From April 2009 to June 2010 In the United States there was 5986 reports of misconduct from a police officer that has been recorded, 382 Fatalities were linked To Police Misconduct $347,455,000
Had been spent in related settlements and judgments. Police brutality is a complex phenomenon, which has widespread effects on today's society. In recent years, the police have come under serious scrutiny for police brutality, and this has been underscored by the presence of video camcorders. Accompanying this issue, I will provide several examples and recent cases, as well as the related decision making process. Similar emphasis shall be placed upon the understanding, role, and participation of the individual in public policy making. To begin with, I should like to first offer my understanding of police brutality, and as well, as it is expressed in the literature. In recent years, police brutality has become an issue, and in some instances, one which has been spotlighted as being greater than the (instances). For example, the riots in Los Angeles would probably be representative of some of these actions, as would the salient case of one Rodney King. This case, of course, was given much publicity, while, unlike the communal riots, the selection riots did not involve clashes between white and black civilians - - suburban flight by then had created segregation in the inner cities.
Rather, they involved black ghetto residents and police. Particularly ignited by real or perceived acts of police brutality, but were generally confined to the ghettos. The primary activities of these riots were looting and destruction aimed at white-owned businesses. The first major insurrection riot took place in Harlem in the summer of 1964. Reacting to the killing of an unarmed black teenager by an off-duty white policeman, thousands of Harlem residents went on a rampage, pillaging white-owned businesses and hurling rocks and bottles at New York's riot police. Other major riots followed, in the Watts section of Los Angeles (1965) and Chicago (19 66). In 1967 the country experienced 164 racial disorders in 128 cities, including Detroit, where 32 blacks and 10 whites died in the violence, and damage was estimated at more than $40 million dollars. Some 69,000 National Guard and Federal Troops were called in to restore order in these cities in 1967, a number eclipsed by the 76,000 required the next year to quell the disorders following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Major riots occurred in Memphis, Cleveland, Washington, D.C. Chicago, and Baltimore. The incidents of race riots declined after 1968, but upheavals in Miami in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1992, indicated the potential for grave future trouble. The Los Angeles riot, in particular, cast an ominous pale over the future of American race relations. Sparked by the acquittal of four white policemen charged with police brutality, the Los Angeles riot was the largest, deadliest, and most recent since the turn of the century. By the time 13,000 local and federal law enforcement personnel had restored order, 60 persons were dead and 2,383 injured. Property damage was estimated at $800 million dollars. (Baskin, p. 12) There is little doubt that the problem of police brutality exists, and I might also add, that the age of the video camera, wherein it seems that almost everyone owns one, much of these ominous incidence have been recorded on video tape. How, the, and where does the role and decision making aspect of the average citizen come into play? It seems to me, that this problem, not only is it that it exists, but also provides a fertile area for 'participation in government,' or public policy. At the same time, other hate crimes
