Police Brutality and Racism

Many of the stories that are portrayed by the media of police brutality are of minorities. It leads people to think that the police brutality happens often and only to minorities. We all know the story of Rodney King and when the officers were acquitted for their acts that caused the big LA riots. Another case a 22 year old unarmed immigrant from Guinea, Armadou Diallo was shot 41 times by New York police officers. The only thing he had on him was his wallet which the police thought was a weapon. Two of the four officers emptied their weapons on him which was not necessary. The police role is to protect the people and do it in a manner that is fair to everyone.

According to an article from Socialism Today, “Police brutality is an everyday occurrence in cities especially where large communities of colour are concerned. Black, Latino and Asian youth are harassed, assaulted and killed on a daily basis.” In New York the immigrants and young teens are an easy target to assume that they are involved in illegal activity and it gives the chance to the officers who feel that they can terrorize anyone that they want to without anything happening to them. This is not to say that In New York all the officers are into using excessive force, but it is more likely for them to target the minorities according to the article. http://www.socialismtoday.org/38/nypd38.html.

What is shown on the television leads me to believe that when brutality happens it is against mostly minorities. There are those other cases when it is a homeless person or a young teenager. The most infamous stories of police brutality are of minorities. In order to try and get away from the racism some say that more minority officer’s need to be hired. To have a more diverse police department can show that no one is being left out and they are trying to make a stronger department. This is just a little taste of how the public views police brutality and the type of people that are targeted.