CJ 500 FINAL PROJECT

ISSUES 2

3-2 Milestone One: Submit Selection of Contemporary Criminal Justice Issue

Destiny Nance

ISSUES 2

Southern New Hampshire University

In every other nation, the criminal justice system plays a very huge role in delivering justice and punishing those who break the law. However, all around the globe, there are several issues that almost every other justice system is struggling to deal with. One of the most common issues that are being dealt with is the issue of inordinate/ excessive use of force by law enforcement. In the least technical terms possible, the use of excessive force can be defined as the use of too much force by the police when dealing with people. In most cases, the use of this excess force may end up harming the same people that the police forces are initially supposed to protect. Even though police forces are punishable by the courts of law for use of excessive force, the issue remains one of the major issues that affect the criminal system to date. (Hargreaves‐Heap, 2002).

In the modern day, people tend to think that excessive use of force by police officers is an issue of the past and one that no one should talk about. However, this is not all true as discrimination has not ended but has only evolved. In the old days, policemen mainly used excessive force on people of color or even slaves who at that time did not have rights that could make the officers be punished for doing this. However, in the modern days, the issue has evolved all over the globe, there have been cases where policemen have used excessive force on their subjects regardless of their color. One of the things that have made the issue keep changing is the advancement of technology where police officers are expected to wear body cams that will monitor all their actions while on duty. different amendments that have been made to the constitution with the main aim of empowering people of color.

For quite some time now, people have been fighting against the use of excessive force. However, I believe that recently there might have been a breakthrough all because of technology. technology has changed people's perspectives especially by showing them how brutal police officers can be when they use excessive force. For instance, in the year 2020, a man named George Floyd was murdered by a police officer due to the use of excessive force. The video of the incident went viral and people came together to protest against the issue. This was one of the biggest protests where people protested together regardless of their color, culture, and even location (Hutson, 2009).

References

Ajilore, O., & Shirey, S. (2017). Do# AllLivesMatter? An evaluation of race and excessive use of force by police.  Atlantic Economic Journal,  45(2), 201-212.

Hutson, H. R., Anglin, D., Rice, P., Kyriacou, D. N., Guirguis, M., & Strote, J. (2009). Excessive use of force by police: a survey of academic emergency physicians.  Emergency Medicine Journal,  26(1), 20-22.