Should Police Officers Be Convicted of Crimes

There is a concept in the U.S. Constitution called equal protection under law. What this means, is that no one in the U.S is better or worse than anyone else in the U.S when it comes to the law. This applies to everyone equally whether it be a cop, Donald Trump or even a homeless person. It has become an epidemic in the USA that cops regularly kill innocent people and nothing is done. This is an issue that has been brought into the focus of the public eye.

Many people have lost their lives due to police brutality. Often police officers build up negative feelings towards certain races, sexes or religions. This issue continues to play a major role in police abuses and crimes. Some argue that while police officers have the right to do what is necessary to protect our community, others contend that they should be held accountable for their wrong doing as well. Indeed when one examines the opinions in favor of believing that it is right to harm innocent people because of misjudgment, one finds these arguments can be discounted with viable punishments when our officers are convicted of a crime.

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So, Should police officers receive the same treatment as any other person by the law when conceited of a crime?

In our generation today, we see more and more officers killing people because of assumptions. Let’s take for example on 12November 2018 a security guard at a bar in Chicago got shot by the police because he was presumed to be the shooter of the incident they were called to respond to.

It was said that the people at the bar that the security guard was working at yelled at the police that he worked there but they still did their job and saw a black man with a gun and basically killed him. It is said that the mother of the victim filed a lawsuit that alleged that the killing of her son was unprovoked, unjustified, excessive and unreasonable. This incident is still being investigated. In a recent post from 24 November 2018 on abc7 news Chicago, the officer that fired the shot that fatally wounded the security officer is still on administrative leave. Another example goes back to the first known case of brutality in the USA which was known as the “Rodney King Beating”. The first and probably the most famous cases in America related to the police using excessive force occurred back in 1992 in Los Angeles when a video recording of five police men beat an unarmed African American with batons was released. Mass protests began which turned into riots. This prompted the authorities to take action and 4 out of 5 were brought to justice.

According to New York Times article “15 Black lives ended with Confrontation with Police. 3 Officers Convicted” shows 15 prominent cases in which black people were killed or died in custody. Statistics show the outcomes of these 15 high-profile deaths from 2014-2016. In some of the cases police officers offered an explanation for their actions. Officers were indicted or charged in eight of the cases. Three cases resulted in convictions, one of which came with a prison sentence. Also, the article on Teen Vogue written by Zoe Samudzi “Why Police Officers Aren’t Hel Accountable When They Kill People” and judging by the number of murderous cops who kill people and get away with it, I think they do have immunity to an absurdly high degree and that needs to change. While they can be put on trial for their wrongdoings, juries will blindly acquit them almost always. The jury trial system is extremely unfair, as ordinary people lack the necessary intellectual and professional skills to correctly assess evidence to give a correct verdict. Instead, they rely on emotion, instincts, character judgement and personal feelings and experiences and other things that have nothing to do with the concept of justice. Besides, judges also tend to side with cops as they often work together.

Basically, police officers are protected by the law because they are trained to use force. Every day cops make life-or-death decisions that could have severe consequences for the people they’re working with.

In conclusion, law enforcement officers are individuals that are trained to, as the name says, enforce the law. They are responsible for keeping the peace within our community and protect our citizens from harm. They are supposed to be a positive influence on the community, instead they are causing the most harm. Without punishment, this will forever be an ongoing thing. No matter what law enforcement officers do, they rarely face criminal charges, much less jail. And this must be changed. Due to the growing number of victims of police brutality, it is crucial to find the solution how to stop these actions. Serious human rights violations continue, numerous obstacles do not allow accountable police officers to be brought to justice and this impunity allows them to continue the violence.