The Abuse of Police Power

NO. 1

Occurrences on the news show police brutality almost every day; just recently, Dereck Chavin, the cop who murdered George Floyd, was charged with murder, and though that was a serious win, at the same time, Makiyah Bryant was killed by the Columbus Police Department. The system has been and always will be discriminatory based on race and class unless there’s real change. The first documented and filmed case of abuse of police power was the beating and death of Rodney King; Then, in 2014, the death of Micheal Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Normally, the Bill of Rights is supposed to protect your rights from normally being harassed by a task or police force, like the fourth amendment, which involves the right against unreasonable searches and seizures, which means the Constitution declares a person has the right to be secure in their homes and their persons against unreasonable searches and seizures. A person has the right to arrest without probable cause and the right to due process of law. Not every police member is a racist, but every police member is part of a racist and oppressive system.

NO. 2

Forty years ago, the Bill of Rights, used to protect every citizen from brutality, wasn’t taken as seriously as it is today in court justice proceedings around the country, most likely because modern technology hadn’t progressed as it has now, where if you hear any word of police assaulting a citizen, you can be sure it will be filmed. ‘’Police operations during that period were often far more informal than they are today, and investigating officers frequently assumed that they could come and go as they pleased, even to invading someone’s home without a search warrant. Interrogations could quickly turn violent, and the infamous “rubber hose,” which was reputed to leave few marks on the body, was probably more widely used during the questioning of suspects than many would like to believe. Similarly, ‘doing things by the book’ could mean the use of thick telephone books for beating suspects, since the books spread out the force of blows and left few visible bruises.’’

NO. 3

Every branch of the government, including the legislative, judicial, and presidential branches, is supposed to be held accountable by the other branches. The system was designed to ensure that no other individual or agency could become powerful enough to take away the rights and many freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution. Still, without that accountability, a police agency can have absolute power based more on political considerations and personal vendettas than objective considerations of guilt or innocence.