NCJ Number
183619
Editor(s)
Gary D. Keller
Date Published
1997
Length
280 pages
Annotation
In 1979, a Hispanic journalist was taking photographs in East Los Angeles and recorded the senseless beating of an innocent and defenseless man by members of the sheriff's department; the officers then turned on the journalist, confiscated his camera and film, and beat him so badly that he was hospitalized 3 days.
Abstract
The journalist recounts his struggle to come to terms with the traumatic experience and to bring a civil suit against the officers involved. Combining material written before and after the trial, the journalist presents an indictment of a society that sanctions police brutality against minorities. The journalist describes his ordeal following discharge from the hospital, a period of over 7 years during which he lived in constant fear while attempting to prove his innocence. He believes that police brutality is pervasive throughout the United States, that government officials and politicians tend to ignore police brutality, and that police brutality is fundamentally dehumanizing to victims.