Police brutality has unfortunately become too common in our.
The question remains, However, as to.
how much force is justified and in what situations. Certainly .
force is sometimes appropriate, that is why today's law .
enforcement carry batons and guns. A charge of brutality should .
not be taken in the terms of guilt. Society wants police to go .
out and identify criminal activity and stop it, either before it .
occurs, or certainly after it occurs, and determine who the .
criminals are, who committed the particular crime, and put them .
in jail. The written rule is clear, police are to use no more .
force than is necessary to apprehend a suspect. The unwritten .
rule is "Teach them a lesson". Brutality is a conscious and .
heinous act committed by law enforcement who usually take great .
pains to disclose their misconduct. In an age notable for its .
high fear of crime, juries who understand that police face risky .
and protective work, are unlikely to convict a police officer .
without hard evidence. .
For instance the beating of Rodney King, which occurred .
March 2, 1992, in Pacoima, California was filmed by George .
Holiday, a 33 year old rugby player and general manager of Rescue .
Rooter a national plumbing company went to bed early and was .
awaken at 12:50 am by screeching rubber, he pulled the window .
shade aside and was blasted by the powerful spotlight, a Hyundai .
surrounded by a half a dozen, LAPD police cars (Skolnick 1-2). .
George Holiday's first reactions was to grab a camcorder, the .
video Holiday shot showed a black man down on hands and knees .
struggling on the ground impelled by wires from a tazer gun. .
Rising and falling while being beaten blow after blow-dozens of .
blows, 56 in all, about the head, neck, back, kidneys, ankles, .
legs , and feet by two LAPD police officers. Wielding there two .
foot black metal truncheons. Also visible a third officer who was .
stomping King, and about ten other police officers watching the .
