openwatch.net Open in urlscan Pro
158.69.202.213  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

Skip to the content


OPEN WATCH

Official Site

Show menu Hide menu






WELCOME TO OPENWATCH

January 15, 2016 / Edwin Washington / 0 Comments

Brutality as word itself has a number of meanings, but in this case, savage
cruelty would be the proper definition. It happens when the Police or other Law
enforcement officials would abuse their power and torture or physically assault
civilians.

The term in this context was used exclusively in 1633 for the first time. This
term has been in use for a long time. In 1872 ‘police brutality’ was used widely
in the American Press which was a famous newspaper at the time. Quite a few
cases were reported of police brutality where arrested civilians were
mercilessly beaten up by the officers of the Harrison Street police station,
this was just one such incident there are innumerable places and cases where
civilians and other people were beaten by patrolmen and officers with blackjacks
or nightsticks.

Welcome to OpenWatch.


WHAT IS POLICE BRUTALITY?

January 15, 2016 / Edwin Washington / 0 Comments

Brutality has gone hand in hand with incidents which included public outrages or
strikes held in factories or protest carried out by the common man one such
incident was the labor strike known as the Great Railroad strike which took
place in 1877, the 1912 Lawrence textile strike or the 1894 Pullman strike. This
also deals with the mentality of the common public and how the public and
civilian population perceives the police officials or those in the positions of
equivalent power. Some percentage of the civilian population may remark that the
police officials are nothing but oppressors. Also additionally, there lies a
strong perception that the victims of this police brutality are frequently
belonging to comparatively helpless crowds, like minorities, disabled people,
and also the poor.

A lot of minorities, including the African- American minorities in the United
States of America have shown disregard conducted protests in the light of recent
events pertaining to the killing and shootouts of African- American people. The
famous movement ‘Black lives matter’ shed a lot of light on the subject and
brought it forth to be discussed out in the open. Since the advent of social
media, the protests have created extensive awareness about police brutality,
racism and abuse of power by people who are in powerful positions towards
civilians, especially those in minorities.

But history has already witnessed police brutality and actions have been
previously taken on this front. For example, in 1991, police officers from the
Los Angeles Police Department severely beat up an African American man who was a
suspect, named Rodney King, and a white man had videotaped the entire incident.
This led to widespread media attention. Also, criminal charges were levied
against all the officers who were involved in the matter from the department. It
was april 1992 4 police officers were acquitted in the trial a few hours later
the riots started in Los Angeles. It caused a big loss in life and property a
total of 53 deaths and an injury count of around 2,383. A huge financial loss of
around 1 billion was recorded around 700 fires were seen and more than 3000
businesses were destroyed or damaged. 2 out of the 4 officers were found guilty
and were convicted of a prison sentence of 32 months. Lots of reformation has
taken place ever since that day but statistics from a survey conducted in 2011
showed that around 4800 people die due to police brutality.

It’s never a pretty sight to see 57.1% of the reported Law Enforcement
“homicide” were people of colour and as it stands the number itself is shocking.
There was a clear sign that there was a higher inclination of the police to show
brutality to people who were coloured this shows a very sorry condition for a
nation who is at the forefront of development.

In the United States alone, a number of major political and social reform
movements have involved the use of excessive force by the police officials,
including but not limited to – the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the
anti-war demonstrations, the the War on Drugs, and the Global War on Terrorism
(source: MaidMarines).

In 2014, the UN Committee against Torture condemned the excessive police
brutality and use of excessive force by law enforcement officials in the US, and
highlighted that there was distinct racial bias when it came to police
brutality, with African- Americans getting the short end of the stick. The UN
Committee against Torture remarked on the “frequent and recurrent police
shootings or fatal pursuits of unarmed black individuals.

A number of members of the United States military police were held responsible
for the Abu Ghraib torture and the various prisoner abuse incidents in Iraq as
well.

© 2024 Open Watch

Theme by Anders Norén — Up ↑