free, the home of the brave but
now its like the land of the scared and the home of the hunted. Because there have
been several recent, repetitive and gruesome incidents of police brutality in the
recent years, the federal government should step in to address the problem and
police commissioners should reanalyze their police officers on duty and the training
they are required to take. All aspects will be discussed and analyzed to discover the
reasoning behind the madness and what can be the possible solutions.
So to begin with addressing my line of inquiry, I will start off saying that
police brutality is wrong. As youve seen on TV, in the newspapers, and maybe even
firsthand, police brutality is becoming a major and growing problem. It has all been
cops killing innocent children (or weapon free), taking excessive force against
innocent bystanders, or automatically targeting specific persons due to their skin
color. Since this is a national issue, there are many different voices involved: the
voices of society, the police, the government, and the law. Society voices that the
police are horrible, are not here to defend them but to attack them as police see it
as them doing their job and they are to take certain routes of action due to the
circumstances. While you have these two completely distinct and opposite voice
battling head-to-head, you have the government on the outskirts looking in, not
really doing anything. The government is just playing in assistance whenever the
police or President call in for them. Last you have the law of the land acting as the
median of the two. In order to know the truth of whether side is right or wrong in
their allegations and actions, the law and its context must be analyzed down to the
fine print.
Why do we have police brutality going on? What is causing this to happen?
And why is the becoming a part of everyday life? These questions need to be
answered. And the ultimate question I want to be answered is How can we put an
end to police brutality? Coming out of this class and completing all my research, I
want to know everything about police brutality; the statistics, when and where it
originated, and the degree to which it has intensified to this very day. The human
element in this line of inquiry is the police and society in this constant battle. It is
primarily a human element because the main component that is causing this issue
is the exerted violence and completely unnecessary actions that are being taken by
police when handling violent and some peaceful situations.
The government would benefit most from this research and the ones who will
care are the people. We live in such a diverse, morally right country that we should

all be able to come together and put an end to whatever and whomever is harming
our citizens. The media has been getting involved and has been exploiting all the
wrongdoings of the police but since we have biased news channels, the legal
proof/evidence from a police report or scene and different opinions from politicians
in opposing parties, its hard for people just to ultimately say whether or not the
situation and actions are justified or not.
I know that police brutality is wrong and immoral. There have been several
acts of police brutality AND fatality. For some examples, the killing of Mike Brown,
the riots in Ferguson, Missouri, the killing of Rashad McIntosh and many other
teenagers. Yes, I do feel I have a bias there but I do know its a justified bias. You
can see in the news and firsthand when dealing with a cop that many are more
prejudice and leaning toward the people of the same skin color that I am. Even
personally seeing how police handled happy (but impatient) bystanders who wanted
to see Obamas inauguration, I knew something was a little uneasy about their
mannerisms and tone when speaking to the public. I want to get down to the very
beginning with my research, when police brutality all started and see how it
expanded to all over the U.S. I also want to find ways in which it can be suppressed,
and eventually obliterated completely.
There are many claims to police brutality on both ends of the spectrum. The
police saying that the incident was a justified killing or defense and thats how they
are trained and the people saying the victim was innocent and the police had no
right to do what they did. Claims are being thrown left and right but it is up to us,
society, to put all the pieces together of these heinous acts of justice and bring
the truth to light. The voices of the law, the police, the government, and society is
involved but we have the biggest voice of them all. We need to use it to make this
world a better place, bring peace amongst all, and make all the bad cops fall.
Sincerely,

Kevin Fauntleroy