Most of the police interactions citizens of the United States have tend to be polite and orderly with no serious problems. Many of the interactions I've had with police officers have never turned violent nor do I have any reason to believe they would. The unfortunate truth of the matter, though, is that police across this country have turned to violent actions when no violent action is ever necessary. According to Fox 31 in Denver a police deputy in Saratoga County, New York, has been suspended for threatening a man who declined to let the officer search his car. The threat is only the minor offense of the ordeal because the officer actually slapped the victim across the face after throwing his keys back to him as depicted in a video that caught the whole incident. Is the use of force in small encounters with police really all that new in the media over the past couple of years?
Well, not really.
In fact, police brutality in New York went viral when a twitter campaign labeled #myNYPD set fire to a national debate about the police state in the U.S. The New York Police Department set out to show the world what good their department has done for the city, but once the campaign started, twitter users took a different approach to the idea. Users posted pictures of brutality at Occupy Wall Street protests along with an 84-year-old man who was "bloodied" for jay walking,according to the New York Daily News. There were nearly 70,000 posts by twitter users with the hash tag #myNYPD when the campaign started back in April of 2014 and most of the posts were of police officers being corrupt in one form or another.
Images circulated the web of officers smashing people into sidewalks, hitting them or tackling them to the ground. The reminder of such brutality should be a wake up call to people who believe that there is little to no corruption with both state and local police officers. There has been so much unnecessary force from officers that people question their rights and abilities as American citizens to protect themselves from cruel punishments from cops.
Not to mention the now bubbling controversy of the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri as being another case that spark more protests from citizens in that city. The popular slogan "hands up don't shoot" has become a chant among local protesters of the state demanding conviction of involved officer Darren Wilson. Other incidents include the Habersham county raid of a house and officers throwing a flash bang into the crib of an infant, badly burning him. The no-knock raid was to infiltrate a meth dealer that had sold his product to an informant. According to ABC News a whole side of the baby's playpen was blown out.
Even more, back in New York, a man was choked to death by an officer for selling loose cigarettes in regard to CNN justice. I don't know if it's just me, but the idea of killing a man by choking him for selling loose cigarettes just sounds ridiculous, let alone optional for such a minimal crime. But the violence continues for those who break the law or have anything negative to say to police officers. The truth is that this violence is not going to go away by itself and not any time soon. I feel that it's necessary to record interactions with the police if you feel that the encounter is illegal on the officer's part in any way.
The best way to show the public that violence is still happening with police is to reveal their acts on a daily basis. States are now resorting to body cams for police officers so that anything they do is heavily monitored for official reports after any incidents. I think that is a highly efficient way to suppress the initial physical reaction from police officers and could definitely save the lives of innocent people who may otherwise see no justice due to insufficient evidence in the courtroom. We as citizens of the United States have rights that allow us the freedom we deserve, but we need to start flexing them properly in the face of harsh police brutality.
Well, not really.
In fact, police brutality in New York went viral when a twitter campaign labeled #myNYPD set fire to a national debate about the police state in the U.S. The New York Police Department set out to show the world what good their department has done for the city, but once the campaign started, twitter users took a different approach to the idea. Users posted pictures of brutality at Occupy Wall Street protests along with an 84-year-old man who was "bloodied" for jay walking,according to the New York Daily News. There were nearly 70,000 posts by twitter users with the hash tag #myNYPD when the campaign started back in April of 2014 and most of the posts were of police officers being corrupt in one form or another.
Images circulated the web of officers smashing people into sidewalks, hitting them or tackling them to the ground. The reminder of such brutality should be a wake up call to people who believe that there is little to no corruption with both state and local police officers. There has been so much unnecessary force from officers that people question their rights and abilities as American citizens to protect themselves from cruel punishments from cops.
Not to mention the now bubbling controversy of the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri as being another case that spark more protests from citizens in that city. The popular slogan "hands up don't shoot" has become a chant among local protesters of the state demanding conviction of involved officer Darren Wilson. Other incidents include the Habersham county raid of a house and officers throwing a flash bang into the crib of an infant, badly burning him. The no-knock raid was to infiltrate a meth dealer that had sold his product to an informant. According to ABC News a whole side of the baby's playpen was blown out.
Even more, back in New York, a man was choked to death by an officer for selling loose cigarettes in regard to CNN justice. I don't know if it's just me, but the idea of killing a man by choking him for selling loose cigarettes just sounds ridiculous, let alone optional for such a minimal crime. But the violence continues for those who break the law or have anything negative to say to police officers. The truth is that this violence is not going to go away by itself and not any time soon. I feel that it's necessary to record interactions with the police if you feel that the encounter is illegal on the officer's part in any way.
The best way to show the public that violence is still happening with police is to reveal their acts on a daily basis. States are now resorting to body cams for police officers so that anything they do is heavily monitored for official reports after any incidents. I think that is a highly efficient way to suppress the initial physical reaction from police officers and could definitely save the lives of innocent people who may otherwise see no justice due to insufficient evidence in the courtroom. We as citizens of the United States have rights that allow us the freedom we deserve, but we need to start flexing them properly in the face of harsh police brutality.