Hill

Jhaleel Hill
Professor Srmabekian
English 114 B
11 May 2015
Police Brutality

Police brutality in todays society is more prevalent and creates a social and

political oppression on the working class minorities. Delving into the social
injustices, it seems as if it only affects certain races and social classes, which are
specifically the proletariats or the working class. Karl Marx and Ethan Engel, in 1848
published the Communist Manifesto where they provide a fundamental account of
radical economic and social criticism of capitalism while deconstructing the
oppression of the working class. Police brutality is highly correlated to the creation
of a society that is built on a class system, which keeps certain minorities oppressed.
In addition, there is Michel Focaults ideology of panopticism, which states that a
civilian is constantly being watched by an authority figure. Panopticism is used in
our cities by our police forces when they patrol the cities and use surveillance
cameras in an attempt to capture illicit activities and/or crimes. Moreover, the
police department, whose purpose is to protect and to serve the community, is
many times involved in crimes committed to the people they are supposed to serve
and protect. In accordance with our judicial system, people are innocent until
proven guilty. When police arrest those who have committed a crime, by law the
alleged criminals still deserve their due process in court, but this is not always the
case. According to the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division,

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nearly 90% of documented force used by the Ferguson Police Department officers
was used against African Americans(5). As a result, African Americans who have
been arrested by police turned out to be the victims of police brutality. As a matter
of fact, these injustices go unnoticed and/or are not given the attention it deserves
because the criminal becomes scrutinized for his/her own poor choices and run-ins
with the law so the excessive force used by police is excused because after all the
police is just trying to do its job. Some court cases side with the corrupt actions
from policemen instead of protecting the basic natural human rights of the so-called,
criminal. This is embedded in our society as it continues to hunt predominantly the
African American and Latino communities. Because more and more people have
been victimized, citizens are protesting by the masses and demand that police
brutality stops and that their rights be respected. In dealing with these issues, the
campaign, Black Lives Matter has been propelled in order to save lives and to unite
against this brutality but not much has changed.

The social injustices that some policemen create in a society are seen when

victims are labeled as criminals based-on the color of their skin, sex orientation,
and/or class system. Many times policemen do not prey upon the upper class,
Caucasians or females. They are mainly concerned with those who fall between the
lines of a working class, minority of Latino or African American descend, and most
likely males. Furthermore, the image of a male minority, blue-collar worker, is
labeled as a potential threat or criminal who is severely beaten over petty crimes. In
addition, some cases of police brutality are based only on the cops intolerance or

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prejudice beliefs. Many act on the assumption that the so-called thug has a weapon
and they fear for their lives while they were attempting to arrest him so the
policemen acts on self-defense when he shoots to kill. Such was the case of Timothy
Thomas, a young African American male killed by a Cincinnati police officer, who
followed the young man down a dark alley and opened fire because he thought
Thomas had a gun

when

Officer Roach opened fire and shot Thomas

in the heart with a single bullet. There was no gun ever found on Thomas (Criminal
Justice Degrees Guide 1). This particular case only supports the idea that there is
racism and stereotypes that lead to these uncalled beatings and killings. The most
recent case of police brutality that has been highly publicized happened on April 19,
2015 when 25 year-old Freddie Gay, an African American male from Baltimore, died
from Spinal injuries (Graham 1). Both African American males were killed for
preposterous reasons and neither one deserved to die, neither one of their families
deserved to lose them.

Although policemen are responsible for many deaths, there is blood on the

hands of the government and the judicial system as well. As they are just as
responsible for allowing the killings to keep occurring and not putting effective
regulation to cease police brutality in America. An internal investigation of the
Ferguson Police Department found that:

The municipal court practices likewise cause disproportionate burden on African

Americans. African Americans are 68% less likely to have their cases dismissed by the court,

and are more likely to have their cases last longer, 50% of their cases lead to an arrest

warrant and accounted for 92% of cases in which in which an arrest warrant was issued by t

he Ferguson Municipal Court in 2013 (U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division 5)

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Moreover, police brutality and imprisonment have been ongoing for years and is
harder amongst the working class. In 1968 in a case study by The Detroit Riot; A
Profile of 500 Prisoners, where 500 African American prisoners, were interviewed,
these believed that poor housing, lack of job opportunities, and discrimination also
had contributed to the conflict. (U.S. Dept. of Labor, Man Power Administration 1).
This being said, the government needs to change into a system that provides more
help for the minorities and working class community. The need for more social
services for people in need would change also the petty crimes they are charged
with in their need to survive.

In order to prevent police brutality and stop the oppression that it brings

socially and politically, there has to be equality and reform. The disparity of wealth
in a society only creates the ongoing crimes of both the victims and policemen. In
order to prevent police brutality, there has to be equal treatment amongst all
people: races, class, and gender. Therefore, society needs a universe that follows the
ideology of Marxism, to break the establishment of the class systems and power
relations. In order, to prevent police brutality there will be an organization funded
by tax money to provide care for all races, classes, and gender. This group will be
called Helping Hands, and will be a range of different types of races, class, and
gender to break discrimination. Moreover, they will provide money and health for
all families in need and are permitted to watch the police force tasks at all times.
These assistive helpers are trained in hand to hand combat and will do their best to
protect all people from corrupt systems of government or any injustices.

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These Helping Hands can be found in the Universe of Mellifluous, a universe

that does not allow the law enforcers to harm any more minorities and the working
class. Furthermore, this universe has a justice system that will not allow for any
violence, as it will have a jury of different races, gender, and class. In addition, police
forces will have to go through extensive testing, educational programs to learn to
deal with people suffering from mental illnesses and will have to be subjected to
background checks. Policemen will also benefit from having stress management
classes. Any law enforcer should not be allowed to work more than 25 hours per
week patrolling the streets. If a policeman is found guilty of any unnecessary
violence towards any member of the community they will have to answer to the
court of law and will be dismissed from his duties as an officer. All police would be
carrying hats that have cameras; these recordings will allow them to have the
transparency to carry out their work in order to protect themselves from any
complaints from unruly citizens. In this scenario, the policemen will know he is
constantly being watched in case he happens to act out and become aggressive with
the victim or vice versa. The government organization, Helping Hands will be
wearing the same hats with cameras to follow up on the police force tasks, creating
a panoptic view on the policemen. Moreover, policemen will be held accountable to
certain morals standards and will be asked to abide by the same standards as any
other citizen. In this Mellifluous Universe, the policemen will make himself present
in the community as an integral part of it not as an outsider or a superior being.

Even though some people argue that policemen need to enforce the law by

using considerable force, in order to protect themselves and the community they

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serve because if they do not, they would be easy targets for the criminals. Moreover,
some believe that there seems to be this on-going tension among minority groups
against authority. However, police brutality is rooted on the biases of their own
prejudices and how they view other people. Racial profiling and prejudices do not
and cannot be allowed to dictate how the law is served. Most importantly, all human
beings deserve to live a life where they do not lack their basic needs, the right to
education, health, shelter, and food. In this Mellifluous Universe we would practice a
socialist approach to bringing equality in order to rid of the disparity of socio-
economic gaps.

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Work Cited
Graham, David A. "The Mysterious Death of Freddie Gray." The Atlantic. Atlantic

Media Company, 22 Apr. 2015. Web. 10 May 2015.

Investigation of the Ferguson Police Department. Washington, D.C.: U. S. Dept. of

Justice, Civil Rights Division, Coordination and Review Section, 2015. Print.

The Detroit Riot: A Profile of 500 Prisoners. Washington DC.: U. S. Dept. of Labor,

Manpower Administration. Dept. of Labor, 1968. Print.

10 Worst Cases of Police Brutality in History. Criminal Justice Degrees Guide. N. p.,

Apr. 2012. Web. 7 May 2015.

Workneh, Lilly. "May Day Rallies Address Police Brutality, Race In Cities

Nationwide." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 1 May 2015. Web.

10 May 2015.