Robert Chavoya

Police Use of Excessive Force Against Minorities

Research:

            Excessive use of force refers to the exceeded and unnecessary amount of force used by a government official such as a police officer, to control an incident or protect themselves from any harm. Police use of force is one of the most controversial aspects of policing. It has become one of the most controversial topics in the past years, due to several fatal police actions that have occurred. For example, the deaths of Michael brown and Eric Garner. Police use of excessive force affects many communities, specifically, minority ones. 

            Neighborhood context influences the amount of force, that is exercised against minorities. Police officers are more likely to use excessive force, when encountering communities with concentrated disadvantage such as poverty, unemployment, and families who are headed by a female. Police officers learn to associate minorities as a social threat because of the high levels of crime and unemployment rate within their communities. Police officers also view minority communities as problematic, which causes them to use higher levels of force against them. They resort to force because they believe that those type of actions, are acceptable in an environment, where force is common. 

            Additionally, males, minority youthful, and lower income suspects, experience higher levels of force used against them. Minorities and groups of lower social economic status experience coercive control at higher rates, than white individuals and those of higher economic status. An individual’s race plays an important role in the use of force. Police officer take more powerful actions against Black and Mexican people because they view these groups as noncompliant, offensive, and threatening. These subgroups are not only viewed as a potential danger, but are stereotyped almost equally and experience discrimination when dealing with the law. 

What can be done to stop the use of force?

·      Change the way police officers interact with members of a community (Not every minority is a threat or suspect)
·      Police officers should treat each person as a human being and not as an animal (Minimize tension and gain their trust).
·      Implement policies on excessive use of force.
·      Provide better training/ Education

Personal Statement:

            Police use of force against minorities is an issue that I take very personal because I have seen it happen in my community multiple times, and experienced it myself. After being locked out of my car, I was approached by two officers who immediately placed their hands on their weapon and soon after patted me down. The officers did not even bother to ask me if I needed any help and instead, confronted me like if I was a criminal. I feel that actions like these, spark a lot of tension between people in the community and the police, which then lead to the use of force. 

            Additionally, this social issue is important to me because police use of excessive force has become a common occurrence in our society, even though an officer’s duty is to protect and serve a community. Furthermore, this issue affects me drastically because I am a criminal justice major and I am pursuing a career in law enforcement, specifically, becoming a Highway Patrol officer. As a future highway patrol officer, I do not want people to be afraid to approach me and ask for help. I personally feel that the incidents involving police officers and excessive use of force, has stigmatized them as “bad persons or corrupt.” Although I am still not an officer, I feel that this will be one of the toughest challenges that I face, in my future career as a highway patrol officer. 

Voices from the Community:

"I have never had a bad experience with police officers in my community. But I think that officers abuse their authority because they find it easy to get away with it. They are not supervised and at the end of the day, it is an officers word against the one of a minority."- Adrian Ruiz

"I think that media plays a big role in all of this. Minorities are often times portrayed as violent people, which can shape an officer’s perspective and make it likelier for them to use force against them." - Emily Garcia 

"I think that the use of force by police officers has a lot to do with how an individual acts. If a person is uncooperative and disobeys commands, things are always going to end up bad. It is easier to just cooperate and avoid getting hurt." - Patrick Cortinas  

References

Terrill, W., & Reisig, M. D. (2003). Neighborhood context and police use of force. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 40(3), 291-321. doi:10.1177/0022427803253800

Lawton, B. A. (2007). Levels of nonlethal force - an examination of individual, situational, and contextual factors. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 44(2), 163-184. doi:10.1177/0022427806297738

PAOLINE III, E., A., GAU, J. M., & TERRILL, W. (2018). Race and the police use of force encounter in the united states. British Journal of Criminology, 58(1), 54-74. doi:10.1093/bjc/azw089