Tendler 1

Hutton Tendler
John Kubler
English 114A
18 November 2014
Police Brutality Annotated Bibliography
Police brutality is one of the largest growing problems in America today. Statistics show
that even police officers admit to using or witnessing other officers using excessive force. 25%
of officers say that they have witnessed fellow members harass a citizen due to his/her race. 43%
of officers agree that following the rules doesnt always get the job done. 52% say it is not
uncommon for an officer to turn a blind eye to improper conduct by other officers. In any given
year, an average of 6.6% of police officers will have a complaint filed against them for
misconduct. Every year cases are filed against 9.5% city police, 3.4% sheriff officers, 2.9% of
country police, and 1.3 % of state police for their misconduct. (graphs 1). Innocent people are
hurt by police every day for minor incidents. Color of law refers to an act done by an individual
that appears to be legitimate due to his/her position of governmental power. Many officers
violate the color of law regularly. Not only do they violate these terms; many officers work
together to cover them up. Being a police officer is a huge responsibility. Citizens trust in these
officials to serve and protect us. It is sad that so many people fear for their lives and are too
scared to call a police officer to help them.
My project is as follows: I will further discuss the issues behind police brutality. By
discussing several cases in which the civilian appears to be completely innocent I will expand
upon the police using excessive forces. I will also explain how the police are trained through a
specific academy which teaches a certain code of conduct. The Department of Justice will further

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help me to explain that the law applies to everyone. Lastly I will examine this questions: Why do
police officials feel the need to abuse their powers? Why do they kill people before justice
can be served? And finally, why cant we feel safe around these officials? I will focus on
specific cases in which citizens have been brutally attacked by police officers. I will also try to
bring in some personal experiences. By understanding the police officers mentality, I can begin
to differentiate between the abuse of power and the act of one doing their job.
NYPD Cop breaks ten-year-olds leg for filming him policebrutality.info. n.p. 17 February
2014. Web. 19 November 2014
Innocent people are approached by police officers every day. I would like to discuss a ten
year old boy who was kicked in the shin by a police officer for trying to video tape their
encounter. When his mother heard his screams, she came down immediately to help the boy. The
cops pulled her outside and her breast popped out of her shirt, exposing a pierced nipple. The cop
flicked the ring and verbally degraded her in front of her neighbors. She was charged with
assaulting an officer and taken to jail. Her sons foot was later found to have a fracture in it. I
can use this evidence to show that a young boy was brutally assaulted by an officer. He was
completely innocent and has every right to video tape his encounter with the police officer. His
mother did not deserve what happened to her either.
Hohol, Larry. Police Brutality Worse than Rodney King The Robert Leone Story. Online
video clip. YouTube. YouTube. 20 June 2012. Web. 16 November 2014.
Robert Leone was pulled over for a minor traffic violation by another vehicle. He was
followed by a cop. Leone should have pulled over but thought he was doing nothing wrong and
proceeded to keep driving. Instead of blocking the road, the officers decided to ram his car off of
the road into the dirt. They damaged both vehicles and were unable to get out of the car. They

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assaulted Leone and even took him to the hospital twice in one night. He faced many charges
that were all eventually dropped. He is still serving time in jail and waiting to be let out. I can
use this evidence to show that a completely innocent man was brutally attacked and accused of
many things that were untrue.
Ferner, Matt. Man Who Says he was Beaten and Jailed for Months Now Faces Deportation.
Huffingtonpost.com. n.p. 10 November 2014. Web. 19 November 2014.
Guillen was completely innocent and did not deserve what the cops did to him. He is an
illegal immigrant. Undercover cops began to chase him as he ran, he told someone to call the
police, afraid that he was being robbed. The police officers tackled him, beat him, and stomped
his head repeatedly. He was completely sober and doing nothing wrong. He was accused of
selling drugs, but no drugs were found. He was charged with assaulting an officer, tampering
with physical evidence, and resisting arrest. Guillen is an illegal immigrant that was sober and
causing no problems. This helps my case that all men should be treated equal. No matter what,
the police officers had no right to treat him the way they did.
Grim, Ryan. Ferner, Matt. Justice Department Blocks Deportation of Immigrant Beaten by
California Police. Huffingtonpost.com. 6 October 2014. Web. 19 November 2014.
Arzate doesnt have the best background. He is an illegal immigrant and has been
deported twice. He also spent some time in prison. He has mental and health issues. He thought
he was at his friends house, and was unaware that they had moved. He began rummaging
around outside, and someone called the police. When he heard it he ran about 4 blocks before
being tackled by the police. They brutally assaulted him and it was all caught on camera. The
significance of this case is that the department of justice became involved and ordered the

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deportation to be put on hold because Arzate was a victim of a crime. Despite his background,
the DOJ wants it to be known that the law applies to everyone.
Brown, Emily. Timeline: Michael Brown Shooting in Ferguson, Mo.. USAToday.com. n.p. 18
November 2014. Web. 19 November 2014.
Michael Brown is one of the largest cases in the media today. He was shot 6 times while
walking down the street with a friend. A local convenience store was robbed and the boys fit the
description. Officer Wilson claimed to have shot the boy in self-defense due to an altercation. I
will use this evidence to show that it is never necessary to shoot someone six times out of selfdefense. If Brown could have had medical attention, he could have served his time in jail. No one
deserves to be shot 6 times for any reason. I will also use this to show how racial profiling can
result in fatality.
Dahl, Julia. Trayvon Martin Shooting: A Timeline of Events. CBSnews.com. CBS Interactive
Inc. 12 July 2013. Web. 19 November 2014.
Trayvon Martin was walking down the street while talking on the phone. Officer
Zimmerman was following him and reported that he looked suspicious. He shot Martin and
killed him, Zimmerman claimed it was self-defense. Zimmerman was found not guilty due to
lack of sufficient evidence. His wife later claimed that he was threatening to kill her and that she
believed he was guilty in the Martin case. I will use this evidence to show that despite the verdict,
Zimmerman has still proven to be guilty. I will also use this to show how an innocent black
male can be accused of malicious crimes, just for walking down the street.

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Police Brutality: Outline

Thesis Statement:
Cases such as Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Robert Leone, Krystie Silvera, and William
Guillen provide supporting evidence to the social injustices of police brutality in America.
Outline:
Introduction:
-Use of excessive force, abuse of power (false arrest, racial profiling, sexual abuse, verbal
and physical abuse, etc.,)
-In 2010 annual statistics show 6,613 officers were reported for misconduct. 23.8% were
found to use excessive force, 9.3% were found to have used sexual misconduct, etc.,
-Police brutality is wrong and should not be tolerated by any circumstances.
Claim 1: Police use excessive force on innocent people
-Evidence source: Police Brutality Worse than Rodney King The Robert Leone Story

An innocent man is pulled over for another persons minor traffic violation

He is taken into custody; beaten, tasered, and maced.

He will spend the next 1-4 years in prison even though he was found innocent.

-Evidence Source: NYPD Cop Breaks Ten Year Olds Leg for Filming him Krystie
Silvera

Cops were looking for Silveras ex-boyfriend

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The ten year old boy came to the door and started video taping

The officer kicked him in the shin; the boy started to scream. It turned out to be a
fracture.

The mother came downstairs; cops pulled her outside where her breast popped out
of her bra and her pierced nipple was exposed. The officer flicked her piercing
and verbally degraded her.

She was charged with assaulting an officer and released after two days with a bail
of $1,500.

Claim 2: Color of Law Violation

-Evidence Source: Justice Department Blocks Deportation of Immigrant Beaten by
California Police Edgar Arzate

Arzate is an illegal immigrant, he has been deported twice, and spent time in
prison.

He has struggled with drug addiction and mental health issues.

He was beaten for running from the cops.

The Department of Justice is protecting Arzate from deportation to make it clear

to all that the rule of law applies to everyone.

-Evidence Source: Man Who says he was Beaten by Police and Jailed for Months Now
Faces Deportation William Guillen

The police tackled him, beat him, and repeatedly stomped his head.

Accused of a drug deal; no drugs were found

Accused of assaulting an officer, tampering with physical evidence, and resisting

arrest; he is the only one suffering from an assault.

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Illegal Immigrant; Charges have been dismissed but he is still awaiting

deportation.

Claim 3: Walking down the street can lead to fatality.

-Evidence source: Trayvon Martin Shooting: A timeline of events

On February 26th Trayvon Martin was walking back from a convenience store
while on the phone with a female, George Zimmerman (officer) begins to follow
him.

Zimmerman shot and killed Martin; Zimmerman claims it was self-defense.

Zimmerman is found not guilty; citizens are shocked.

-Evidence source: Timeline: Michael Brown Shooting in Ferguson

Michael Brown is walking down the street with a friend.

Police get a call saying a convenience store is being robbed.

Brown was shot 6 times while he was unarmed.

Personal Convictions and Experiences:

-Event 1: My friend has bi-polar disorder which causes him to act irrationally at times.
The cops flashed their lights at him when he was about 14, and he began to ran. When the cops
got closer they told him to stop and put his hands up or they would shoot him. He did what he
was told and they proceeded to tackle him. One officer put his knee in his face and continued to
rub it into the asphalt. The other officer proceeded to kick him while telling him to calm down
and stop moving.
-Event 2: Another friend of mine was sitting on the curb with a friend when he was
approached by police officers. My friend asked the cop for his name and badge number because

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of the way he was talking to him. The cops refused to give him the information and beat him
severely for asking.
-Event 3: My step dad was about 14 years old in the 70s. He was walking with some
friends when they saw a lot of people in a local store, they went in to check out what was going
on. The shop owner was on acid and insisted on giving away the things in her store. People
began taking things and walking out. Local neighbors saw what was going on and called the
police. When they arrived, everyone ran away. They told my step dad to get out of there and he
gave them an attitude saying he was going as quickly as he could. They proceeded to hit him on
the shoulder with a baton leaving him with bruises for nearly a month.
-Event 4: My step dad was about 16 years old this time at a local house party. Some of
the kids were gambling with dice when they heard the cop cars pull up. Everyone ran, except my
step dad. He decided to take the money that was left on the table and then began to run. The
police caught him and grabbed him by the shoulder. They told him to stand against a fence with
his arms up and legs spread, where they proceeded to search him for any weapons or
paraphernalia. He had nothing on him and was doing nothing wrong. One of the police officers
kicked him in the behind and told him to get out of there. They kicked him so hard he was
literally lifted off the ground and he could not run when told to do so.
Naysayer arguments addressed and defeated:
-Counter claim 1:

In Leones case, the officer insisted that Leone spit in his face and resisted arrest.
The dash cam in the police officers car showed that Leone was completely
cooperative and begged them to stop hurting him. No listener could hear the
sound of someone spitting at another person.

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In Silveras case, the ten year old boy was recording the interaction with the cops.
They accused his mother of assault, even though her neighbors witnessed her
being sexual and verbally degraded by the officers. When she got out of jail, she
took her son to the doctor to get x-rayed which resulted in his leg being fractured.

-Counter claim 2:

Arzate was charged with assaulting an officer and personally inflicted bodily
injury. The officers beat Arzate kicking, punching, and hitting him with a
flashlight. The house they were in front of had surveillance cameras that caught
the whole thing on video. It shows the officers noticing the cameras and
discussing it amongst each other and then pulling the victim out of the cameras
view.

Guillen was severely beaten out side of a local restaurant. He was tackled,
handcuffed, beaten, dragged across the pavement, and his head was stomped on
repeatedly. He continues to suffer from inadequate medical care and the physical
and mental effects of the beating. He was accused of being involved in a drug
transaction, no drugs were found. He is completely innocent.

-Counter claim 3:

Martin was shot for walking down the street. Zimmerman said it was selfdefense due to a physical altercation between the two. Due to lack of efficient
evidence, Zimmerman is found not guilty. His wife later claims that he
threatened to kill her and believes that he is not innocent in the Martin case.

Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot and killed
by Wilson. Wilson claims it was self-defense after Brown attacked him and

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tried to take his gun. Witnesses say he was shot while running away from the
officer. The autopsy report shows that he was shot from the front six times.
Four times in the arm and twice in the head. I believe this is more than enough
times to shoot anyone. If Brown really was in the wrong, Wilson should have
arrested him and let him do his time. If he was in fear for his life, he could
have shot him once in the arm and then let him seek medical attention before
taking him to jail.
Conclusion:
- Police brutality is an ongoing issue in America. Police officials are constantly abusing
their power and hurting innocent people. They think that if they do something wrong, they can
easily cover it up. No matter what the civilian has done, police are taught a specific way to deal
with people in the police academy and they have absolutely no rights to break those boundaries.
There are very few cases where killing someone is okay to do. As a police officer, it is most
important to detain a criminal and let justice be served. Police are here to serve and protect. We
should not be afraid to receive assistance from police forces.