Established: A Pattern of Abuse - police brutality in the U.S - Abstract

Humanist, Jan, 1999 by Barbara Dority

There is a widespread and persistent problem of police brutality across the United States. Thousands of individual complaints about police abuse are reported each year and local authorities pay out millions of dollars to victims in damages after lawsuits. Police officers have beaten and shot unresisting suspects; they have misused batons, chemical sprays, and electro-shock weapons; they have injured or killed people by placing them in dangerous restraint holds.

This is the first paragraph of an unprecedented and historic report, USA: Rights for All, issued by Amnesty International (AI) on October 6, 1998. Simultaneously, the organization announced the theme of its U.S. education campaign: "Human rights aren't just a foreign affair."

For many--myself included--this is a long-awaited and irrefutable confirmation of the alarming state of human rights in America. Indeed, this report leaves no doubt whatsoever that American law enforcement agencies--including the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the prison system--must be immediately reined in, fundamentally reformed, and held accountable to the citizens who literally entrust them with their lives.

AI's report confirms that the overwhelming majority of victims of law enforcement abuses are members of racial and ethnic minorities, while most police departments remain predominantly white. Relations between the police and members of minority communities--especially young black and Latino males in inner-city areas--are often tense, and racial bias is reported or a factor in many instances. The report continues:

   Unarmed suspects have been shot while fleeing from minor crime scenes;
   mentally ill or disturbed people have been subjected to excessive force;
   police have shot distraught people armed with weapons such as knives or
   sticks, in circumstances suggesting that they could have been subdued
   without lethal force; victims have been shot many times, sometimes after
   they had already been apprehended or disabled.

   AI issues a strong warning:

      Police officers are responsible for upholding the law and protecting the
   rights of all members of society. Their job is often difficult and
   sometimes dangerous. Experience from around the world shows that constant
   vigilance is required to ensure the highest standards of conduct--standards
   necessary to maintain public confidence and meet national and international
   requirements.... Police forces throughout the U.S. must be made more
   accountable for their actions by the establishment of effective monitoring
   mechanisms. National, state, and local police authorities should ensure
   that police brutality and excessive force are not tolerated.

Despite reform programs in several major U.S. police departments, the report documents that authorities still fail to deal effectively with police officers who have committed abuses. The disciplinary sanctions imposed on officers found guilty of brutality are frequently inadequate, and officers are rarely prosecuted for using excessive force. The "code of silence" still commands widespread loyalty, contributing to a climate of impunity.

The report reminds us that standards of conduct for law enforcement officials are set out under the United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms. These require, among other things, that law enforcement officers use force only as a last resort and that the amount of force be proportionate to the threat encountered and designed to minimize damage and injury.

Predictably, most complaints of police brutality involve excessive physical force by patrol officers during the course of arrests, searches, traffic stops, the issuing of warrants, and street incidents. Common forms of ill-treatment are repeated kicks, punches, or blows with batons or other weapons--sometimes after a suspect has already been restrained or rendered helpless. There are also complaints involving various types of restraint holds, pepper spray, electro-shock weapons, and firearms.

AI's investigation confirms--as many civil libertarians already knew--that there are no accurate national data on the number of people fatally shot or injured by police officers--data which are essential for meaningful peacemaking. AI states:

   Most law enforcement agencies maintain that abuses, when they occur, are
   isolated incidents. However, in the past eight years, independent inquiries
   have uncovered systematic abuses in some of the country's largest police
   departments, revealing a serious nationwide problem.... The emphasis on the
   "war on crime" in recent years has reportedly contributed to more
   aggressive policing in many areas.

AI also condemns "endemic physical and sexual violence against prisoners" and calls for abolition of the death penalty, citing the United States for having the largest known death-row population on Earth: more than 3,300 inmates.