1. Stewart A. Fountain
University of Maryland Baltimore County
Author’s Note
This paper was written for an Independent Study under the guidance of Dr. Sarah Archibald
Police Brutality
A Literary Analysis on Solving Problems in America’s Law Enforcement

2. POLICE BRUTALITY 1
Abstract
The following paper is an analysis of previous research done in the field of criminal
justice and sociology, in understanding the phenomenon of police brutality. Underreporting of
crimes has led to speculation as to the extent of the current problem. Additionally, public
concern is growing as more and more police brutality cases emerge. Sociological approaches
were made within previous research to better understand and identify why police brutality is
occurring and why the public is unhappy. Concluding remarks summarize the current issue and
reflects on possible changes and repairs that can be done to better resolve this social issue.
Introduction
In recent years the excessive use of force from our nation’s law enforcement has caused a
great concern among the general public. Witness accounts puts the lone officer’s word against a
group of people or a community, often times causing racial tension, riots, and protests. However,
publicized police shootings and use of force videos have been surfacing and entering our media
for not only the nation, but the world, to see. Often times these videos catch things that witnesses
do not see, or conveniently leave out. Law enforcement agencies all around the country are
recognizing that they need to protect their own word through the use of video. Body cameras are
being implemented so that the officer has something to validate their testimony. But while this
may help protect the officer, it may also condemn them. It has been nearly two decades since the
Los Angeles riots after the Rodney King incident in 1991, which sparked a number of law
enforcement reforms, specifically in the LAPD. (Wihbey & Walter Kille, 2105; Stone &
Foglesong, 2009) However, despite those reforms, there are still incidents arising from racial
disparities and conflict. In July 2014, Eric Garner was subjected to a “chokehold” maneuver,

3. POLICE BRUTALITY 2
which resulted in his death. (Goodman & Goldstein, 2014) While evidence has come out that it
in fact was the way the NYPD were trained to take down a noncompliant individual, it sparked
outrage amongst the nation. (Wihbey & Walter Kille, 2105) A month later in Ferguson Missouri,
Officer Darren Wilson, shot and killed Michael Brown after an altercation. Wilson was subject
to a grand jury investigation and was cleared of all charges in the Brown case. This caused even
further turmoil and unrest. Riots and protests only spark more conflict. (Wihbey & Walter Kille,
2105) While these are only two of the number of recent incidents, it is clear that 1) there is a
serious problem with the way law enforcement is handling suspects or citizens, and 2) they are
being misinterpreted through false accusations and from media portrayal.
The initial purpose of this paper was to provide a statistical analysis of demographics
within police departments and their respective communities. Racial tension may arise in
communities where their police department is primarily the opposite race. A cross reference
analysis was then to be done by comparing police use of excessive force against these
demographics to develop patterns of behavior in certain departments or communities.
Unfortunately, no such data exists to conduct this analysis and would be insignificant. The data
that is available is limited and often unreliable due to false reports and underreporting by police
agencies. Therefore, whatever analysis is done would not represent the total problem that faces
these issues. The fact remains that there is indeed a problem and it is increasing in public
awareness. The focus instead will be a literary analysis of studies and reports done throughout
the nation and to provide feedback on what can be done and the limitations to what is happening
now.

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Literary Analysis
In this literary analysis there are several terms that must be identified to understand as the
foundation of this study. First, we must define that race is in fact a socially defined construct and
not something defined by science. There are no biological differences with any of the so called
‘races.’ Instead the idea of race allows us to distinguish different ethnicities of human beings.
Discrimination is a behavior aimed at denying particular ethnicity equal rights to a good or a
service within society. Putting these two together forms the idea of racism, which is an ideology
to justify that inequality between ethnicities. (Chaney & Robertson, 2013) These two ideas will
be important to understand the significance of racial disparities. Furthermore, the idea of force
is crucial to understand. Force is defined as physical acts or threats of physical acts intentionally
used to do an act, whether criminal or not. This can be broken down into subcategories of deadly
force and unlawful force, where deadly force is force intending to cause death or great bodily
harm to an individual, and unlawful force is defined as the use of force without the consent of the
person being acted upon. (Gifis, 2010) In the case of deadly force a person can be justified in
using deadly force if they are being protected by the self-defense doctrine. This allows a person
the ability to protect one’s self, members of a family, and possibly one’s property. There are
three points to the self-defense doctrine however. The person must be free of fault and the non-
aggressor to an incident. There should also be no other mode of escape by either retreat or
declining conflict. Lastly, there must be a reasonable belief of and/or impending danger to one’s
life in order to justify any action. (Gifis, 2010) This can prove difficult in court. If there is not
beyond a reasonable doubt that an action is defined as self-defense, then it must meet all the
criteria for not only civilians, but for law enforcement officers as well. This of course only
applies to actions that are defined as self-defense in a court of law. A final term that must be

5. POLICE BRUTALITY 4
looked at is the extent of use of force. Known as police brutality, this term is defined as the
excessive use of physical force or verbal abuse for psychological intimidation used by a police
officer. (Chaney & Robertson, 2013) Recent studies have shown that Blacks are more likely to
report police brutality than Whites, but are also more likely to underreport incidents because of
negative social factors. Similarly, it has been found that Whites are more accepting (about 30%
more) of the use of force by police than Blacks are. (Chaney & Robertson, 2013)
In a recent incident (April, 2015) where a South Carolina officer openly shot and killed a
fleeing black male, it has come into question the ethics of a law enforcement officer shooting at a
fleeing suspect. (Schmidt & Apuzzo, 2015) Mainly the use of force is being brought into
question. A video surfaced that has caused the officer to be placed into custody, but recent
findings have only left more unanswered questions for the public and law enforcement. The
question remains as to the appropriateness of an officer shooting down a fleeing suspect. Only if
the officer reasonably believes that the fleeing person poses a significant threat to the officer or
the surrounding community, can the officer use such deadly force, from Tennessee vs Garner
[S.C. 1985]. (Tucker, 2015) If there is no reasonable belief that there could be any danger, then
the officer is to use less lethal means of acquiring the suspect. For instance calling in back up or
pursuing the individual themselves. (Tucker, 2015)
There have been multiple incidents just within the past few months between 2014 and
2015 that have been highlighted by the media for the excessive use of force by law enforcement
towards minorities. These have sparked nationwide concerns regarding the treatment of all
citizens by law enforcement officials. Unfortunately, trends such as these are incalculable. FBI
director James B. Comey remarks after the incident in Ferguson:

6. POLICE BRUTALITY 5
“I asked my staff to tell me how many people shot by police were African-
American in this country. I wanted to see trends. I wanted to see information.
They couldn’t give it to me, and it wasn’t their fault. Demographic data regarding
officer-involved shootings is not consistently reported to us through our Uniform
Crime Reporting Program. Because reporting is voluntary, our data is incomplete
and therefore, in the aggregate, unreliable.”
(Wihbey and Walter Kille, 2105)
That is one of the biggest concerns within the law enforcement community, that the
Uniform Crime Report [UCR] is extremely unreliable. Not all of the data is reported, so what is
reported is not a clear indication of what is truly going on within the United States. But while
this extends to the reported number of crimes, it also shows the number of “justified homicides”
committed by police officers. Again, because this data is voluntary, not all of the departments
truly report the correct number to the FBI. This leaves the FBI in a situation of improperly
reporting the correct number of incidents, crimes, and reports, etc. in the UCR. They can only
report what is given to them, and nothing more. (Wihbey & Walter Kille, 2105) Currently, the
UCR states that there were 461 justified homicides by law enforcement officers in 2013. The
following chart taken from data from Table 14 of the 2013 UCR shows the total justified
homicides for the past five years. (FBI UCR, 2013)
Justifiable Homicide
by Weapon, Law Enforcement, 2009–2013
Year Total
2009 414
2010 397
2011 404
2012 426
2013 461
(Excerpt taken from Expanded Homicide Data Table 14, UCR 2013)
The table clearly shows a steady rise in reported justified homicides in the United States.
These numbers seem fairly reasonable seeing as nearly 13,000 homicides were reported in 2012.

7. POLICE BRUTALITY 6
(FBI, July 2013) But when compared to the number of officers killed in 2013, there’s a different
look. In a FBI press release in 2014, it was reported that 27 officers were killed by felony
murder. That number is only 44% down from the previous year of 49 murdered officers. (FBI,
May 2014) When compared to the numbers given of justified homicides, any average person
could make the conclusion that law enforcement officers are clearly killing more people than
people are killing officers. While these are raw numbers and do not clearly define the reason for
the justified homicide, an untrained eye could make that assumption. This is one of the major
problems when trying to compare these statistics. Statistics can be manipulated to represent
whatever the statistician wants to represent. When looking at these numbers, one has to wonder
how many of these justified homicides saved someone’s life, prevented a crime, or even occurred
when a suspect was resisting arrest and fighting back against law enforcement. The numbers
only tell part of the actual story. Alternatively, when the same approach is taken for murdered
officers, it is defined as murdered and not justified homicide. Murder is defined as an unlawful
homicide or a killing of a human being with malice aforethought. (Gifis, 2010) This requires
premeditation and the intent to kill. Justified homicide does not have the same premeditation or
intent as murder, therefore comparing these two as statistically the same is illogical. The
definitions are not the same and thus the numbers do not represent the same phenomenon.
Police brutality is a phenomenon in our society that must be addressed if law enforcement
agencies are to regain support and confidence in their community. Currently, there is a great
divide among Americans in how well the police treat different ethnic communities. As of August
2014, directly after the Ferguson, MO incident, 70% of Blacks and 25% of Whites feel that
police do a poor job treating racial and ethnic groups differently. (Pew Research Center, 2014)
Unfortunately for these findings there were no other statistics provided for any other races. The

8. POLICE BRUTALITY 7
number of Blacks then decreases to 57% when asked about the amount of force used in situations
whereas the number of White who responded stays about the same (23%). As a whole 54% have
a great deal of confidence in police departments compared to 44% who feel the opposite. (Pew
Research Center, 2014) Unfortunately the issue is that there is an unequal divide in these results.
That only accounts for 98% of the respondents with a 2% variation. As a sociologist, one has to
be very wary of these results. While this data may appear to be a good representation of the
views common Americans have, there is still little known about the respondents to this survey,
thus the results are slightly skewed in favor of those who were able to respond to it.
The rise of racism in law enforcement officers is a considerable concern with citizens.
Racism and discrimination cause psychological distress for citizens and police officers alike and
raise tensions and cause unwanted problems. They have been examined by researchers in a
concept called “Negrophobia” and may be a possible justification for the shooting of a black
person. Negrophobia is defined as an irrational fear of blacks. (Chaney & Robertson, 2013)
Based on this, it is argued that Whites shoot or harm African Americans based on stereotypes
and the “fear” that they have. This is often a result of the idea that Black males are viewed as the
“typical criminal.” This is reinforced by the media and the general public. Since they are
characterized as the aggressive criminal, police are more likely to use more force on someone
they might view as a criminal. (Chaney & Robertson, 2013) So is this theory based on the
foundation of race or the characteristics of the common criminal? Researchers argue that this is
based on race. In a recent study, researchers Cassandra Chaney, of Louisiana State University,
and Ray V. Robertson, from Lamar University, conducted an experiment where they examined
statistics from the National Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project (NPMSRP) and
blog posts from the same website. (See article: Racism and Police Brutality in America) Here

9. POLICE BRUTALITY 8
they proposed two research questions on the findings related to the rate of police brutality and
individual perceptions on police departments. They also used critical race theory to help create a
foundation for their study. The researchers define critical race theory on the following principles:
“The tenets of critical race theory are: (1) the primacy of race and racism and
their interconnectedness with other forms of subordination, (2) a questioning of
the dominant belief system/status quo, (3) a commitment to social justice, (4) the
centrality of experiential knowledge, and (5) a multidisciplinary perspective.”
(Chaney & Robertson, 2013)
They found that the perceptions were the current feelings for the individuals and how
they felt about law enforcement. But while this data may be direct feelings of individuals, it is
located on the internet and thus subject to much scrutiny. Pulling data such as this makes it
impossible to identify demographics for the participants of the study. Furthermore, people are
more likely to falsify information for there is a high level of anonymity on a public page.
(Chaney & Robertson, 2013) However, the researchers feel that this public forum allowed
individuals who would not normally do so, to come out and be more open and honest about
views and traumatic experiences with law enforcement. While most of the findings were strong
opinions of the individual posts on the forum, the researchers did conclude that their approach
with critical race theory explained how race is embedded into social structures, such as law
enforcement, and how this is just an extension of White supremacy. They also concluded that
they hoped the findings of the NPMSRP were updated more frequently to the public, either
through the internet or agencies who help victims of police brutality. (Chaney & Robertson,
2013) Their analysis of public blog posts seems to represent a small sample of the population and
clearly doesn’t represent the entire United States as a whole. The findings within the NPMSRP
are still subject to the same problems as the UCR and any other reporting agency for law
enforcement. Those numbers are only correct for the reported incidents of misconduct and do

10. POLICE BRUTALITY 9
not really indicate the true level of police misconduct. We can assume that the number would be
higher, but assumptions can be very difficult when conducting research. With the small sample
of posts that the researchers looked at, it is difficult to conclude that their approach with critical
race theory is accurate. The members who participated in their study clearly have strong views
that have been associated with police misconduct, and therefore are very biased in what they will
say. Coupled with the anonymity and the likelihood of false information of each subject, it is
unclear the demographics and possible false statements that were collected in their sample.
Therefore their findings are rather inconclusive because there are many uncertainties and
incalculable risks with pulling their data from the internet as they did. Had they used proper
sampling distributions with a random sample with a poll or survey, perhaps their findings would
be more accurate. However, similar risks can be applied when doing survey.
Another critical idea on the excessive use of force by law enforcement is if it is
regionalized based on the community. Cleary, if different policing strategies are deployed in
different areas, it could be indicative to the problem, if it is an actual problem. Researchers
William Terrill, from Northeastern University, and Michael D. Reisig, from Michigan State
University, address this very phenomenon in their article called Neighborhood Context and
Police Use of Force. They reason that police are more forceful with suspects who are of low
social economic status and those who are involved in drugs and crime. (Terrill & Reisig, 2003)
This makes sense since there is a simple hierarchy within society. Simply put, police are sworn
to protect and uphold their society. Deviant behavior and criminal acts go against the society’s
norms. Therefore the deviant person is likely to go against the police officer, since the officer
represents the control of society. Ergo, the police use force against the deviant person to either
remove them from society or correct them into the proper norms. That is the intention of all

11. POLICE BRUTALITY 10
criminal justice and the ideology of correctional facilities, to return the deviant/criminal back
into society after they reject the norms.
With this sociological approach considered, the researchers turn to a psychological look
as to why the police use force. This is based on their individual characteristics, experiences,
attitudes, etc. Finally they looked at the organizational usage of use-of-force practices. In short
they find that officers will handle situations in a consistent manner and while working under the
protection of one another can create unique policing styles indicative to their community. (Terrill
& Reisig, 2003) The idea that policing strategies are localized to their respective communities
may help explain their behavior. Officers not only rely on their experience and visual cues to
identify a suspect, but they also rely on geographical areas that may be labeled suspicious. These
geographical areas may lead officers to conclude that more crimes occur in certain areas.
Furthermore, their past experiences in these areas may result to conclude that more blacks have a
higher crime rate in those areas than whites, or vice versa. (Terrill & Reisig, 2003) This
perspective was described as “ecological contamination,” where people who are associated with
potential “bad” communities are considered and assumed as being labeled as “bad” as well.
(Werthman & Piliavin, 1967) Here the researchers conclude that the suspect may get a negative
stigma attached to them independent of their personal characteristics or behaviors. (Terrill &
Reisig, 2003)
Consider for a moment a high volume crime area that you know not to enter, but you
proceed to go there anyway. If you are stopped by a police officer, chances are you will be
treated like a member of that criminal infested community, and not the upstanding citizen that
you are. But while this ecological contamination may be translated to suspects, it may apply to
police officers as well, and might explain why there are different policing strategies for

12. POLICE BRUTALITY 11
communities. For instance, officers who patrol high volume crime areas are subject to the
negative side of society. They most likely are the officers that are disrespected by criminals and
citizens alike. A police officer is more likely to use more coercive force in areas such as this,
because they know that particular style of policing is effective. On the other hand a police
officer who patrols a community with a low volume of crime might take less a coercive approach
when dealing with citizens. A conclusion can be made that if a community is centered around
crime and violence, the police will react accordingly to the surroundings, regardless of race,
gender, etc. Society is defined by both the criminal and the police officer, therefore if society is
dictated by the actions of the criminal, then the police will react to the society’s norms, by being
criminal in nature. Thus, this ecological contamination extends to the entire society and not just
towards specific parts.
The ecological contamination theory is an important part in understanding the rest of the
study by Terrill and Reisig. They conclude that police behavior is territorial in nature based on
geographical regions. With the ecological contamination theory in mind, it might help explain
why police responses in high-crime hot spots and places with low socioeconomic status are
subject to high levels of force. It has been found that criminals who are disadvantaged are more
than likely to disrespect police officers. And it is because of this reaction that determines the
police use force. As a result of this conclusion, one can assume that there would be higher police
use of force in disadvantaged areas. (Terrill & Reisig, 2003) The researchers pulled their data
from Project of Policing Neighborhoods (POPN) and used findings such as systematic social
observations, census data, police crime records, and in-person interviews with police officers.
They also sent field observers to shadow police officers to gather data. (Terrill & Reisig, 2003)
In their discussion, they concluded that officers are “significantly more likely to use higher levels

13. POLICE BRUTALITY 12
of force when encountering criminal suspects in high-crime areas and neighborhoods with high
levels of concentrated disadvantage independent of suspect behavior and other statistical
controls.” (Terrill & Reisig, 2003) This can be a direct result to commonly known areas of
criminal activity or people known to commit crimes. By this logic a framework is formed and
poses a significant danger. Police officers are aware of dangerous places and people and this
could cause a threat to officer safety. If the police officers are aware of these dangers, so are the
criminals. Again, these dangerous areas may result in the officer more likely to resort to use
higher levels of force. A second explanation the researchers offer is that the level of force is a
social norm. They may result to higher levels of force because they know that is how they can
solve problems in that specific neighborhood. Alternatively, one can expect more police violence
if the community is centered on crime and violence. (Terrill & Reisig, 2003) Another
explanation offered is something the researchers called the “dirt-bag syndrome.” This thought
process is internalized by police officers who perceive people occupying certain neighborhoods
and associate them with them with suspicious behavior. This translates into more coercive
behaviors by officers. Furthermore, if the suspect is not from that area, suspicions rise even
more. Here the researchers argue that departmental values should be implemented and enforced
to ensure that equal uses of force are applied to the correct situation. Finally, they conclude that
understanding additional neighborhood factors can help to understand police behavior. (Terrill &
Reisig, 2003)
Conclusion
Previous research has shown a great deal of the problems and issues that are facing law
enforcement and their communities. Despite growing concerns and disrespect of law

14. POLICE BRUTALITY 13
enforcement officer, agencies are taking action to repair damages. Unfortunately police brutality
still exists, whether intentional or unintentional. As stated before, the primary purpose of this
paper was to provide a statistical analysis of demographics within police departments and their
respective communities with a cross reference analysis by comparing police use of excessive
force against these demographics to develop patterns of behavior. Instead a literary analysis was
done because there wasn’t enough concrete research to provide the raw data necessary for that
approach. The fact remains that crimes are often left unreported, and thus it is safe to conclude
that police misconduct is often underreported as well. There is no clear data that could give a
definitive answer to this problem. An argument can be made that there needs to be a higher
demand for proper reporting of all crimes, civilian and law enforcement alike. This could ease
tensions and problems if the public is more aware of police misconduct. Ideas such as critical
race theory and the ecological contamination theory have sought to provide explanations to
police brutality. While the research done with critical race theory was a poor adaptation and was
rather inconclusive, the ecological contamination research was very informative in providing a
more definitive answer as to why police brutality exists. There are still many unanswered
questions. For instance, the big issue of how can we eliminate police brutality and misconduct is
of primary concern. Furthermore, as stated earlier, the issue of reporting crimes remains and
solving it can help to reduce misconceptions and improper results in further tests. Good policing
can ensure that trust is restored in the communities and in law enforcement to serve and protect
its citizens. If law enforcement agencies can crack down on the causes for these actions they can
better serve the people they have sworn to protect. The first step is understanding the
community and providing the training and skills necessary. Additionally, ensuring common
values and procedures are being followed is another step in the right direction.

15. POLICE BRUTALITY 14
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