Police brutality is the wanton use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer. Widespread police brutality exists in many countries, even those that prosecute it. It is one of several forms of police misconduct, which include: false arrest; intimidation; racial profiling; political repression; surveillance abuse; sexual abuse; and police corruption. However, as aforementioned, it may involve physical force but never reaching death under police custody.
Although illegal, it can be done under the color of law. Body Police officers are legally permitted to use force, and their superiors and the public expect them to do so. According to Jerome Herbert Skolnick, in dealing largely with disorderly elements of the society, some people working in law enforcement may gradually develop an attitude or sense of authority over society, particularly under traditional reaction-based policing models; in some cases the police believe that they are above the law. There are many reasons as to why police office are excessively aggressive to civilian.
It is thought that some personality traits make some officers more susceptible to the use of excessive force than others. In one study police psychologists were surveyed on officers who had used excessive force. The information obtained allowed the researchers to develop five unique types of officers, only one of which was similar to the bad apple stereotype. These include personality disorders, previous traumatic job-related experience, young inexperienced or macho officers; officers who learn inappropriate patrol styles, and officers with personal problems.
Schrivers categories group officer that most likely use excessive force. However, this "bad apple paradigm" is considered by some to be an "easy way out". A broad report commissioned by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on the causes of misconduct in policing calls it "a simplistic explanation that permits the organization and senior management to blame corruption on individuals and individual faults behavioral, psychological, background factors, and so on, rather than addressing systemic factors. ".
The report goes on to discuss the systemic factors, which include: Pressures to conform to certain aspects of "police culture", such as the Blue Code of Silence, which can "sustain an oppositional criminal subculture protecting the interests of police who violate the law “and a "'we-they' perspective in which outsiders are viewed with suspicion or distrust" Command and control structures with a rigid hierarchical foundation ("results indicate that the more rigid the hierarchy, the lower the scores on a measure of ethical decisionmaking" concludes one study reviewed in the report), and Deficiencies in internal accountability mechanisms (including internal investigation processes). Police use of force is kept in check in many jurisdictions by the issuance of a use of force continuum. A use of force continuum sets levels of force considered appropriate in direct response to a subject's behavior. This power is granted by the civil government, with limits set out in statutory law as well as common law. Violence used by police can be excessive despite being lawful, especially in the context of political repression.
Indeed "police brutality" is often used to refer to violence used by the police to achieve politically desirable ends and, therefore, when none should be used at all according to widely held values and cultural norms in the society (rather than to refer to excessive violence used where at least some may be considered justifiable). Conclusion Police brutality has unfortunately become too common in our societies every day life. The question remains, however, as to how much force is justified and in what situations. Certainly force is sometimes appropriate, that is why today's law enforcement carries batons and guns. A charge of brutality should not be taken in the terms of guilt.
Society wants police to go out and identify criminal activity and stop it, either before it occurs, or certainly after it occurs, and determine who the criminals are, who committed the particular crime, and put them in jail. The written rule is clear, police are to use no more force than is necessary to apprehend a suspect. The unwritten rule is "Teach them a lesson. Brutality is a conscious and heinous act committed by law enforcement who usually take great pains to disclose their misconduct. In an age notable for its high fear of crime, juries who understand that police face risky and protective work are unlikely to convict a police officer. Recommendation In society today, law enforcement agencies nation wide have come under heavy scrutiny when it comes to police brutality and excessive use of force issues. Stemming from violent encounters.
