A Brief Note On Police Brutality And America - 1098 Words

Andrea Studebaker November 18, 2015 ENG 1113 CRN 12896 E4FD Police Brutality in America On April 12th, 2015, a young man named Freddie Gray, was arrested for allegedly having an illegal switchblade on his person. That same day, Gray entered a police van for transport, seemingly fine. Only to leave that same police van half an hour later, in a coma, with severe injuries to his spinal cord. Thirty minutes is all it took, for a seemingly healthy man, to end up in the back of an ambulance. He died one week later. All but one officer, the driver, were charged with crimes ranging from illegal arrest to manslaughter. The driver was charged with second degree depraved heart murder, the equivalent of second degree murder. The illegal†¦show more content†¦The people of Baltimore lost their complacency though, and along with it their ability to rationalize, with yet another case of police brutality. While their decisions to begin setting fires, looting, and throwing bricks was not a positive one, these people were determined to be hear d once and for all. Statistics from the National Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project (NPMSRP), from the months of April 2009 to June 2010 showed that during this time there were 5,986 reports of misconduct. There were also 382 fatalities linked to misconduct, along with settlements and judgements linked to misconduct totaling $347,455,000. 33% of the misconduct cases went through to convictions and 64% of them received prison sentences. Yet these numbers were not enough of a shock to our city and state leaders to take action before situations, such as the riots in Baltimore or Ferguson, occurred. The warnings were there, the numbers and statistics, yet the matter was not handled in a reasonable amount of time. Leaving the public to wonder, if they were all in jeopardy. Would a simple routine check point end in violence? Fearful that any word out of their mouths, or simply the color of their skin, could bring forth such behavior. Current studies have shown that  "less educated police officers tend to be the most aggressive and