POLICE BRUTALITY
It seems like over the years, nothing has improved in the U.S. when it comes down to police misconduct. If anything, as the years go on, the misconduct seems to get worse. There are several situations where the violence deemed by officers was unnecessary and could have easily been handled in a less brutal way. This issue seems to not be mentioned as much as it should because a lot of the time, actions from higher authority seem to be brushed under the rug. Police brutality needs to be broadcast-ed more often around the world, so we can put an end to it indefinitely.

Police brutality means undue violence by members of the police force. With this knowledge, it becomes more of an eye opener that a lot of these encounters should’ve never been cases. So when they are brought to attention, it should make one’s blood boil, knowing one day it could be one of their own loved ones being aggressively mistreated for doing an everyday activity. For example, an innocent young man by the name of Stephon Clark lost his life in his own backyard. Police got a call about a suspicious man wearing a black hoodie attempting to break into houses. When police responded to the call, they came across Clark and fatally shot him 20 times. It wasn’t until after it was too late, that it was determined Clark was simply an innocent resident holding a cell phone. There are a number of cases with seemingly innocent young men fatally shot and many of them are overseen by other events going on in the world; however, it does not mean this shouldn’t be equally as important.

Officers often don’t get held accountable for their actions when it comes to misconduct. The reasoning behind this is because majority of the time, it’s the higher authorities’ word over just another civilian. Recently, the Georgia Police Department defends the use of a Taser on an 87-year old woman who was using her knife to cut some weeds. But, this day she overstepped her property line into the Boys and Girls Club property. One of the employees reported her for trespassing and the police arrived. The woman spoke very little English so when told to drop the knife by police, she couldn’t comprehend, and they suspected her as a threat by firing a taser. However, not only did this case not make it to media attention but, the officer was acquitted.

The widespread violence caused by police in the past has not improved but has become more televised within recent years. Police misconduct has been going on for decades. One would assume that occurrences like these would diminish or at least improve, but it is quite obvious that they have not. If anything, the media now sheds more light on the subject, appearing as if the events have worsened over time. Occurrences of police brutality may not have increased in number; however, the technology era has made these events more evident and sparked up more debates in today’s society. Shoot first ask questions later mentality needs to come to an end as the dead can’t speak for themselves. Whatever happened to “innocent until proven guilty”?

Companion Narrative
In writing my essay on police brutality, I made it clear that I completely disagree with the way officers treat civilians. I wrote on such a bold topic to emphasize that many things are happening in the world that a lot of us have our backs to. I had to make my audience aware that there’s been too many of these cases for us to keep bypassing them. It’s been time for a change, but no one is going to fight for one without being informed. My essay included quite a bit of rhetorical devices to help conduct a strong stand for my topic. By describing prior situations, it becomes more of an eye opener that people are being mistreated and things need to be done about it.
In my essay, I touched on a little bit of pathos for my readers to relate more to the topic. Pathos is a strong device to use because it forces the reader to have an emotional tie on the subject in some way. This is the reasoning behind mentioning one of the more recent cases involving Stephon Clark. I told my audience to picture one of their loved ones in the same position Clark was in. This leaves the reader to have a stronger connection with the impression that police brutality needs to be stopped.
The visuals I included in my essay help demonstrate various hidden details. The picture attached to the Clark case, demonstrates that people are not afraid to have their voices heard, and neither should my readers. Protests are a way of individuals standing up for what they believe in to ensure they have the attention of others. This causes numerous people to jump on board and join the movement as well. The more voices heard standing against police brutality, the more hope there is that change will eventually come.
Also, the graphs involved in my essay display shocking data people would never encounter on their own. One of the graphs in my essay exhibit how bad police misconduct is in the U.S. itself, compared to surrounding countries. The graph leaves the assumption that the U.S. isn’t a safe atmosphere to grow up nor raise a family in. The other graph shows a timeline of the abuse over the years and how it has yet to improved. These statistics are important in proving to my audience that we’ve taken more than enough and the time for change is now.
Defining what police brutality is, helps emphasize that it was never ethical, and never will be, as long as it exists. By repeating the phrase “police brutality” throughout my essay, it helps both me and my readers not stray away from the main idea. The use of parallelism helps burn the idea into my readers’ brains that something needs to be done soon. Not only should my essay bring this situation to light, but also affect what we choose to do about it.
Works Cited
Hauser, Christine. “Georgia Police Dept. Defends Use of Taser on 87-Year-Old Woman.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Aug. 2018.
Crites , Alice, and Steven Rich. “54 Police Officers Have Faced Criminal Charges for Fatally Shooting Someone While on Duty in the Past Decade.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 11 Apr. 2015.
Parvini, Sarah. “Sacramento Police Fired 20 Times at Unarmed Man Who Was Shot and Killed in His Backyard.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2018.
Donahue, JIm. “The Jerks in Sacramento Can …” CopBlue, 12 Apr. 2018.
N.P. “Why Do American Cops Kill So Many Compared to European Cops?” SciTech Connect, 9 Dec. 2015.
“Statistics.” Stop Police Brutality: No One Is Above the Law.
Pilt, Peter. “I Can’t Breathe: Powerful Images Surrounding the Eric Garner Murder and Subsequent Protests.” Peterpilt, 6 Dec. 2014.