Police brutality
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.[1] 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.
History
The word "brutality" has several meanings; the sense used here (savage cruelty) was first used in 1633.[2] The first known use of the term "police brutality" was in the New York Times in 1893,[3] describing a police officer's beating of a civilian.
The origin of modern policing based on the authority of the nation state is commonly traced back to developments in seventeenth and eighteenth century France, with modern police departments being established in most nations by the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Cases of police brutality appear to have been frequent then, with "the routine bludgeoning of citizens by patrolmen armed with nightsticks or blackjacks."[4] Large-scale incidents of brutality were associated with labor strikes, such as the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, the Pullman Strike of 1894, the Lawrence textile strike of 1912, the Ludlow massacre of 1914, the Steel strike of 1919, and the Hanapepe massacre of 1924.
Portions of the population may perceive the police to be oppressors. In addition, there is a perception that victims of police brutality often belong to relatively powerless groups, such as minorities, the disabled, the young, and the poor.[5]
Hubert Locke writes,
"When used in print or as the battle cry in a black power rally, police brutality can by implication cover a number of practices, from calling a citizen by his or her first name to a death by a policeman's bullet. What the average citizen thinks of when he hears the term, however, is something midway between these two occurrences, something more akin to what the police profession knows as 'alley court' — the wanton vicious beating of a person in custody, usually while handcuffed, and usually taking place somewhere between the scene of the arrest and the station house."[6]
Causes
Police officers are legally permitted to use force, and their superiors — and the public — expect them to do so, when appropriate. 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.[7]
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 – behavioural, psychological, background factors, and so on, rather than addressing systemic factors."[8] 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"[9] and a "'we-they' perspective in which outsiders are viewed with suspicion or distrust"[8]
- 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 decision-making" concludes one study reviewed in the report);[10] and
- deficiencies in internal accountability mechanisms (including internal investigation processes).[8]
Police use of force is kept in check in many jurisdictions by the issuance of a use of force continuum.[11] 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.
Some members of the public may in fact perceive the use of force by police as excessive even when the force used is lawful.
Global prevalence
- The Amnesty International 2007 report on human rights also documents widespread police misconduct in many other countries, especially countries with authoritarian regimes.[1]
- In the UK, the reports into the death of New Zealand teacher and anti-racism campaigner Blair Peach in 1979 was published on the Metropolitan Police website on 27 April 2010. The conclusion was that Blair Peach was killed by a police officer, but that the other police officers in the same unit had refused to cooperate with the inquiry by lying to investigators, making it impossible to identify the actual killer.
- In the UK, Ian Tomlinson was filmed by an American tourist apparently being hit with a baton and then pushed to the floor, as he walked home from work during the 2009 G-20 London summit protests. Tomlinson then collapsed and died. Although he was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, the officer who allegedly assaulted Tomlinson was released without charge.
- In Serbia, police brutality occurred in numerous cases during protests against Slobodan Milošević, and has also been recorded during protests against governments since Milošević lost power. The most recent case was recorded in July 2010, when five people, including two girls, were arrested, handcuffed and then beaten with clubs and otherwise mistreated for one hour. Security camera recordings of the beating were obtained by the media, causing public outrage.[12][13] The police officials, including Ivica Dačić, the Serbian minister of internal affairs, denied this sequence of events and accused the victims "to have attacked the police officers first". He also publicly stated that "police isn't here to beat up citizens", but that it is known "what one is going to get when attacking the police".[14]
- Some recent episodes of police brutality in India include the Rajan case, the death of Udayakumar,[15] and of Sampath.[16]
- Police violence episodes against peaceful demonstrators appeared during the 2011 Spanish protests.[17][18][19] Furthermore, in August 4, 2011, Gorka Ramos, a journalist of Lainformacion was beaten by police and arrested while covering 15-M protests near the Interior Ministry in Madrid.[20][21][22][23] A freelance photographer, Daniel Nuevo, was beaten by police while covering demonstrations against Pope's visit in August 2011.[24][25]
Investigation
In the United Kingdom, an independent organization known as the Independent Police Complaints Commission investigates reports of police misconduct. They automatically investigate any deaths caused by, or thought to be caused by, police action.
Independent oversight
Various community groups have criticized police brutality. These groups often stress the need for oversight by independent citizen review boards and other methods of ensuring accountability for police action.
Umbrella organizations and justice committees (often named after a deceased individual or those victimized by police violence) usually engage in a solidarity of those affected. Amnesty International is another organization active in the issue of police brutality.
Tools used by these groups include video recordings, which are sometimes broadcast using websites such as YouTube.[26]
See also
General:
US specific:
References
- ^ a b "Amnesty International Report 2007". Amnesty International. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-08-07. http://web.archive.org/web/20070807192225/http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/Homepage. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary
- ^ "Police officers in trouble: Charges against policeman McManus by his sergeant". New York Times. June 23, 1893.
- ^ Johnson, Marilynn S. (2004). Johnson. ed. Street Justice: A History of Police Violence in New York City. Beacon Press. pp. 365. ISBN 0807050237.
- ^ Powers, Mary D. (1995). "Civilian Oversight Is Necessary to Prevent Police Brutality". In Winters, Paul A.. Policing the Police. San Diego: Greenhaven Press. pp. 56–60. ISBN 1-56510-262-2.
- ^ Locke, Hubert G. (1966-1967). Police Brutality and Civilian Review Boards: A Second Look. 44. J. Urb. L.. pp. 625. http://heinonlinebackup.com/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/udetmr44§ion=45
- ^ Skolnick, Jerome H.; Fyfe, James D. (1995). "Community-Oriented Policing Would Prevent Police Brutality". In Winters, Paul A.. Policing the Police. San Diego: Greenhaven Press. pp. 45–55. ISBN 1-56510-262-2.
- ^ a b c Loree, Don (2006). "Corruption in Policing: Causes and Consequences; A Review of the Literature" (PDF). Research and Evaluation Community, Contract and Aboriginal Policing Services Directorate. Royal Canadian Mounted Police. http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection/PS64-27-2006E.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-01.
- ^ Skolnick, Jerome H. (2002). "Corruption and the Blue Code of Silence". Police Practice and Research 3 (1): 7. doi:10.1080/15614260290011309.
- ^ Owens, Katherine M. B.; Jeffrey Pfeifer (2002). "Police Leadership and Ethics: Training and Police Recommendations". The Canadian Journal of Police and Security Services 1 (2): 7.
- ^ Stetser, Merle (2001). The Use of Force in Police Control of Violence: Incidents Resulting in Assaults on Officers. New York: LFB Scholarly Publishing L.L.C.. ISBN 1-931202-08-7.
- ^ B92 (video)
- ^ Blic (video)
- ^ B92: Dačić: Police isn't here to beat up citizens
- ^ "Police question forensic experts". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 4 October 2005. http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/04/stories/2005100419970300.htm.
- ^ "Sampath case: 4 police officers to turn approvers". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 17 May 2011. http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/17/stories/2011051755890500.htm.
- ^ Spanish police clash with protesters over clean-up - The Guardian
- ^ Los Mossos d'Esquadra desalojan a palos la Plaza de Catalunya - Público (Spanish)
- ^ Indignats - Desallotjament de la Plaça Catalunya on YouTube
- ^ Los periodistas, detenidos y golpeados al cubrir las manifestaciones del 15-M - El Mundo (Spanish)
- ^ Doce policías para detener a un periodista - Público (Spanish)
- ^ Gorka Ramos: "Me tiraron al suelo, me patearon y luego me detuvieron" - Lainformación (Spanish)
- ^ La policía detiene al periodista Gorka Ramos - El País (Spanish)
- ^ Spanish police officer slaps girl during Pope protests - The Telegraph
- ^ La policía golpea a un fotógrafo y a una joven - Público (Spanish)
- ^ Veiga, Alex (November 11, 2006). "YouTube.com prompts police beating probe". Associated Press. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2645350&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312. Retrieved 2006-11-12.
External links
External Readings
- della Porta, D., A. Peterson and H. Reiter, eds. (2006). The Policing of Transnational Protest. Aldershot, Ashgate.
- della Porta, D. and H. Reiter (1998). Policing Protest: The Control of Mass Demonstrations in Western Democracies. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press.
- Donner, F. J. 1990. Protectors of Privilege: Red Squads and Police Repression in Urban America. Berkeley, University of California Press.
- Earl, Jennifer S. and Sarah A. Soule. 2006. “Seeing Blue: A Police-Centered Explanation of Protest Policing.” Mobilization 11(2): 145-164.
- McPhail, Clark, David Schweingruber, and John D. McCarthy (1998). “Protest Policing in the United States, 1960-1995.” pp. 49–69 in Policing Protest: The Control of Mass Demonstrations in Western Democracies, edited by D. della Porta and H. Reiter. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
- Oliver, P. (2008). “Repression and Crime Control: Why Social Movements Scholars Should Pay Attention to Mass Incarceration Rates as a Form of Repression” Mobilization 13(1): 1-24.
- Zwerman G, Steinhoff P. (2005). When activists ask for trouble: state-dissident interactions and the new left cycle of resistance in the United States and Japan. In Repression and Mobilization, ed. C. Davenport, H. Johnston, C. Mueller, pp. 85–107. Minneapolis: Univ. Minn. Press