ART 3170 Civic Engagement: Social Issues "Action" Project: Samantha Enriquez Police Brutality & Harassment

Police Brutality / Harassment

Vice News, in an article posted on July 11, 2017, reported, "The study was authored by Roland Fryer, a professor of economics at Harvard University, and published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.The study found that, even when accounting for variables, such as where the interaction occurred (in a low crime or high crime area), the conclusions were largely the same: That police are 50 percent more likely to use force on blacks and Hispanics than they are on whites."

Two members of my community that I talked to, who are also members of my family, recalled some of the many experiences they had with police officers. Marcos Hernandez and Ricardo Enriquez are cousins who were both born in Los Angeles and raised in the South Central & Watts area of L.A. Ricardo Enriquez recalled times where police in the area would call him and his friends "dirty Mexicans", "beaners", and other demeaning things. He talked about how when he was growing up he experienced a lot of brutality and harassment from police, and he mentioned how when he was in jail that's is when officers were especially brutal. He talked about how they would just throw him and many others in the hole (solitary confinement) whenever they wanted to. Ricardo also talked about while he was in the hole white police officers would at times randomly come in to beat him then leave. As I was talking to them about their experiences with police, Marcos Hernandez stated, "The cops are suppose to 'protect and serve' their community, but that's all a lie, they pick who they want to protect and serve."

This is an important issue to me because throughout my life, there have been countless times where I seen cops really hurt and harass my family and others in my community which is mostly made up of black and Latino people. I remember when I was little, I was about 7 or 8 years old, when in the middle of the night I woke up to loud banging on the front door of my house. My parents were on their way to open the door as I followed behind my parents, while my siblings stayed sleeping. Police officers had broke the door to our house, and came into the house with guns aiming at my dad. In that moment was so confused and scared that my Dad would be killed. Another time I witnessed police brutality was when I seen cops take my uncle from our front yard and beat him. I again didn't know what was going on or why, but my cousins and I seen through the window as they began to hurt my uncle as he was sitting on the sidewalk. I chose to speak on this issue because it is something that has not only affected my family, members of my community, and me, but police brutality and harassment is something that has also affected the lives of many more around the country. Fortunately, none of these incidents that I have witnessed resulted in the death of a family member, but for many other people in L.A., this isn't the case. For example, according to the Los Angeles Times, in an article posted on August 27, 2017, "A report released Thursday by state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra marks the first time California has publicly released statewide statistics on police use of force.The report said there were 782 incidents in 2016 in which a police officer either used force that resulted in serious injury or death, or fired their weapon. And more than a quarter of those incidents happened in L.A. County, with the vast majority involving either the Los Angeles Police Department or the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. (The Long Beach Police Department was the only other agency in double digits: 21.)" Overall, people of all ages can experience or witness some form of harassment from the police. These types of experiences with law enforcement cause many people to develop a distrust and dislike for the police force.

Marcos Hernandez (38) & Ricardo Enriquez (39)

Alisha Jackson (60)

"They try to make us look like we're evil people
so they can make it look like it was ok for them to hurt us"
Jose Felix (21) w/ great-grandma Dolores Hernandez Diaz (88)