To Protect & Serve? A Look at the Abuses of Authority

 To Protect & Serve?

A Look at the Abuses of Authority

By: Russell Derrickson

May 4, 2017

When you hear the word “police”, what is the first thought that goes through your head? The answer likely is determined by your background and personal history. If you were to grow up in rural America, you might have the image of a hero, badge shining in the moonlight as he raises his gun and kills the bad guy in a manner that would make Clint Eastwood proud. If you were to grow up in New York, the constant harassment of their former “Stop & Frisk” policy might give you a bit different impression.

F.B.I. statistics have shown that crime has actually been on a decline for decades, dropping nearly 20% since 1987 (Lindorff). It would seem logical that the number of police officers and the amount of force used by those officers has decreased in sync with this trend. Unfortunately the exact opposite seems to have occurred, between 1982 and 2012, police spending has more than doubled (Lindorff).

It has reported that since 1984, our prison population has risen more than 400%, weighing in at a quarter of the world's prisoners (Green). At some point the sheer statistics alone seem to dictate that we are no longer being either “protected” or “served”. Green also found that 41% of all juveniles and adults under the age of 23 have been incarcerated, and that the prison population increased every year from 1970 to 2010 (Green).

The problem is not just one of sheer numbers, though that in itself should be enough to see that there is a disconnect between those with authority and those without. In an article for the Free Thought Project, Matt Savoy found that more people had been killed by police than soldiers at war in Iraq during the past decade (Savoy). You are, statistically speaking, 29 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than you are a terrorist (Savoy).

Police brutality is becoming entirely too common an occurrence in our daily lives. Recently, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico investigated the Albuquerque Police department and found “reasonable cause to believe that the Albuquerque Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution” (USA). This came as a result of the shooting of a homeless man, James Boyd, that has spread across YouTube (APD). The investigation revealed that “of the 20 officer involved shootings between 2009 and 2012 a majority of these shootings were unconstitutional” (USA). When citizens of Albuquerque protested the brutality, they were eventually tear gassed and arrested (Miller).

The Justice Department declared “the pattern and practice is the result of serious systemic

deficiencies in policy, training, supervision and accountability” (USA). This result can be seen even within the police mentality itself. An excellent example would be Robert Jordan, a prison guard from New York who was barred from being a police officer because he was too intelligent (ABC). When he took the I.Q. Exam, he had an above average I.Q. so was deemed inadequate for police training (ABC).

This trend is growing more and more in this country, and there does not look to be a peak in sight. When those with authority continue to abuse that authority, eventually those abused will rise up and demand justice from their abusers. Our children will not grow up with the fond memories of the friendly police officer that helped their grandmother cross the road. They will remember the man that broke down their door on Christmas and took daddy away, or the man that groped them during a “Random Search”. For our society to grow and thrive and flourish, we need someone there to protect us in our times of need, but we need those people to actually protect us, not become our fears.

Works Cited

ABC, Staff. "Court OKs Barring High IQs for Cops." ABC News. ABC News Network, 8 Sept. 2000. Web. 03 May 2014.

Department, Albuqerque Police. "RAW Police Helmet Camera Captures Shooting Of James Boyd In The Sandia Foothills In Albuquerque." YouTube. YouTube, 22 Mar. 2014. Web. 03 May 2014.

Green, Hank. "Mass Incarceration in the US." YouTube. YouTube, 04 Apr. 2014. Web. 03 May 2014.

Lindorff, Dave. "Crime's Down. So Why Is Police Aggression Increasing?" RSS. Who What Why, 19 Mar. 2014. Web. 03 May 2014.

Miller, Cole, and Manette Newbold Fischer. "Tear Gas Released, Some APD Protesters Arrested." Albuquerque News Weather Abq Rio Rancho Santa Fe NM Krqecom. KRQE News 13, 31 Mar. 2014. Web. 3 May 2014.

Savoy, Matt. "Americans Killed by Cops Now Outnumber Americans Killed in Iraq War." The Free Thought Project. The Free Thought Project, 3 May 2013. Web. 03 May 2014

United States of America. United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico. Office of the Assistant Attorney General. Albuquerque Police Department April 10, 2014. By Jocelyn Samuels and Damon P. Martinez. N.p.: n.p., n.d. U.S. Department of Justice. Web. 3 May 2014.