Final Research Paper

CJ-4880

Police Brutality: Increase in the unjustified use of force or in media coverage?

Introduction

Presently there has been an increase in attention on police forces around the United

States. It isn’t specifically centered in the areas typically known for crime or rogue police

officers, but it has hit home in the backyards of everyday Americans. These occasions of police

exercising force against citizens is plastering the media, and the coverage is endless. But the

question is about whether these officers are exercising their right to use force unjustly and truly

bringing fear into the hearts of Americans? Or is it the endless media coverage forcing it into the

lives of the people and using unsubstantiated facts to bring unnecessary damage to the officers

involved, the victims, and the general public? To answer these questions it is necessary to dive

into the minds of everyday citizens and the pure facts. This study intends to survey members of

the general public with specific age ranges with questions designed to provide information about

the perceptions of citizens and how they feel about police and the possibility of the increasing

occurrences of police brutality.

The Questions

Has police brutality truly increased and become a serious problem for the United States?

Are the officers who were meant to be serving and protecting destroying the trust in the police

forces? Or is the massive reach of the television giants reaching unjustified into the homes and

giving the public an incorrect assumption about the police? Few studies have directly answered

the above questions with most studies focusing on specific races in correlation of police brutality

and other focusing on rogue officers. This study is to focus on the possible correlation between

media coverage and the pubic believing that police brutality has increased. While the main

question is to determine whether the media has a direct effect on the opinion of officers, it is also

important to determine the facts about police brutality and bring those facts to the American

people to either change their perceptions or change the police. Those involved in this study will

play an important part to help the public reach an understanding about the facts of police

brutality and regain some trust in the law enforcement on the local and national levels.

Literature Review

The history of police brutality is deep and Americans are well versed in the stories of

Rodney King, Malice Green, and presently Michael Brown. Study after study has been

completed on police officers and racial discrimination but very few have focuses on the media

aspect. Police brutality is loosely defined as unethical behavior of a certified police officer who

uses excessive use of force, up to and including death. Public scrutiny of police use of force is

unavoidable (Alpert, 2009) The American public is expecting these officers to do their jobs with

the utmost respect to every person regardless of color or gender. Officers are expected to make

decisions in high stress situations including situations where violence between a citizen and an

officer could occur. Thus, assessments of police violence, including those involving deadly

force, must create a distinction between correct police action and reasonable police action

(Binder & Scharf, 1982). What exactly would constitute reasonable force? State law governs

police rules regarding use of force, more specifically in the use of deadly force, such as the Utah

Code Title 76, which says, “ (1) A peace officer, or any person acting by his command in his aid

and assistance, is justified in using deadly force when:

(a) the officer is acting in obedience to and in accordance with the judgment of a

competent court in executing a penalty of death under Subsection 77-18-5.5(3) or (4);

(b) effecting an arrest or preventing an escape from custody following an arrest, where

the officer reasonably believes that deadly force is necessary to prevent the arrest from being

defeated by escape; and

(i) the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect has committed a felony

offense involving the infliction or threatened infliction of death or serious bodily injury; or

(ii) the officer has probable cause to believe the suspect poses a threat of death or serious

bodily injury to the officer or to others if apprehension is delayed; or

(c) the officer reasonably believes that the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent

death or serious bodily injury to the office. (Utah Code § 76-2-404).

State laws and their wording varies but the concept remains the same, the use of force the

officers are allowed to use are somewhat discretionary, however their actions are governed by

state law. The community tends to assume the responsibilities to decide a correct judgment about

whether these officer were justified and sadly these officers are presumed guilty in most cases

before the justice system can play its role. Attempts to lessen the severity of this community

response through efforts to eliminate police discretion are foolhardy, as administrative policies

and legislation cannot account for every situation that a police officer may encounter on the

streets. (Geller & Scott, 1992) Who exactly is to decide what would constitute use of force of

these officers and when does it cross the line into brutality? A correct judgment is outcome-

based and involves the use of hindsight in examining the aftermath of a violent encounter. A

reasonable judgment incorporates the factors involved and information available to the officer at

the time of the decision to use force. This distinction is even more vital in the analysis of deadly

force situations (Villejoubert, O'Keefe, Alison, & Cole, 2006).

Most everyone is familiar with the Rodney King case and the officers involved in the

brutal beating that occurred on the streets in California. March 3rd 1991 is a day that American

citizens, and their children and their children’s children will learn about. Rodney King has sadly

become the face of wrongful use of force, and the face of police brutality. The riots and the

strong public outrage from the lack of restraint on the part of the officers thrust police brutality to

the spotlight and it hasn’t left yet, and it probably never will. The problem with police use of

force is that it’s hard to determine where to draw the line between excessive use of force and

brutality. Are these two different levels or are they one in the same? Would deadly force be

brutality in the hands of our officers?

After reviewing other research projects and studies completed it was an obviously blaring

fact that the majority of research was completed on just how many officers used deadly force. On

average, there are approximately 385 individuals justifiably killed by law enforcement each year

(US Department of Justice, 2010). With the most comprehensive research on misconduct of

police officers being completed by the National Police Misconduct and Reporting Project in

2010, the statistics aren’t recent but still have some power. The NPMRP focuses around data

gathered from January 2010 to December of 2010. Of the 6,613 law enforcement officers

involved in reported allegations of misconduct that met NPMSRP criteria for tracking purposes,

1,575 were involved in excessive force reports, which

were the most prominent type of report at 23.8% of all

reports. (NPMSRP 2010) While understanding the

statistics about officers who used force it is important

to note that we do not have even an estimate of the

number of times officers were justified (legally and

ethically) to use deadly force, and did not. (Pinizzotto,

2012) One explanation for the lack of research on restraint is that researchers do not study non-

events (Lester, 1996) Just as there is a lack of research on the officers who did not use deadly

force when justified, there are not many studies or media reports about the officers who are

serving their communities and their country with respect and behavior that would be deemed

appropriate. Media reports focus on the stories of Michael Brown as well as others and the story

is ran into the ground with the anchors opinions blocking out facts. Media, including both local

and national news stations as well as newspapers, thrive on the general public’s response to news

stories and their ratings depend on the amount of views their network or paper receives. Stories

regarding unethical brutality increase their views and bring out an emotional response, whether

justified or not, in the community.

This study is in no way intending to place blame other than where it needs to be placed.

There are circumstances where officers do cross the line and in no way is this excusing the

actions of the officers involved with Rodney King or any other case involving officers where

their use of force was extremely excessive or was pure brutality.

Study Subjects

The survey will be given to random parties within ranges of age groups. 18-28, 29-39,

40-49, 50-59, 60+. They will be randomly selected within each age range with a minimum of 20

surveys being completed by an individual falling within the range. There will be no focus

choosing specific backgrounds, however it would be assumed that most participants would have

some basic knowledge regarding the structure of our justice system, the media, as well as local

and national police agencies. There will be questions where the participant will indicate their

education level but no bias will be taken against those with/without college education.

Method

The survey will be completed within a certain time limit to be decided, and the

participants will be given a pressure free zone to complete the survey as accurately as possible.

The minimum of 100 completed surveys will be reported along with the people who were asked

to participate that did not, and a percentage will be calculated in accordance with the total

completed. The surveys will be sorted in accordance to their respected age ranges, further broken

down into gender, then the answers will be tallied and a consensus will be drawn. More

generalized conclusions will also be drawn in respect to total gender responses as well as a

completed total of all responses and the percentages in relation to all. This study is intended to be

gather responses in Utah that would be proportionate to the responses in any other location in the

United States. The answers will be mostly yes or no questions designed to bring an outcome to

show the true feelings of those participating in the study. Along with the survey questions,

research will be completed by compiling data retrieved from local and state agencies regarding

the number of complaints against officers and the current litigation concerning brutality.

Ethical Concerns

As with any study there could be concerns over possible ethical violations and concerns

about the people involved in the study. The participants will have to consent and by completing

and submitting the survey will be their form of consent. No minors will be allowed to participate

in this survey. The participants in the survey will remain unnamed and their privacy will be kept

intact as confidentiality will be maintained. The study will remain as unbiased as possible and

keep personal opinions out of the facts and report only what is found by the study. The sources

of the statistics will be reported and the data measurement protocol will also be released.

Timeframe

The study will take six full weeks to complete in order to gather the appropriate amount

of surveys for each age group and to compile the data into workable data. The first week will be

finalizing the survey questions and intended surveyors. The next 2-4 weeks will be the time

frame for the surveys to be handed out and completed. The last week will be finalizing the data

and creating workable tables and graphs to explain the results of the data.

Bibliography:

Alpert 2009 Alpert, G. P. (2009). Interpreting police use of force and the construction of reality.

Criminology & Public Policy, 8, 111

Binder, A., & Scharf, P (1982). Deadly force in law enforcement. Crime & Delinquency, .28, 1-

23. doi: 10.1177/001112878202800101.

Geller, W. A., & Scott, M. S. (1992). Deadly force: What we know: A practitioner's desk

reference on police-involved shootings. Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum

Lester, D. (1996). Officer attitudes toward police use of force. In W. A. Geller &H. Toch (Eds.),

Police Violence (pp. 180-190). New Haven, CT:Yale University Press

2010 NPMSRP Police Misconduct Statistical Report -Draft-. (2011, April 5). Retrieved

December 1, 2014, from http://www.policemisconduct.net/2010-npmsrp-police-misconduct-

statistical-report/

Pinizzotto, A. J., Davis, E. F., Bohrer, S. B., & Infanti, B. J. (2012). Law enforcement restraint in

the use of deadly force within the context of 'the deadly mix.'. International Journal Of Police

Science & Management, 14(4), 285-289. doi:10.1350/ijps.2012.14.4.289

US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2010). Crime in the United

States, 2009. Retrieved from

http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/offenses/expanded_information/data/shrtable_14.html

Villejoubert, G., O'Keefe, C. J., Alison, L. J.,& Cole, J. C. (2006). Hindsight bias and shooting

incidents. In S. Giles & M. Santar Cangelo (Eds.), Psychological aspects of legal processes (pp.

17-24). Liverpool, UK: IA-IP Press