There are frequent accounts in the media of police abuse in USA.
It seems to be a problem that nobody is willing to tackle
2007-09-21 17:54:22 · 11 answers · asked by Zed 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Whenever police abuse their power, it is a serious matter.
The fact that the abuse level allegedly varies depending on which community you belong to (including ethnicity and socio economic level) is also of concern.
However, in context with the level of judicial and institutional abuse in other countries, the incidence in the US is probably on the low side.
This is NOT to say it is not a serious matter, just that there are worse places to be for human rights abuse.
When this kind of abuse occurs in a country with laws which make it possible for people to get redress, the law should be used and the abuse countered, because otherwise individual liberty takes a blow.
Cheers :-)
2007-09-21 18:02:53 · answer #1 · answered by thing55000 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
While I do not believe police should abuse their power.....we usually don't know the whole story except for what the media tells us. The media causes many problems. Unless you are actually there when abuse takes place.....you really don't know what happened unless you heard or witnessed it. There are crooked officers and then there are the ones who put their lives on the line everyday for you and me. Do I think they get that adrenaline pumping and react harshly? Yes...they do not know if they are going to be killed. It sometimes is a rush to judgment but know how dangerous their jobs are and how stressful. I believe it happens in every country. You just hear about it over the media here. Do you really think that the media should even give out info without all the facts? The media is responsible for even giving out military strategy and they shouldn't. You might as well put a target on us.
Do you think people like celebrities and O.J. Simpson get away with more? I do and have seen it time and time again. The average Joe would be in jail for life.
For the record, if I know of abuse by police or anyone , with me witnessing it or hearing it..............I would turn them in.
2007-09-21 18:22:14 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The media does not talk about the millions of police encounters that go on on daily. Just the one or two bad ones. And even then, there is usually more to the story than what is reported.
NBC's not going to report that Officer Smith stopped Joe Public today for speeding and let him off with just a warning. All the while, Officer Smith was courteous and professional. It just does not make good news.
If your going to make assumptions based on media reports - you probably should not fly on an airplane here. The media only talks about the ones that crash - therefore, we must have a rampant problem with airplane crashes.
2007-09-21 18:03:24 · answer #3 · answered by Boots 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I think that rebellion today would be very swiftly repressed, unless it was really widespread really early. Anything that was regional in nature would be easily broken. The problem is that instant communications and instant overhead imagry would allow a far swifter and more effective response to such a situation by the government. However, if, for example, Bush were to declare martial law and refuse to honor the elections, then the revolt might be very widespread very early on, and that might present a whole different set of problems. Ultimately, however, the success of any revolt would come down to whether the military sent to put it down would follow its orders when it came to opening fire on civilians. I sincerely have my doubts as to how well the US military would respond to such orders.
2016-05-20 22:08:25 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
When ever a group has power or control over people there is always a problem.
I am quite sure that the USA is not the only country with out of control police, however we are one of the few countries with free press, so we hear about it more frequently here.
2007-09-21 18:03:33 · answer #5 · answered by Dina W 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Zed, we have heard your concerns forever. You get the police department your deserve.
It's been tacked led by communities thought the nation. Pay a living wage you get a responsive police department.
2007-09-21 18:51:57 · answer #6 · answered by The Hammer 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Take a high school graduate. Train him for six months, put him in a black uniform with a bullet-proof vest and dark sunglasses, give him a gun, and let him pretend that he's in the military. He's going to power-trip like nobody's business. He's going to abuse people, because he knows that there's nothing they can do about it. Should we be surprised?
2007-09-21 18:45:32 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Compared to how many peaceful arrests happen in the US, police brutality here is actually lower than most of the world. They just put the storeis in teh newsparer because they sell.You never hear about any of the peaceful ones.
2007-09-21 18:02:49 · answer #8 · answered by EXPECTING 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I have encountered police abuse personally. So from my experience, I think small town cops can become prejiduced to a certian family name and they seem to have less to do so they occupy thier time harrasing individuals or completely fabricating incidences to justify the arrest or stop.
2007-09-21 18:05:41 · answer #9 · answered by Azalea 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Yes it is. The police don't protect people from criminals, they protect the criminals from vigilantes. The police abuse the citizens, they don't seem to understand that people are innocent until proven guilty, regardless of their opinion. The police are seldom made to pay for their crimes, they stick up for each other.
If a cop illegally searches someone, and it's ruled an illegal search and seizure, why doesn't the cop go to jail?
2007-09-21 18:13:51 · answer #10 · answered by kimmyisahotbabe 5 · 0⤊ 5⤋