How Much Is Too Much Force
Citizens tend to put their trust in officers of the law. The state allows these individuals to take care of their community and provide safety. We feel secure when walking into a place surrounded by police members, thinking the right actions will be done if necessary. They are trained to defend the public and make sure laws are being obeyed. On the other hand, it’s the state giving too much power and decreasing the voice of the regular citizen?
A recent case broadcasted on the Fox 7 news explains the concern of a mother. This happened in San Antonio, Texas. There is a video posted on YouTube that shows the dishonorable actions of an officer, who with extreme force placed a 12-year-old girl down to the ground. The floor was cement and injuries could of have been possible. This could of cause the child to have lost her life, get a head concussion, or other mental illness.
It’s understandable when the officer is using their power to defend themselves and the victims. Sometimes older adults put the lives of these officers in danger and enforcement is applied as the only source possible. In opposition to those extreme scenarios, violence from these public officials can be prevented, in my opinion more than 60% of the time.
To be a simple argument from two middle school girls, the way the officer responded can just be seen as unnecessary brutal force towards a young child. Despite the fact, the mother has all the rights to be upset. Even if her daughter was not severely hurt, seeing her child unconscious and defenseless was disturbing. It’s an image that has no answers yet. I put myself in this mother’s shoes and realized that I would have made exactly the same choice. Parents have the right to request answers and justice for these alarming displays of excessive force and expect legal action to prevent future incidents like this to occur again. These concerns go worldwide.
I agree with your argument. Many incidents that occur between civilians and law enforcement agents are absolutely heartrending. At times it seems like pure aggression on the part of the officer. Law enforcement jobs are not easy and I feel they serve a good purpose for the community, but the force that they are allowed to use on civilians should definitely be strictly monitored. Too many deaths occur around the country because an officer was acting in “self-defense”, but when the story fully surfaces we learn that the victim didn’t even have a weapon. These scenarios are completely unacceptable. It’s a person’s life and dignity that we are talking about. I think all law enforcement agents need to go through better training. A training that focuses on different ways to handle civilians that are breaking the law or seem to be a threat. A few months ago a 17 year old kid lost his life because he was running naked around outside. Was it strange that the kid was running around naked? Yes. Did he deserve to die because of it? No. It’s truly heartbreaking. If you have a job grants you the power to legally take someone’s life away, you should be held responsible if you use the power irresponsibly. In my opinion there is too much force and not enough monitoring.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your argument on "How much is too much force?" Plenty of cases like this have been brought to light, especially those involving young black men. This case about the 12 year old female, I see and agree deemed as inappropriate behavior and brutal force. There were and are many other ways this could have been handled such as those that have happened in the past, but because these officers are "afraid for their life" they do something unforgiveable like this. Many other cases similar to brutal force like this have come about, especially the ones like the young black man who was shot dead because the officers were "afraid for their life" and "saw a gun." But when looking closer they found nothing and yet this kid is still thought of as a thug and the officer a "hero." I agree with you that there is too much force and that in fact if this were to happen to any of their kids they would be just as pissed off, if not unreasonable. I do not have any criticisms because cases like this piss me off because of the fact that most of them are unnecessary.
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