Sociological Imagination Paper Part 2

Police Brutality

Most of the cases involve dealing with rioters whenever there are demonstrations turned

violent. There are also cases where robbery suspects are short by the police even in a case where

arresting them would save lives. This paper will be dealing with two articles that concern police

brutality (Babovic´ 374-380). That is: “The long and painful history of police brutality in the

united states by Katie Nodnjimadem and “police killings, brutality damaging mental health of the

black community by Lisa H. Thurau and Johanna Wald. In this paper, the writer will discussing

the arguments of the authors as well as critiquing them and eventually stating how research is

related to the issues identified in each of the two articles.

The Long and Painful History of Police Brutality in the United States by Katie Nodnjimadem

The writer of the article starts by narrating a case where a former police officer, Jeromino

Yanez was acquitted by the jury. The decision brought about massive protests in the united states

with the demonstrators calling for police brutality against the black community in the United

States. The writer goes ahead to mention other related incidences in the United States indicating

a rise in the number of police brutality cases in the United States of America. This includes

giving a preview of the history of police brutality as well as giving the names of some of the

victims of police brutality (Thurau, Lisa and Johanna Wald 4).

The paper though covered most aspects of police brutality, dealt on police brutality on the

blacks. This is despite the fact that police brutality affects the people of other races including the

Spanish and Arabic native. It is the opinion of the writer that the author of the article should have

dealt on police brutality affecting all the citizens of United States. These conflicts the numerous

reports about many people are killed in cases where no black is involved (Babovic´ 374-380). It

is therefore in the opinion of the writer that more need to be done to identify the reasons for the

police dealing brutally on the members of a particular group compared to the rest. It should also

have given an opinion of the sociologists on how the police can be trained and required to deal

with individuals who commit criminal offences.

The issue identified in this paper is the police brutality all over the world. The article by

Katie Nodnjimadem relates to the police brutality that has risen in the recent past. This involves

murder of unarmed black individuals, physical injuries and other inhuman treatments that are not

bestowed on the white individuals who commit the same crime.

Police killings, brutality damaging mental health of the black community by Lisa H. Thurau

and Johanna Wald

The article starts by giving a description of how police brutality on the blacks in the

United States is damaging the mental health of the black community. The article talks of a case

in where a 17-year old unarmed black male was killed by the police for fleeing a car that was

being chased by the police. The policeman involved in this case was new to the job and had only

served for a month. The article goes ahead to report the findings of Boston university a few days

after the murders of Rose indicating that the massive killings of the black people had caused an

increase in the number of depression case, stress as well as other mental health issues along the

black community in America (Nodjimbadem 5). In other words, the author reports that police

brutality had a lot to do with the damages in the mental health of African Americans. This

includes individuals who have no connection to the individuals who had lost their lives. The

article goes ahead to describe the public health issues that has been caused by police brutality of

the black community.

The article has however not been able to give a solution on how the cases of mental

health issues can be dealt with by the police. There is also the need to give findings on other

issues related to mental health. The other critique just like the first article is the failure to

mention the case of police brutality on the other races in the United States. The article would

have been more complete had there been a discussion on the cases that drive criminal intent

amongst the black community and the reasons for the police dealing brutally with the blacks

compared with members of other races who are involved in similar criminal acts (Babovic´

374-380). ​Start with your question and also include references to

course material​ （FROM PROFESSOR）

Works Cited

Babovic, Budimir. “Police brutality or police torture.” ​Policing: An International Journal

of Police Strategies & Management 23.3 ​(2000): 374-380.

Nodjimbadem, Katie. “The Long, Painful History Of Police Brutality In The U.S.”

Smithsonian​, 2017,

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/long-painful-history-police-brutality-i

n-the-us-180964098/. Accessed 4 Nov 2018.

Thurau, Lisa H., and Johanna Wald. “Police Killings, Brutality Damaging Mental Health

Of Black Community”. ​Usatoday.Com​, 2018,

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/policing/spotlight/2018/09/14/police-brutality-

damaging-black-communitys-mental-health/1218566002/. Accessed 4 Nov 2018.