By Jose Carreto
Police brutality is the use of unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians mostly dealing with African-Americans. “Excessive use of force” means a force well beyond what would be necessary in order to handle a situation. Police brutality can be used in different ways. The most obvious form of police brutality is a physical form like hitting. Police officers can use nerve gas, batons, pepper spray, and guns in order to intimidate or even hurt civilians. Police officers can also do false arrests, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, and the improper use of tasers.
Police brutality in America is getting worse not better. In 2015 at least 865 Americans have been killed by the police. The problem is complicated, and deeply unlikely to change. No single policy will curb this trend and it is very possible these numbers may get worse for many years to come without drastic changes, including real consequences for police brutality. The vast majority of people about 95 percent or more are killed by the police without it being filmed. This is a major issue in the United States and we have to work together to stop this issue.
The year 2015 was marked by countless high profile incidents of police brutality against minors. Samuel Dubose in Ohio, Freddie Gray in Baltimore, and Walter Scott in South Carolina, to name a few. In May the Washington Post analyzed the 385 fatal police shootings in the United States that had occurred so far in 2015. The Washington Post noted its number, which came out to two officer shooting deaths per day. That was more than twice the rate that the government had recorded over the past decade. The youngest victims at the end of may according to the Washington Post were 16 years old
