Introduction
In the history of the United States, the incidence of police brutality is prevalent across the nation. In the 20th and 21st centuries, all Americans were subjected to police brutality in that poor and working-class people expressed their feelings over the discriminatory practices of the police (Chaney and Robertson 493). Some researchers justify the excessive use of force by the police as a measure to curb the incidence of crimes in the area. The federal law does not recognize police brutality for the reason that it is illegal to use excessive force against civilians. At many times, police brutality ranges from assault to torture and even murder. Some broader definitions of police brutality include cordless for instance beatings, harassment, false arrest, verbal abuse, intimidation among others. In this paper, the focus is to discuss in detail the history of police brutality and demonstrate how it affected minorities through the years.
Using Force to Curb Crimes
Throughout history, police have been using force to curb crimes and violence in various cities in the US. During the 1700s, cities experienced an increase in population, something that created social disorder and unrest (Potter n.p). The source of social tension varied across regions during this colonial era and the introduction of ethnic and racial groups was seen as the major source of discord. Since all the American groups could not cope with the changes, a more formalized means of policing began to take control. Most of the policing that took shape during the colonial period focused on the northern regions while neglecting events in the southern region. Slave patrols emerged in the southern region of the US; this was created to control the slave population. As with time, other issues came up including creating police departments. There were debates about police officers being armed and the extent of physical force they should use.
The police felt that wearing of uniforms could make them targets of mockery due to the level of violence that was occurring at the time. Despite their disagreement, they were required to wear uniforms. On the same hand, as from 1800, policing was entrenched in the local politics, and police were required to provide tasks such as health, law enforcement, and social welfare to the citizens (Potter n.p). Violence was also justified in instances where the police felt that they were disrespected by the citizens. The citizens complained about the violence held by the police, but the local courts and police departments would side with police officers. In the 20th and 21st centuries, police have crashed with the public due to social disorder (Chaney and Robertson 493). According to research done by Chaney and Robertson, some incidences such as race and disrespect result in police brutality (495). Some visual news media show the level of violence between the police and the public and it is shocking.
Affecting Minorities
Police brutality affected minorities through years in different ways. For many years, the police have been held accountable for their actions including shooting unarmed African American men and women (Edward et al. n.p). Blacks are three times more likely to be killed than whites. In a study by Kposowa and Nicole, 30 percent of black victims who were killed in 2015 were unarmed (1). Similar research shows that minorities are affected by factors, particularly racism where blacks experience severe consequences because of being black in the United States (Kposowa and Nicole 2). Black lives are always under threat as they are discriminated against and driven to injustices such as verbal abuse. The police use excessive force and battery during this time without being held accountable by the law. Even though the officer is supposed to protect the lives of the citizens, the US police use excessive force, which harms and causes even more violence to the innocent minority groups. The minority groups fear the police because they fear harassment for the fact that the basis of stops is based on race.
Delgado reports that racial disparities and discriminatory policing practices have been targeting minority groups throughout the years (3). The minority groups result in unequal access to justice and overrepresentation in the criminal justice; this amount of structure discrimination permeates into the pattern of law enforcement, something that interferes with the universal human rights act due to torture, cruel, and inhumane treatment of the people. The inter-American Commission has a record of hearings, which justify how the minority are affected by policing and use of force over the past five years. Police brutality makes the minority groups feel powerless as well as other broader implications such as negative health impacts, the limited physical movement to mention but a few (Edward et al. n.p). In other words, police brutality in the US is a serious public health issue for a reason that there is profound harm that is caused by the use of excessive force.
Conclusion
In conclusion, police brutality has been in existence since the colonial era and it emerged to respond to disrespect of the police as well as serious crimes. However, due to the emergence of slaves in the US, the police continued to use excessive force; this has negative experiences with the minority. Police brutality has impacted the well-being and health of the minority groups in the US over the years.
