NCJ Number
132219
Journal
ABA Journal Volume: 77 Dated: (July 1991) Pages: 45-48
Date Published
1991
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Based on interviews with various criminal justice professionals and an examination of the disposition of police brutality cases in the courts, this article concludes that police brutality is systemic and requires a reorientation of criminal justice and public attitudes.
Abstract
The videotape of Rodney King's beating by police in California shocked the Nation. There is significant evidence, however, that this incident was not an aberration, but rather business as usual. Conversations on police radios after the event suggest that this was not an unusual event for the police officers involved. Overall, the system has protected police from any serious consequences of their abusive actions. Juries and the public tend not to believe those, particularly blacks, who claim they have been brutalized by police. FBI investigations of police brutality rarely lead to indictments, and prosecutors and the courts are reluctant to be too hard on the police. Overall there has been a code of silence surrounding police brutality, as the criminal justice system and the public have been willing to give police latitude in their behavior toward suspects. In so many cases, however, the offenses in the context of which police brutality occurs are minor, but involve challenges to police authority and control. It remains to be seen whether the criminal justice system and the public will pursue this issue until police behavior on the streets changes.