5 Facts About Police Killings and Race

5 Facts About Police Killings and Race The absence of any kind of systematic tracking of police killings in the U.S. makes it difficult to see and understand any patterns that might exist among  them,  but fortunately, some researchers  have undertaken efforts to do so. While the data they have collected is limited, it is national in scope and  consistent from place to place, and  thus very  useful for illuminating trends. Lets take a look at what the data collected by Fatal Encounters and by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement show us about police killings and race. Deaths by the Numbers Fatal Encounters is an ever-growing crowd-sourced database of police killings in the US compiled by D. Brian Burghart. To date, Burghart has  amassed a database of 2,808 incidents from across the nation. Though the race of those killed is currently unknown in nearly a third of the incidents, of those in which race is known, nearly a quarter are black, nearly a third are white, about 11 percent are Hispanic or Latino and just 1.45 percent are Asian or Pacific Islander. While there are more white than black people in this data, the percentage of those who are black far out-paces the percentage of those who are black in the general population- 24 percent versus 13 percent. Meanwhile, white people comprise about 78 percent of our national population, but just under 32 percent of those killed. This means that black people are more likely to be killed by police, while white, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, and Native American are less likely. This trend is corroborated by other research. A  study conducted by  Colorlines  and  The Chicago Reporter  in 2007 found that black people were over-represented among those killed by police in every city investigated, but especially in  New York, Las Vegas, and San Diego, where the rate was  at least double their share of the local population. This report also found that the number of Latinos killed by police is rising. Another report by the NAACP focused on Oakland, California found that 82 percent of people shot by police between 2004 and 2008 were black, and none were white. New York Citys 2011 Annual Firearms Discharge Report shows that police shot more black people than white or Hispanic people between 2000 and 2011. All of this amounts to a black person being killed by police, security guards or armed civilians in an extra-judicial manner every 28 hours, based on data for 2012 compiled by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement  (MXGM). The largest proportion  of those people are young black men between the ages of 22 and 31 years old. Most People Killed Are Unarmed Per the MXGM report, the vast majority of those killed during 2012 were unarmed at the time. Forty-four percent had no weapon on them, while 27 percent were allegedly  armed,  but there was no documentation in the police report that  supported the presence of a weapon. Just 27 percent of those killed possessed a weapon or a toy weapon mistaken for a real one, and only 13 percent had been identified as an active or suspected shooter prior to their death. The NAACP report from Oakland similarly found that no weapons were present in 40 percent of cases in which people were shot by police. Suspicious Behavior and Perceived Threats The MXGM study of 313 black people killed by police, security guards and vigilantes in 2012 found that  43 percent of killings  were prompted by vaguely defined suspicious behavior. Equally troubling, about 20 percent of these incidents were precipitated by a family member calling 911 to seek emergency psychiatric care for the deceased. Just a quarter were facilitated by verifiable criminal activity. Per the MXGM report, I felt threatened is the most common reason given for one of these killings, cited in nearly half of all cases. Nearly a quarter were attributed to other allegations, including that the suspect lunged, reached toward waistband, pointed a gun, or drove toward an officer. In just 13 percent of the cases did the person killed actually fire a weapon. Criminal Charges Are Rare Despite the facts stated above, the study by MXGM found that only 3 percent of the 250 officers who killed a black person in 2012 were charged with a crime. Of the 23 people charged with a crime after one of these killings, most of them were vigilantes and security guards.  In most cases, District Attorneys and Grand Juries rule these killings justified.

The Movie “Serpico” and Police Corruption Research Paper Example

The Movie â€Å"Serpico† and Police Corruption Research Paper Example The Movie â€Å"Serpico† and Police Corruption Paper The Movie â€Å"Serpico† and Police Corruption Paper The movie, â€Å"Serpico†, (Maas, 1973) was based on a true story about Frank Serpico, a New York police officer who wanted to expose the corruption in law enforcement and went undercover in order to reveal their criminal activity. He is offered a share of the money in which the corrupt officers share and when he refuses to take part in their activity, he is shunned by his fellow officers and they don’t want to work with him and he remains in danger because he chooses to be honest. Serpico understands that the other officers in his force, are likely to place him in a position that is ultimately, life threatening. Al Pacino plays the role of Frank Serpico, in this movie, who was a real life NYPD detective, (Cannan, 1997) who almost died because of his loyalty to his belief that good cops really do exist. Even when Serpico talks to his superiors in his department, he gets nowhere. Police Commissioner, White acted as if he didn’t care about Serpico’s concerns and ignored his plea for help. Serpico was sure that there were as many crooked cops working in New York City, as there were criminals. He remains loyal, throughout the movie, to his strong belief that police officers should be trustworthy, even though it places his own life in imminent danger. When Commissioner White doesn’t help, Serpico took his plea to a New York Times editor. With the scandal being talked about causes the mayor of New York City to conduct an intense investigation; The Knapp Commission, into Frank Serpico’s bold claims. Frank Serpico became a police officer in 1960 when he had faith in law enforcement and thought that criminals were arrested with traditional methods without using excessive force while arresting them. Seeing all the corruption, Serpico wanted to refrain from joining in one the corruption and asks another officer, by the name of Bob Blair, whom he trusts, to help him in his battle against criminal activity within the New York City police force. Eventually, Serpico went to court, in order to expose the corrupt officers who had tried for so long to bring him down. He testified to the fact that he had witnessed the corruption with his own eyes. The definition of corruption is described as â€Å"forbidden acts involving misuse of office for gain.† (Trautman, 1997) Author, Jack Gattanella tells us about the movie, â€Å"Serpico. â€Å" He says, â€Å"The real powerhouse performance by Pacino, thirty years down the line, still one of his finest.† Al Pacino was perfect for the role of Frank Serpico. Pacino depicted Serpico as an honest and good natured cop who only wanted to do the right thing while exposing those officers who weren’t. Global standards to combat corruption in police forces and services, (Interpol, 2007) have a duty to ensure honesty and ethical behavior and should use force in normal boundaries, in police departments. Frank Serpico (U.S. News, 2007) states that, â€Å"Frank Serpico, the former New York City cop who became a symbol for police honesty, lashed out at society’s leaders.† Serpico continues to hold strong to his faith that society can be led by honest individuals who hold police positions. From the very beginning of the story, where Al Pacino is slumped over in his car seat and dripping blood on his car seat, on his way to the hospital to get treatment for his injuries from being shot, the movie is shown as flashbacks in Serpico’s mind as he thinks about his days of being an honest cop, until the end of the story where he is testifying against the corrupt officers who tried to kill him. Police corruption still remains in our society as we read in Daniel J. Shanahan’s book, â€Å"Badges, Bullets and Bars†. (Shanahan, 2006) We learn a firsthand account of police disloyalty on the force as Shanahan tells us about some of his own experiences while being a cop. Frank Serpico was very courageous in his fight to show human decency and honesty in this movie. He left behind guidelines for all officers who work in law enforcement and will always be remembered as an early display of the way cops are supposed to perform in their duties. In today’s society, there still remains corruption in law enforcement but we still do have loyal officers just like Frank Serpico who are truly dedicated to their careers and work toward upholding the proper standards of the law and not getting involved in pocketing money that doesn’t belong to them, while performing acts that are of criminal nature. â€Å"Serpico† proved to be both educational and enlightening about the corruption in New York City police forces.

Black Plague Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Black Plague - Essay Example The result was a change in the way that most focused on the urban development, specifically with a different perspective toward construction and use of materials. In the novel, â€Å"A Journal of the Plague Year,† by Daniel Defoe, there are references to how individuals began to think after the plague. The reference wasn’t only toward the outcomes and tragedies associated with the plague, but instead led to the beliefs that those who didn’t have the lower social status and misled construction also weren’t subjected to the outcome of the plague. This line of thinking is seen throughout the book, as well as the belief that the plague was a sign to restructure into the modern urban development. The way in which most began to think about the Black Plague after it had been stopped from overtaking Europe was based on preventative measures that wouldn’t allow another disease to take over the land. The objective became the need to find ways and means to cha nge society, specifically which would safeguard individuals from being weakened and dying from the plague. According to Huppert, there was an understanding that the society needed to change so it didn’t exceed the resources that were available. When the plague began to decrease in 1700, there was also a change in how many farmed and lived. This included smaller plots of lands, a focus on not having as large of populations in one place and living within confines that didn’t use as many natural resources.... There are references to the market that is in the city, specifically which is a sign of the plentiful ness of the country. There are references to several coming to town with large amounts and supplies of different items which could be used for those that were going to the market. However, during and after the plague, this began to change with constrained resources that could be monitored and widely used for those that were in need of food or other farm items. â€Å"Without interruption [they] came up to that market known still by the name of Bear – Key, where they supplied the City plentifully with Corn, when Land Carriage began to fail, and when the people began to be sick coming from many places in the country† (Defoe, 252: 1817). This shows the transition which was made between using the extra resources and the response to the plague from what happened to those who took advantage of the excess resources. Another concept which appears in Huppert’s recounts of the Black Plague and from the book is the rebuilding of both urban and rural society. The Black Plague was known to wipe out almost one-third of the population and led cities to have to rebuild for years. This led to several years of trying to restructure the way that the cities should function while being cautious about another plague coming into the cities. The changes were based first on several experiencing life outside of the past constraints from politics and the agendas that were associated with peasants. Many of the peasants began to look for freedom, emancipation and ways to rebuild society in a way where they weren’t considered as slave labor for higher society. The main ideal was to get land without permission from land owners, buy and sell heritages and to work with the bourgeoisie and land

International business Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

International business - Case Study Example In this mode, the statement reporting books are translated so as the proceeding activity will be taken over by the legal bodies. The importance of this type of translation is it makes sense to the financial statements and to show the position of the company’s date of home currency. It forms the simplest currency exposure that can be understood by the ordinary learners. It pertains the duration of the exposure while taking place and it involves a foreign exchange in the business. It also targets the monetary process for the profit generation. The management can initiate some strategies to control these exposures. The use of money markets, foreign exchange derivative such as future contracts and forward contracts (Levi 24). The opted strategy is the company carefully selection of production sites with the aim of reducing cost. The businesses that rely on the domestic market vary from because the profit produced by the dependent firms is high. The policies that have been implemented by the IMF will not work well with the developing countries having a young economy. The policy states that, â€Å"Since the debt crisis of 1980’s, the IMF has assumed the role of bailing out countries in case of the financial crisis. (caused in a large part by the currency speculation in the global casino economy). With the emergency loan packages tied to certain conditions, often referred to as structure adjustment policies† (Levi 24). From these policies, IMF was opposed because of some reasons. Among the reason was that from the structured adjustment policies, IMF created an immoral system of modern day colonialism. The collaboration of IMF with World Bank and WTO, it exposed the economy to inequality and destruction of the environment. Cutting expenditure on health and educations was their advice to countries so that they can pay their debt. When this is performed, elimination of necessary food and putting aside, transportation

Letter to Editor Essay Example for Free

Letter to Editor Essay I have been looking over the results from the Nation Grade Six assessment which was written on the 25th and 26th of March by 16,811 students. Congratulations to all students who entered this exam, especially the students who have been able to gain a position one of Guyana’s five (5) top schools. However, it is very noticeable that most of Guyana’s top graduates are from a private school/institution. That brings along the thought of what really is going on in the public schools in Guyana? Are they treated to less? I am not bringing along the thought that all public school students did badly in this primary examination, but why aren’t more of our governmental institutions doing as well as students of a private school? Is it because of the poverty struck we live in? Is it because the students are not having the adequate material like textbooks to get work finished? Is it the unskilled teachers being employed to teach these students? All of these things are readily available with high quality to students of private institutions. Back in the good old days, no private school could compare to a public school, citizens generally preferred to send their children to a public school to ensure they have a proper ground. Today, that is very unsure. Not only the standard to public primary schools are dropping, but also the behavior in the students today that go to public school is treacherous. Are they having no discipline? Government, parents and teachers need to work together to rebuild the good foundation and name of primary public schools in Guyana.

The Computer Nut :: essays research papers

Title: â€Å"The Computer Nut† Author: Betsy Byars Setting: â€Å"The Computer Nut† takes place in Kate’s small town. Overall, the different settings are in her house, in school, at a carwash, at Willie Lomax’s house, her dad’s office, a pep rally at her school’s football rally, and that’s basically where all the action takes place. Most of the time, the action takes place during the day. Towards the ending, however, most of the action takes place at night around 8 pm- 9pm. Major Characters: The main character of â€Å"The Computer Nut† is Kate. Kate is like any other kid. She is obsessed with computers, she has red hair, and she is an average middle school student. She is receiving messages from an â€Å"alien† who calls himself BB-9. Willie Lomax is the boy who helps find out who is sending Kate messages over the computer. Willie is also Kate’s crush and he is the only one who is truly willing to help Kate find out who really is sending her messages over the computer. He is around Kate’s height, chubby, he has reddish/blondish hair, and is very interested in Kate’s mystery â€Å"alien.† BB-9 is the self-proclaimed â€Å"alien comedian† who wants to come down to Earth to make people laugh, since Earth is the only planet in the universe where people laugh. He is an adult’s age and can take form as anything he wants. He was once a cow on another mission to Earth. A physical description is not availa ble. And lastly, Linda is Kate’s best friend. She is short, has brown hair, and very humorous. Plot Summary: One day, for an art project, Kate is just drawing a picture of herself on her dad’s computer in her dad’s office. After she is all done with her self-portrait, she receives a message from a strange person who later reveals himself as BB-9. BB-9 is an alien in search of a good laugh on Earth, which he says is the only planet where people laugh. After a series of message, Kate hopes the person contacting her is her secret crush, Willie Lomax, who just so happens to know about computers. Kate is determined to find out who it is.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Kate’s best friend, Linda, finds out about the messages, she goes on and on and insists about how it HAS to be Frank Wilkins, a boy who told Kate he loved her at band camp a couple years back.

Much ado about nothing Essay

Thus when Leonato impulsively believes Claudio’s words shaming of Hero he tries to destroy her completely, â€Å"Hence from her, let her die†. Additionally he angrily speaks of her loss of honour as a blemish from which he cannot distance himself through short monosyllabic language, â€Å"O she is fallen into a pit of ink, that the wide sea hath drops too few to wash her clean again†. Conflict is used to draw out the hidden truths that otherwise may not have been revealed. Leonato and his household publicly ‘publish’ that Hero is dead is a bid to punish Claudio and to redeem himself he must accept the hand of Leonato’s ‘niece’ which is really Hero, another example of deception within the play. She is masked implying that Claudio must wed blindly and a dramatic device used to hide feelings or create different character personas. The masking of Hero reveals that Claudio is truly repentant as he is willing to dedicate his life to an unknown woman for Hero and also that the society of marriage has little to do with love. The final irony within the play is the uncovering of Don John’s deceit. It is accidentally stumbled upon by the watch; Dogberry and Verges, two fools who Shakespeare uses as a witty device to create a malapropism. The characters use incorrect words without knowing their blunders to appear stupid and this is an example of comedy within the play that Shakespeare does not disguise subtly as he has previously, but puts bluntly to create the idea of a more modern slapstick humour. Dogberry, a dull witted fool, tries to give witty orders yet misplaces words unlike the intelligence of Beatrice and Benedick, ‘we have now recovered the most dangerous piece of lechery,’ which was intended to read treachery. Borachio admits the deceit to the court finally, ‘I have deceived even your very eyes; what your wisdoms could not discover, these shallow fools have brought to light,’ which is an example of how Shakespeare uses irony as a humorous yet thought provoking device. The theme of conflict is carried through to the plays close as when Borachio confesses to staging the loss of Hero’s innocence, Don Pedro describes this evidence as a sword that tears Claudio, ‘Runs not this speech like iron through your blood? ‘ and Claudio replies that he has already symbolically condemned himself, ‘I have drunk poison whiles he uttered it. ‘ In conclusion we as the audience can see how throughout the ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ there are many conflicts between different characters and around different themes in the play. Beatrice causes conflict, as she rebels against the Elizabethan stereotype of a woman and the role that she is expected to play by society. The audience at the time would have understood her difficulties and battles with societies prejudice against women. In this way Beatrice is seen to be a reflection of Queen Elizabeth I, the monarch of that time. Elizabeth was well known for not ever marrying, and it is clear that Shakespeare took some influence when writing Beatrice’s soliloquies from Queen Elizabeth’s speeches of the time. For example in a letter Queen Elizabeth’s wrote to the king of Sweden declining his proposal of marriage she says â€Å"†We do not conceive in our hearts to take a husband, but highly commend this single life. † The audience will soon hear Beatrice similarly say â€Å"Adams sons are my brethren, and truly I hold it a sin to match in my kindred. † Beatrice and Benedick have a strong conflicting relationship throughout the play as they are fighting against each other in a â€Å"merry war† and also against themselves and their true feelings, which are later revealed to the audience and each other, we hear Benedick say, â€Å"I do not love anything in the world as well as you. † The audience are happy to see this conflict end well and though we are sure that their â€Å"merry war† will continue and keep their love alive, it shall be with humour and affection. Another main theme in the play is that of betrayal and false accusations. When Hero is falsely accused by Don John and Claudio, this conflict brings about great dramatic effectiveness and dramatic irony as the audience knows the truth and are left wondering whether Hero will ever be acquitted. The matter is however solved, surprisingly by Dogberry, who nobody really takes seriously as he is ill educated. Leonato at first tells him to â€Å"be brief† and states â€Å"neighbours you are tedious†. However soon Dogberry and Verges reveal the truth and ironically become the saviours of Hero and Claudio’s relationship. As the plays title suggests, many of the characters take part in observing, listening, or ‘noting’. In order for a plot based on deceit to evolve the characters note each other often, for example when Beatrice is duped into believing that Benedick loves her the plotters conceal themselves in the garden so that Beatrice can note their conversation. â€Å"Look where Beatrice like a lapwing runs close by the ground to hear our conference,† notes Hero. Each line is a placed note for Beatrice to absorb and this is also relevant in the ploy to convince Benedick of Beatrice’s adoration. Shakespeare explores the theme of deception on a variety of levels by showing how deception can have both positive and negative affects. For example the success of deception is shown in the duping of Beatrice and Benedick into falling in love with each other, and alternatively the use of deception in Don John leading Claudio into doubting Hero’s fidelity and ultimately bring about her downfall. Throughout â€Å"Much ado about nothing† there are conflicts presented to the audience which address more serious events, including some that border on tragedy, yet bring about excitement and dramatic tensions in the play to hold the viewers attention, all of which are resolved happily as we see at the end the weddings of the two couples. 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