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Christian Reynolds
Mrs. DeBock
English 4 Honors
26 February 2016
A Rise in Police Brutality
The everyday life of police officers are more stressful than most imagine. They are faced
with intense situations that lead to split-second decisions. The officer is expected to make a
judgement call and sometimes have to use force to detain a suspect. But where is the line drawn
at what is considered excessive force? With police brutality rates increasing, the population has
lost its trust in law enforcement, hindering its ability to fully protect the population.
The use of excessive force in law enforcement has impacted the nation, but it has
especially impacted police officers. The job of a police officer is to protect and serve the people
in their community. The article Counterpoint: Accusations of Police Brutality should be
Addressed in a Prompt and Thorough Manner states that police brutality should be dealt with
immediately to not only protect the community, but to ensure respect and cooperation between
citizens and officers (1). An officers actions not only affect him or her, they reflect on the
entire police force. So when one officer abuses their power, especially through brutality or
excessive force, it builds a distrust in the hearts of citizens. This ultimately makes it harder on the
honest men and women in the police force who are trying to help the community, because
citizens refuse to cooperate out of spite or fear. According to DiLascio, times come up in an
officers career that ultimately come down to split second decisions. The officer may have to do
what they believe is necessary to protect themselves and the innocent civilians around them. But
when an action is questioned as excessive force, it should be investigated and dealt with

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immediately, to protect the community from abusive officers, and to uphold the respect and
confidence for the good officers out there (DiLascio 1).
On the other hand, not all excessive force cases should be as hyped up as they are.
According to Auerbach, Police brutality has been sensationalized in the media and by civil
rights activists. Incomplete videos of alleged incidents contribute to this mentality, as such
videos and allegations suggest that police brutality is much more common than it truly is. In
reality, the police are often thrown into challenging situations that require quick, life-or-death
decisions. They should not be taken to task when they are forced to subdue a dangerous
individual (1). While police brutality is a serious matter and should be dealt with, it is not as
common as most believe. In an officers career in law enforcement, they are faced with many
stressful situations, that lead to split second decisions. These decisions are not made to cause
harm or abuse their power, they are made to protect the innocent bystanders around them. This
does not excuse the fact that excessive force is used in some cases, but can officers really be
condemned and criticized for taking down a suspect to protect the people around them? Police
are also affected by police brutality. According to the article Point: Police Brutality is OverSensationalized, cases of police brutality hurt the officers as much as the community. Usually
when being charged with using excessive force, the officer is put on leave. This leaves the
community with one less officer to stop crime, which can make all the difference (1). The article
goes on to list some examples of brutality cases which left the community without officers. Such
as in Pittsburgh in 2008, an officers gun discharged while he was subduing the suspect. The
officer was put on leave while the court case went on, and was found innocent after a year long
case (Auerbach 1). This goes to show just how long these cases leave the community with one
less guard. Think of all the crime that officer could have stopped or prevented in that year that he

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was waiting to be found innocent. Ultimately these cases are only hurting the community and
the officers by jumping to the conclusion that it is brutality without all the facts.
Either way, everyone can agree that excessive force needs to be prevented. The article
Counterpoint: Accusations of Police Brutality Should be Addressed in a Prompt and Thorough
Manner gives the idea of safety checks (1). The author states that if policemen and women were
subjected to reviews of their actions in stressful situations, maybe they would think more about
what would be a better way to handle the situation next time (DiLascio 1). The reason this has
not been done is because officials are afraid that if they subject their officers to safety checks, it
will make them hesitate on the job, and hesitation can get people killed. The article Video
Cameras Curtail Police Brutality talks about how we should use cameras in public precincts and
on officers or in the police cars. If we used cameras to monitor what went on, officers would be
more cautious about what they do or how they treat the suspects, which could potentially lower
the rates of the use of excessive force (Emery 1). Additionally, the article goes on to talk about
how the cameras would not invade the officers privacy. The cameras would only be placed in
areas of the precinct that everyone has access to. As for police cars, it comes down to the
question, does an officers privacy outweigh the value of taping all confrontations on the street
and inside the police car? (Emery 1). Finally, officials acting immediately to stop the brutality
would do a lot of good for the community. The article Counterpoint: Accusations of Police
Brutality Should be Addressed in a Prompt & Thorough Manner. talks about when an officer is
accused of brutality, the community would feel safer if government officials would speak out
about the issue and take care of it immediately. While this does not necessarily prevent police
brutality, it makes sure that respect for the rest of the police force is upheld and there are not any
riots or protests (DiLascio 1).

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With police brutality rates increasing, the population has lost its trust in law enforcement,
hindering their ability to fully protect the population. Overall this not only affects the community
that it happens in, but also the police force itself. Police brutality makes the entire Police Force
look bad, but also makes it harder on the officers to do their job and protect the community.
While it is a very serious problem and needs to be dealt with, people need to understand and
relate with the officers and what situations that lead to the force they use.

Work Cited

Auerbach, Michael. "Point: Police Brutality Is Over-Sensationalized." Points of View

Reference Center. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.

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DiLascio, Tracey. "Counterpoint: Accusations of Police Brutality Should Be Addressed in a

Prompt & Thorough Manner." Points of View Reference Center. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.

Emery, Richard D. "Video Cameras Curtail Police Brutality." Police Brutality. Ed. Louise I.
Gerdes. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004. Current Controversies. Opposing Viewpoints
in Context. Web. 3 Mar. 2016.

Walter, Andrew. "Police Brutality: An Overview." Points of View Reference Center. Web. 26
Feb. 2016.