Two of the most popular and controversial cases that involve unethical policing claims include the Rodney King beating in 1991 and the Michael Brown shooting in 2014. Both cases involve what many consider to be excessive force by white police officers against African American males.Continue Reading
Rodney King was a man who was involved in a high-speed police chase in March of 1991. Once the chase was over, King was pulled from his vehicle by four Los Angeles Police Department officers who proceeded to brutally beat him with their batons. The entire incident was recorded on camera and broadcasted on news shows across the United States, which led to a huge population of individuals claiming that the police used excessive force. Originally, the police were charged with using excessive force, but eventually they were acquitted of their charges which resulted in riots across the nation.
Another very controversial case involving unethical policing was the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Michael Brown was an unarmed African American teenager who got into an altercation with a police officer who ended up shooting and killing Brown. After the media learned that Michael Brown was killed by a white police officer and was unarmed, protests erupted in Ferguson and throughout the nation with people claiming that police forces are using excessive force against African American individuals.Learn more about Law Enforcement