Running Head: POLICE BRUTALITY AND WOMEN

Literary Review/Research Report: Police Brutality and Women

The University of Texas at El Paso
Sebastian Chaparro

Abstract

POLICE BRUTALITY AND WOMEN

This article covers the aspects of different concepts that people consider as Police
Brutality. The different misconceptions that society has adopted in order to keep officers
away from their routines. Also that whenever females are victims of this issue, it is
considered to be a gender crime, when in reality they are less unlike to be affected directly
by police misconduct. The misunderstanding of the 4th amendment and gender crimes, are
very frequent issues. With evidence from experts on the field, this misconception will be
refuted and proved wrong. The causes of this controversial topic are also discussed.
This article also shows how the issue is not about gender, but more of a racial problem.
Racial stereotypes influence the way officers behave towards civilians, tagging Hispanics
and African Americans as potential criminals by nature. Also the involvement of media and
yellow press has been crucial because it encourages people to feel hate and resentment
towards officers.
Alternatives to solve this broad problem are also discussed. Some of the options to do so,
are to strength the way officers are taught on academies prior to start on the field. At the
end of the report the audience could see that this is a very fragile problem because it is
almost impossible to solve, but yet, efforts are being done in order to reduce the rates of
police and civilians death due to police brutality and misconduct.

POLICE BRUTALITY AND WOMEN

Introduction
Police misconduct and excessive use of force has turned into a worth-to-analyze
issue for local, state and federal representatives over the past decades. Citizens complaints
are significantly increasing year by year and media involvement has made this problem a
big issue which commits the government to intervene. Even though this is a worldwide
problem; in the United States, this issue is starting to emerge as a popular and frequent
problem, and the female population are feeling threated since the rates of this problem has
risen on attacks towards women from law enforcement officers. Police misconduct is a
critical topic because it is affecting society as a whole directly and indirectly. The concept
that citizens have categorized as police brutality, the factors that cause law enforcement
officers to perform a potential misconduct; ways to regulate, prevent any misconducts,
show how gender is not a factor for officers to commit an excessive use of force crime, and
monitor police officers are the subtopics from this broad and complex issue that is affecting
the community that will be discussed in this report.

Concept of Police Brutality, Gender and its Misconception

Nowadays, society has given a misconception to what and when police misconduct
is being performed by any law enforcement officer. The truth is, there is not a concrete
statement that can give an exact definition to the terms police brutality/misconduct.
Every single person can have a different opinion of what this problem is. It can go from an
illegal search, to an excessive use of force causing physical damage to a potential criminal.
Todays society use the 4th amendment as an excuse to incriminate police officers with any
type of police misconduct. It states, The right of the people to be secure in their persons,

POLICE BRUTALITY AND WOMEN

houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or
affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things
to be seized. (U.S. Const. Amend IV). People most likely excused themselves with this
amendment when they brake a traffic law so officers do not get to involved and rigorous on
their searches and punishments. And when in any case, the police officer searches their
vehicles or any property, people think they can defend themselves with the 4th amendment.
To refute societys thoughts, Sheriff Wade Lieseke, from the Nye County in Nevada,
said in an interview held by the Pahrump Valley Gazzette that people have misunderstood
the 4th amendment by thinking that an officer cannot held a search on a person or a property
without a warrant. He denies this popular opinion by stating that probable cause is the only
thing an officer needs to conduct a search if he or she thinks that a life can be on risk; he
also mentioned that the U.S Supreme Court created the Plain View Doctrine, which
allows a warrantless entry if evidence of any crime is in plain view; warrantless searches
incident to arrest; and warrantless vehicle searches, with probable cause to search
established, which is allowed under the Supreme Court rulings, because vehicles are highly
mobile. (Lieseke, 1997. Pg 11).
Prusinski (2015) listed on his Touro Law Review what factors the court takes in
consideration to judge an officer with police misconduct:
In Johnson, the court considered four factors in determining whether an officer used
excessive physical force:
(1) The need for the application of force, (2) the relationship between that need and
the amount of force that was used, (3) the extent of the injury inflicted, and (4)

POLICE BRUTALITY AND WOMEN

whether the force was applied in a good faith effort to maintain and restore
discipline or maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm. (Pg
7)
This can help an individual to figure out what police brutality is and in what
scenarios it becomes a crime and not just a misconception from society. Recently, another
misconception that has happened is that now officers are specifically targeting females to
use excessive use of force towards them. More and more cases in which a female citizen
has been affected by signs of potentially police brutality have emerged. Media are covering
this cases and informing the nation about them. These cases play with societys pathos
making them feel pity for victims of police brutality cases and develop an anger and hate
attitude towards police officers; which creates the stereotype of corrupt officers, leading
people to behave defensively with no respect whatsoever for authorities, in this case, any
law enforcement officers.
In a survey held to 150 random female students at the University of Texas at El
Paso, they answered two questions about their personal experiences and their opinion on
the issue. The questions they were asked were have you ever been a victim of excessive
use of force, police brutality, or any other kind of police misconduct/corruption? If yes
explain and Do you think gender is an important factor for an officer to considerate
before committing any of the previously mentioned infractions?. 147 students answered no
to the first question and 3 answered yes and the three of them specified that they taught that
the officer was rude and unfair when writing a traffic violation ticket, which is what was
previously explained as a misunderstanding (See table 1). 124 students answered that
gender is a factor for officer to make any misconduct towards a citizen, and 26 students

POLICE BRUTALITY AND WOMEN

said that gender is irrelevant and officers are just fairly corrupt with any citizen
regardless of their sex (see table 2).

Is sex a factor for officers to considerate when commiting a ny misconduct?"

Yes (124) No (26)

"Have you ever been a victim of any police misconduct?"

Yes (147) No (3)

Table 1

Table 2.
This survey reflects the opinion of female citizens towards the issue.

Generalizing and resuming the information, final thoughts on the topic can be made.

POLICE BRUTALITY AND WOMEN

Female citizens are not less or more a specific target for officers to commit any
misconduct on them.

Potential Causes of Police Misconduct

As it was previously mentioned, media has a big role influencing on societys point
of view. They broadcast a rude and attacking perspective of police officers, which leads
people to be upset at their local police department agents and giving all officers that
stereotype of beating potential criminals and even innocent people. This misconception
caused by peoples ignorance are leading them to behave rudely when facing a police
officer; without the respect they deserve as authorities. Most of the people who think this
way, belong to a minority ethnic group; Hispanics/Latinos and African American groups
have been popular to match the characteristics previously described.
George Washington Universitys Specialist on the field stated on their reseach
Racially Biased Policing: Determinants of Citizen Perceptions that:
Dominant racial groups typically see the police as allies. This is especially
transparent in deeply divided societies, like Northern Ireland and South Africa,
where the police are or were a key institutional pillar in a sectarian sociopolitical
system, and where the dominant racial or ethnic group traditionally views the police
as an instrument for suppressing subordinate groups (Weitzer 1995).
Table 3 represents the ethnic groups that
suffer the most from police brutality

This explains why the majority

of the victims of cases of potentially

police brutality against civilians are minorities. They feel attacked, which leads them to
attack back.

POLICE BRUTALITY AND WOMEN

This leads to another cause of police misconduct. See Table 1 for backup information about
race issues that involve police
brutality. This demonstrate that it is
more a race and ethnicity issue than a
gender issue. Statistics provided
higher rates in minority groups than
in women. Females tend to obey and respect the laws more than male citizens, causing
them to have less chances to face a police officer. They dont break the law and involve in
criminal activities as men do.
Society and new generations are growing up with the mentality that police officers are only
a nuisance and hindrance for people. Although females dont involve in illegal activities as
men do, they feel more unsafe and vulnerable than men, resulting in getting a self-defense
posture and an offensive attitude when facing a law enforcement officer. Respect towards
officers have banished, leading the community to show an offensive attitude against
authorities.
On the other hand, police officers cannot let their authority be underestimated by civilians.
When somebody is not obeying the law and yet not show a comprehensible and mature
attitude by underrating the authority who is being confronted by, that is when excessive use
of force may occur. In some scenarios, officers have the authority and the right to the use of
force against a potential criminal. Circuit courts have analyzed reasonableness under tests
that hinge almost exclusively on weighing the so-called Graham factors: (1) the severity of
the crime at issue, (2) whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the

POLICE BRUTALITY AND WOMEN

officers or others, and (3) whether he is actively resisting arrest or attempting to flee.
(Gold. 2015. Pg 27).

Citizens are not content with police

behaviors. Some of the most savage criminals
have rebealed by killing police officers. The
most popular example is the death of the
officer who choked Eric Garner to death, by a
rebel protestant. This citizens think that they
Figure 1

can overpower the justices systems that

authorities have set, so they take revenge or

make justice by their own. Figure 1 represents the understanding black lives that were taken
by any police department officer and comforting the police officer that represent officers
killed on duty.
According to experts on the field and retired police officers, All officers want to
make it home for dinner, and more experienced officers have had more time on the job to
develop techniques good or bad to do so. However, the research on the relationship
between officer tenure and violence against the police is mixed. ( Gibbs 2014. Pg 281).
This author basically showcased that police officers have to seek for their safety and put
their lives as a priority instead of the criminals. Officers are humans as well, they have a
family and a social life, they have people who depend from them, thats why they
sometimes use the excessive use of force when they see their lives at risk or even another
civilians life at risk.

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What is Being Done to Prevent and Regulate Police Misconduct?

Many alternatives have been discussed by Congress, Senate, Supreme Court, and
even local police departments to prevent this problem that is affecting the community. This
authorities have also try to come up with ways to discipline potential corrupt officers that
may be practicing a civil misconduct or excessive use of force while on duty. According to
Stephen Rushin, this attempts have resulted in failures.
Federal law as it existed in 1991 was incapable of dealing with this sort of systemic
wrongdoing. Previous attempts by the federal government to regulate police
misconduct have relied on a host of minimally invasive methods, like evidentiary
exclusion and private civil litigation. These traditional approaches to the federal
regulation of local police misconduct were largely ineffective at combating the
deeply ingrained, organizational roots of police misconduct. Further complicating
the regulation of local police misconduct, federal courts have previously held that
both private and public litigants generally lack standing to seek equitable relief
against local police departments, absent explicit congressional authorization.
(Rushin 2015. Pg 1347).
It is almost impossible to prevent a case of police brutality as well as it is to prevent
a crime. Wrongdoers do not tell people when and how they are going to brake the law and
human beings are incapable on their nature to predict what will happen on the future.
However, what can be done to prevent police brutality, according to New York City Bill De

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POLICE BRUTALITY AND WOMEN

Blasio on an interview with Jonathan Lemire for NBC News, is to improve and upgrade the
way officers are thought on academies. Lemire stated that De Blasio on Monday noted
that the NYPD has revamped its training program and all officers are being newly taught on
how to handle street confrontation. A few police precincts have begun a pilot body camera
program, while Police Commissioner William Bratton is placing an emphasis on improving
relations with the public at the heart of his plan to reinvent how officers patrol their beats.
(Lemire on De Blasio 2015).

Conclusion
Sumed up, police brutality is a fragile and controversial issue that nowadays is
turning into a trending and frequent series of events. Cases involving females have
increased, which has given society the thought that it is a gender problem, when it is
actually the opposite because women tend to be better citizens, in terms of breaking the
laws, than men. Statistics reveal that it is an issue that deals more with race than with
gender. Media plays a crutial role by broadcasting this events and infunding a negative
tought on law enforcement officers. Officers have been targeted by society as brutals and
savages who do not care for others, the truth is that officers job is to protect and serve the
community; and women, since are considered to be more vulnerable to this problem, are the
main supporters of the idea that police officers are corrupt. Misconceptions have affected
both the police and the society. Although there may be some cases of excessive use of force
and some corrupt police officers, their priority is to end the day at home with their families.
They have the authority to act in certain ways that people may consider rude and unmoral,
when they are on scenarios that their lives are oat risk. Police brutality is an issue that have
been affecting the community by a long time ago, and it will keep being that way because

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society are never satisfacted with anything; media have altered the way we think making us
think that everything the government does is wrong. Keeping the media out of the play will
be a good alternative. It will stop infunding a negative and offensive attitude towards law
enforcement officers, which will create a more calmed, meek, gentle, tame, and mild
society; which will give authorities no reason to excessive use of force or commit any
misconduct. Unfortunately, medias goal and purpose is to maintain society informed, the
matter is that their way to inform is to use a yellow press-way to inform. In other words, is
a cycle that will never end.

References
Hesselink, A., & Hefele, B. (2015). A criminological assessment of police brutality and
criminality against women in custody in South Africa. Police Practice & Research
Schulman, C. (Producer). and Haggis, P.(Director). (2004). Crash (Motion Picture/Movie).
United States: Lionsgate Pictures
Alter, C. (2015). Sandra Blands Not the First Black Woman to Experience Police Violence
(website article). Time.com

POLICE BRUTALITY AND WOMEN

Vaccaro, A. (2015). Woman says transit officers brutalized her for calling cops on them
(website news article). Boston.com
DeWayne, W. (2016). Sandra Bland's fate sealed by bad policing. USA Today
Prusinski, T. (2015). When Does Force Becomes Excessive?. Touro Law Review

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