Historically, police brutality has periodically launched to the forefront in the United States when an egregious act—such as the Kent State shootings, Rodney King beating, or even the Trayvon Martin slaying—grabs headlines. But does one anecdotal incident truly indicate a statistical rise in police brutality?
Due to the nature of police reporting, statistics throughout the country are inconsistent on police misconduct. And that gut feeling of overzealous police officers is often overstated by the media, one long-time law enforcement officer says.
“It’s unfortunate because a few officers who maybe [are] abusing their power give officers around the world a bad rep. The notion that all cops are out to hurt you is way off base. We’re here to help and protect,” says retired officer Aidan Cassidy, who has more than 20 years experience in law enforcement.
The very nature of the debate on police brutality is subjective. An officer is authorized to use force to subdue an out-of-control person or criminal suspect. But how much force can an officer use and at what point does it become excessive?
Statistics on police misconduct in the U.S. are hard to track because the government doesn’t regularly collect the data, according to the Free Thought Project.
Organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the CATO institute track incidents and release reports on national use of police misconduct. CATO created the National Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project in 2009 to respond to a lack of information. The group’s mission states: “Despite becoming a more prominent issue in landscape of American public opinion, police misconduct is still a largely unstudied issue and no other sources of current statistical and trending data exist with which we could use to analyze the nature, persistence, and prominence of police misconduct in America.”
What stats that are reported indicate that areas with higher levels of police misconduct are not pigeon-holed into one geographic region. CATO reports that the top five highest misconduct rates are, respectively, Louisiana, Montana, Mississippi, West Virginia and Oklahoma. Similarly rural areas occupy the lowest five: Kansas, Maine, Virginia, Arkansas, and Iowa.
In specific jurisdictions, the highest misconduct rates are: 1. New Orleans. 2. Denver. 3. Atlanta. 4. Prince George’s County (Maryland). 5. Fort Worth.
Officers such as Aidan Cassidy point to the danger that law enforcement places themselves in on a daily basis.
“Officers need to be prepared for the worst and take any means necessary to ensure the safety of their life and the lives of others. That’s their job,” he says.
Retired New York Police Officer Peter Pranzo concurs with Aidan Cassidy about the unpredictable nature of the job.
“No one knows the strength necessary to overtake someone who has been caught disobeying the law and resisting arrest. Everyone feels a gun in the holster should be enough to keep perpetrators at bay. Police officers today know how untrue this statement is,” he wrote in an essay.
Pranzo points to the split-second judgment an officer must make against an erstwhile criminal, and the scrutiny it may later get by Monday Morning Quarterbacks.
Cassidy worked as a police officer in North Carolina and currently consults for law enforcement agencies and the military throughout the country. His goals are to make departments run more efficiently and to help other law enforcement agents do their jobs better.
Both Pranzo and Cassidy agree that a media bias makes police officers unsympathetic even when the use of worse is deemed appropriate.
“Pictures and videos create a powerful image. I can see why the public is in shock and awe by some of the methods used, but not every apprehension is as clear-cut as the ones on fictional TV,” Cassidy says.
In an overall critical essay on police brutality, Mai Nowlin writes for the Guardian that an dialogue needs to emerge to weed out bad officers, highlight good ones, and citizens should feel again that they and the police are on the same team.
“Certainly the actions of bad police make it even harder on those who genuinely wish to do an honest job and be upstanding in their privileged positions,” she writes, adding, “If things ever get so bad that this country finds its citizens facing off against any branch of law enforcement, hopefully those in uniform will realize in time that, they are us, just as we are them. Here’s to hoping that true healing can begin and that the abuse and brutality will rapidly become a thing of the past.”
While the tension between law enforcement and the citizens officers are sworn to protect will likely always exist to some degree, it is an even-handed balancing that will restore the officer-citizen relationship to better footing.