Police Brutality & Excessive Force Articles

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Police are employed by society to maintain order but by dealing largely with disorderly elements of the society, some people working in law enforcement may gradually develop an attitude or sense of authority over society. The growing number of cases of police brutality is usually attributed not to increased awareness within police ranks, but merely to more widespread use of video cameras.

Police abuse is a serious problem. It has a long history, and it seems to defy all attempts at eradication.

The problem is national: no police department in the country is known to be completely free of misconduct. Yet it must be fought locally: the nation's 19,000 law enforcement agencies are essentially independent. While some federal statutes specify criminal penalties for willful violations of civil rights and conspiracies to violate civil rights, the United States Department of Justice has been insufficiently aggressive in prosecuting cases of police abuse. There are shortcomings, too, in federal law itself, which does not permit "pattern and practice" lawsuits. The battle against police abuse must, therefore, be fought primarily on the local level.

The situation is not hopeless. Policing has seen much progress. Some reforms do work, and some types of abuse have been reduced. Today, among both police officials and rank and file officers, it is widely recognized that police brutality hinders good law enforcement.

To fight police abuse effectively, you must have realistic expectations. You must not expect too much of any one remedy because no single remedy will cure the problem. A "mix" of reforms is required. And even after citizen action has won reforms, your community must keep the pressure on through monitoring and oversight to ensure that the reforms are actually implemented.

Nonetheless, even one person, or a small group of persistent people, can make a big difference. Sometimes outmoded and abusive police practices prevail largely because no one has ever questioned them. In such cases, the simple act of spotlighting a problem can have a powerful effect and snowball into a full blown examination by the media, the public and politicians.

So, if you know of any abuse by law enforcement that you can report please do so, as we can not be heard; if we don't speak out.

I started this site in 2006 when I was tasered and beaten by 2 Lewiston, Idaho police officers. I created this site to help raise the awareness of the unlawful brutality, committed by our city servants. This site is a free service that I offer out of my own pocket. If you can afford to help out, any donations would be greatly appreciated and help to keep this site up and running to ensure that people have a place to speak out for years to come.

Join the fight agains police brutality and excessive force.

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Bringing awareness of Malicious Prosecution, Excessive Force and Police Brutality.