Police Brutality - Law Enforcement Misconduct

What is police brutality? It is the use of a law enforcer's power to inflict physical and/or verbal abuse. This type of offense is widely untolerated by society for the simple reason that one would expect protection and not abuse form law enforcers.

Police brutality refers to both physical and verbal abuse (e.g., threats, racist comments, etc.) of authority by a law enforcement officer. It can also apply to prisoner abuse.

Although the media widely documents cases of police brutality and Hollywood often depicts it, actual instances are less common than we would think. In a survey of six US jurisdictions, arrests that did NOT involve any kind of force were reported to reach 83%.

Of the instances that did involve force, half were limited to grabbing and choking and most (at 77%) did NOT involve the use of any weapon.

Police brutality is often linked to political and racial issues.

Police Brutality - Recent Incidents

One of the most recent cases of police brutality took place in juvenile detention in 2006. Guards at the Florida facility were videotaped beating up a minor, Martin Lee Anderson. Anderson died and the investigations are still ongoing.

The most prominent case of police brutality in recent public memory is probably the Rodney King case of March 1991, which led to the Los Angeles Race Riots of 1992.

Four LA policemen stopped the car driven by King. King got out of his car and one policeman fired an electric dart-gun at him. Using their batons, the policemen then beat on King 53-56 times.

King suffered broken bones and other serious injuries. A bystander happened to record a video of the event. He sold it to a local TV station, which then sold it to CNN.

The four officers were charged before the California state court — and acquitted! Right after the verdict was announced, widespread rioting and looting broke out.

The LA Riot is often referred to as a race riot since the policemen were Caucasian and King was African-American. This racial motivation was borne out by transcripts of the police cruiser communications. Before and after beating on King, the policemen were heard to make several racial slurs.

A federal court overturned the state court’s acquittal and the policemen were convicted for civil rights violations. Two policemen faced 70-87 months in prison, but the US District court meted them out only 30 months each.

The judge said that King’s resisting arrest led to the beating and the officers had to face other charges anyway from the state and federal courts. Indeed, King won a civil trial and was awarded damages of $3.8 million.

Police Brutality - Types & Penalties

Police brutality is one of the most publicized types of misconduct by law enforcement officials. Police misconduct also comprises false arrest, police corruption, political tyranny, etc.

Police brutality is usually tried in both civil and criminal courts. Penalties usually range from cash awards, running from thousands to millions, to federal prison sentences. The death penalty is also sometimes meted out in states that allow it.

Capital punishment may be applied in cases where police brutality results in the death of the victim. The state of Los Angeles, for example, sentenced a police officer to death in 2005 for ordering the murder of a woman in 1994. The officer had previously been convicted on police brutality charges and violating the woman’s civil rights.

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