The Use of Force in Today’s SocietyIntroduction
Law enforcement officers have continued to use force during their normal duties. The force is allowed under particular circumstances such as in defense or in self-defense of a group or another individual. Even though there is no collectively agreed-upon explanation for the application of force, it is apparent that the amount of effort that the police employ is likely to induce conformity to a subject who is unwilling. The individual agencies provide guidance that governs the amount of force that they are required to use. It is evident that the amount may depend on the force that is needed to mitigate the incident. This could also vary depending on the level of the force, either the physical or the verbal restraint or the amount needed to protect them from harm. The amount of force may be excessive and could be accorded to a specific community. For instance, the African American males are believed to be vulnerable to the excessive force, a situation that called for the formation of the Black Lives Matter Campaign. This research will analyze the on-going issues based on the use of force as well as the methods used by the campaign to address the problem.
Shootings
According to the recent events in newspapers, the police, sometimes, use force which is immense. The shootings of the unarmed African American males have filled the front covers of magazines, depicting that there is an issue of great concern within the killings. It is not clear whether the killings are biased or not. The truth of the matter is that nearly each week, the police kill many African American males compared to the other races. According to the Guardian, the police killed 1134 young black men in 2015. The figure, which was nine times higher than that of the white men, had been collected from the hands of law enforcement officers. Surprisingly, more deaths were evident on the black American males. It is apparent that 15% of all the deaths comprised the use of deadly force by the police. The police contribute to the greatest number of deaths. The ruling by the Guardian also balanced the death rate of the African American men with that of the official government. The finding pointed that, in every 65 deaths of the young African American males, one of them results from a killing by the police. The death was believed to rise from the use of force by the police, a situation that proved to be an epidemic. A member and activist of the White House taskforce, Brittany Packett affirmed that the U.S was losing huge numbers of promising young lives from the use of force by the police.
The police use of force is growing out of measure. Shootings by the African American males are evident in many parts of the U.S. Packett noted that a police in Ohio was cleared of shooting a 12-year old African American boy. Tamir Rice, who died from the shooting, was carrying a toy gun. Packett affirmed that the police lacked deterrence to the excessive use of force. It is not possible for a young boy as Rice to carry a real gun. The police should not have killed the little boy. Instead, they should have investigated the “gun” before shooting him to death. The excessive use of force by the police puts the life of the young African American males at the risk of death. Later after the incident, protests accused the police of using lethal force against the unarmed African Americans. Generally, the year 2015 had twice as many killings of the black males compared to the number of deaths by the white. In all these deaths, 25% of the African Americans were unarmed, meaning that the police should not have killed them. If people have guns, just like the police, then, there is the possibility that they may retaliate and harm the police. In the case where the individuals are unarmed, the police have no reason to use excessive force. They should tackle the matter without killing someone.
Brutality
There are different ways in which the police can use to punish law offenders. However, the mode of punishment should be uniform to allow the criminals to remorse their misdeeds. In the case where only a certain race (the black American males) is punished is difficult to bear. Punishment should be aimed at providing an equal amount of agony to the law offenders. The police, in most cases, use the most effective way to punish criminals. Even though they do not provide them with sufficient time to repent, it is clear that the punishment should be able to remorse their misdeeds. The use of force by the law enforcement officers deprives the human rights of the offenders. In the case where the police beat the criminals mercilessly, causing injuries or death reflects the aspect of brutality. Police brutality does not meet the fundamental purpose of punishment, a situation that is likely to deprive human rights on the accused or the offender.
The use of force that involves brutality may even affect the mental or physical health of the offender. The above-mentioned research proved that the African American males were greatly killed by the police. In the same manner, punishment may not meet its purpose if the execution or torture does not retain its purpose. Punishments such as execution and torture are common among the African American males. The modes of punishment satire the victim to continue with the crimes since the punishment is unneeded and exorbitant. A study noted that the black population in the U.S was highly victimized by the police. The study also reflected the disproportionate effects of police wrong-doing and procedures on the black citizens. It was pointed that the black Americans had diverse injuries while the white citizens lacked the little scars. In this, the blacks were beaten, despite experiencing unparalleled experiences which were neither detained nor watched.
Police brutality is an issue that is difficult to tolerate. In the case where a little boy was killed for holding a toy gun is unreasonable. Did the police think that the boy would kill them? Why did they kill the innocent child who was only holding a toy? Is it bad to play with toy guns? These and many other questions are likely to fill the minds of many human rights activists. It is clear that the police are against the black Americans; thus the reason why they are ready to shoot at them. The African American males are aware of the police procedures. The police use every opportunity to kill them. The disrespectful and unfair treatment accumulates their negative perceptions of the white police. These experiences, finally, grow into group recollections and individual memories, which also result into family stories.
Captivity
Studies have depicted that the black lives in the U.S are in captivity due to the issues brought about by the racist police officers. The Black Lives Matter Campaign is a movement that rescues the African American males from the hands of the cruel law enforcement officers. The campaign began as a fierce rebellion which spread the entire country. Democrats or the police officers have not been able to stop the movement. It is confounded on the news media and the politicians. The movement uses old scripts to fight for the rights of the black youth. The campaign disrupts businesses and even shuts down the major tunnels and bridges to obtain power, or in the case where a black American looses life through unreasonable grounds.
The African Americans have been held in captivity for many years. The police use their powers to diminish the powerless races. Many of the black citizens are taken to the prisons and held for many years before they are traced by their relatives. The police believe that the blacks encompass the suspect characteristics. In this, they use demographics such as ethnicity, age, and gender to put them to prisons their social class and the use of drugs also varies depending on their level of contemporary living. These factors are viewed by the police to be variables of interest. Besides, the police use excessive force on these citizens through the notion that they are dangerous and could have smuggled drugs into the country.
The Dissent Magazine notes some of the methods which the Black Lives Matter Campaign is using to win the politicians and those against its progress. The campaign holds the principle information from the law enforcement officers whenever a black American man dies as a result of police shooting. For instance, the organizers of the campaign demanded investigation and information following the death of the 24-year old Jamar Clark, who was unarmed. The organizers asked the names of the police officers who had been involved in the incident. The campaign had the video of the shooting, which it obtained from the federal investigation. The release of the officer’s names enabled the organizers to begin an independent federal investigation.
The work of the campaign is lessened by the issue of publicizing incidents. Its successful entry into the public has enabled its activities to gain consciousness. The public also helps the movement to reach its ultimate goals. Even though the campaign, at times, faces budgetary increases or decreases, it is clear that all these challenges are minute to change the way of its operations. The black lives matter releases individuals from police violence, saving thousands of lives from captivity. The campaign uses a primary demand role which is moral and targets the black communities. The issue causes a dramatic shift in public and the political climate. In the cases where the political regime supports its operations, the victims of offense gain their rights within a short period. The events in the Ferguson led the Americans to believe that more changes would be evident to the American society. In this, people believed that the blacks and the whites would have equal rights. During this period, the Washington Post found that 60% of the Americans thought the country needed to address issues of racial inequality. Presently, 53% of the whites think that massive changes have been obtained. The truth is that these changes have not been achieved. However, this has been the reason the campaign is strict on the police for holding the black citizens in prison. The issue is that some of these blacks are held in prisons without substantial grounds, a condition that called for action from the Black Lives Matter Campaign.
Conclusion
The use of force by the police is one of the most striking operations that have been evident in the 21st century. However, the issue is caused by racial differences, whereby the black citizens undergo shootings, brutality, and captivity from the white law enforcement officers. The aforementioned cases depict that the police use much force to kill or even demoralize the black citizens. They also use other punishment methods such as imprisonment to keep the African-American men in prisons. The formation of the Black Lives Matter Campaign sought to hold equal measures for both the white and black populations. The campaign uses fierce methods such as following the officers behind the killings and dealing with them until they obtain justice to the injured or dead black Americans.
