The following is my Inquiry-based essay.
The Relationship between Police Brutality and Language
Police brutality and language are not directly connected since there are not many reports on the language that police officers use when making an arrest. Police brutality is mostly common in communities of African Amerian people, or more generally communities of non-white people. However, this may vary depending on the country or state that the people live in. Also, in these communities, when a police crime is reported, the officers doing the report usually leave the language concept out.“The most common of these practices are: –the use of profane and abusive language, —commands to move on or get home, –stopping and questioning people on the street or searching them and their cars, –threats to use force if not obeyed, –prodding with a nightstick or approaching with a pistol, and the actual use of physical force or violence itself ” (Reiss). This quote delivers an indirect connection between language and police brutality. This topic is being argued so that people of color can be treated more fairly, and our justice system will be informed so that it can be improved to treat everyone in the same manner. Throughout my research, there were many different perspectives on language and police brutality but some are similar. This paper will inform readers of how police language, their way of communicating and their body language influence society and how the aspect of discriminatory language influences police brutality.
Police Tone and Language
Firstly, the language used by police officers when making an arrest, especially when the addressed person is resisting, is not so pleasant. Not only when making an arrest but also in a time of communication. Here is a situation of a communication dilemma. “A citizen filed a complaint against an officer alleging that the officer used inappropriate language and a disrespectful tone when speaking to the citizen, and harassed the citizen” (Office of Police Complaints). This may not be the first but it was reported. In this scenario, “the complainant, a single mother with three young children, was seeking aid and advice from an officer at the local MPD district station to help with her troubled teenage daughter” (Office of Police Complaints). ‘In a different post, a Philadelphia police lieutenant recounted a courthouse scene in which a defendant and his family walk off an elevator: “… indignant about the fact that those of us actually working are going the other way. I fucking hate them.” Another lieutenant commented: “I fucking hate the [sic] too.”’ (Turnbull). This is definitely indecent language, even kids will say so. Many tell their children not to say such outrageous words, and many are not usually comfortable listening to this foul language
In one post cited in the joint BuzzFeed News/Injustice Watch report, a Philadelphia officer argued that he “would of pulled the trigger,” when commenting on a video of a store clerk pulling a gun to scare off an attempted robber. In another, an officer shared a meme that said “death to Islam.” Other posts referred to African American suspects as “thugs,” called for the “extermination” of people arrested for violent crimes, and advocated police brutality (Lockhart).
This is not the approach that police officers should take when confronted with police crimes. Their role is to make people, society as a whole, feel safe and well protected. However, if there are police officers who call for an ‘“extermination” of people arrested for violent crimes, and advocated police brutality’ (Lockhart), individuals will not give their trust to police officers and not believe in the justice system of the country.
Body Language
Language does not only involve spoken words but also body language and facial expressions. Body language refers to the process of communicating nonverbally through conscious or unconscious gestures and movements. In a twitter post, “this was the colonial psychosis we saw on display in the courtroom at the end of the Amber Guyger trial. Do you believe this black woman joining this racist white cop in brutalizing this black child? Colonialism has made black people in America sick with self-loathing” (Brutality). This was the caption at the beginning of a video where the police used force to make an arrest. In this video, it can be seen that all police actions are not justifiable. The language used was not appropriate and the body language was interesting. “Marisela Gomez finds that increased police violence leads to more stress and worry, which in turn means further community fragmentation and negative health impacts” (Obasogie, Newman).
Police in Philadelphia clash with Super Bowl fans. A lawyer started the Plain View Project to track social media posts that might indicate bias by police officers after she came across such posts while working in Philadelphia. Mark Makela/Reuters.
In this post by Turnbull, it can be seen that what the police officers are doing is not totally acceptable. When cops start to behave in this manner, it affects their reputation and people’s trust in the justice system. They may not know this, but when cops act like this, society tends to be afraid of them and people act nervously around them. This is not the way the cops should make people feel when they are around.
Police Stance
Furthermore, many will agree that police brutality is more popular in communities of African American people and non-white people. But what makes people have this perception of non-white people, it was slavery that leads to this racial perception. The graph below presents the evidence of the accusation that police brutality is influenced by racism and discriminatory language.
Prison Inmates at Midyear 2009 – Statistical Tables (NCJ 230113). U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. The incarceration rates are for adult males and are from Tables 18 and 19 of the PDF file. Rates per 100,000 were converted to percentages.
“The Philadelphia police department announced on Thursday that 13 officers will be fired for social media posts that advocated violence and included racist, misogynistic, and homophobic remarks about African Americans, Muslim Americans, and other groups” (Lockhart). As mentioned before, police crimes mostly involve non-white people. In the post, it reveals that some police officers were actually fired because of their crimes, that was because they were recorded. This is definitely a way in which society can bring awareness to this social issue and do something to improve the justice system.
Counterclaim
On the other hand, the stories given by the police officers would have a huge difference. To refuse against police brutality, some police would say that it was just self-defense or some excuse against the victims. “ When the public views police as legitimate (or trustworthy), public co-operation with police in ways that assist effectiveness is more likely” (Goldsmith,444). Police officers often believe that what they do is what is considered right. For a counterclaim towards this specific topic, there is not much information to gather, since most of the society post and write about police crimes and police brutality.
Conclusion
In conclusion, many will argue that police brutality and language are not related, however, there is evidence in this paper that informs readers of such cases and reveal the connection between police brutality and language. The language itself is not directly related to police brutality, most of the time, but different concepts of the language are connected with police crimes. Some of these concepts are police tone, body language, and facial expressions, police stance, and police language. Police tone involves the voice in which police officers speak to addressed personnel. It can be agreed that when some police are talking to people that are resisting, they tend to use an aggressive tone that has a negative impact on society. Not only their tone, however, but also their language. As seen previously, some police officers do not always use promising words. Body language is another aspect of language that is directly connected with police brutality. The body language of a person says a lot about that person. In the picture, earlier in this paper, body language influences how society views an issue. Police stance is another aspect of language that is impacted by police brutality. The victims of police crimes vary, mostly non-white communities, and as specified earlier in this paper, there is evidence for this preposterous behavior. Then there is also a police officer’s perspective on this matter where they may say it is self-defense or something of the sort, however, this is not proven by the information provided in this paper. What can be seen, can be proven.
“Most middle-class whites have no idea what it feels like to be subjected to police who are routinely suspicious, rude, belligerent, and brutal.” ― Dr. Benjamin Spock
Works Cited
Brutality, Police. “This Was the Colonial Psychosis We Saw on Display in the Courtroom at the
End of the Amber Guyger TrialDo You Believe This Black Woman Joining This Racist White Cop in Brutalizing This Black Child? Colonialism Has Made Black People in America Sick with Self-Loathing #BlackLove Pic.twitter.com/Mj3NHSRxc2.” Twitter, Twitter, 21 Oct. 2019, https://twitter.com/AfricaMustWake/status/1186343583911174144.
Goldsmith, Andrew. Police Reform and the Problem of Trust. Sage Publications, 2005.
Lockhart, P.R. “Police Posted Thousands of Offensive Memes on Facebook. Now Some of Them
Are Being Fired.” Vox, Vox, 19 July 2019, https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/7/19/20701048/police-officer-facebook-racism-philadelphia-plain-view-project.
Obasogie, Osagie K, and Newman, Zachary. “Police Violence, Use Of Force Policies, And
Public Health .” Https://Www.law.berkeley.edu, Boston University School of Law, 2017, https://www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Paper-Obasogie.pdf.
Office of Police Complaints.” Mediation: Inappropriate Language, Disrespectful Tone,
Harassment | Office of Police Complaints, DC. Gov, https://policecomplaints.dc.gov/page/mediation-inappropriate-language-disrespectful-tone-harassment.
Reiss, Albert J. “Police Brutality-Answers to Key Questions.” SpringerLink, Springer-Verlag,
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02804717.
Turnbull @TurnbullL Feed Lornet Turnbull is an editor for YES!, Lornet. “Exposing the Racist
Facebook Posts of City Cops.” CityLab, 2 July 2019, https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/07/police-social-media-facebook-racism-islamophobia-bias/593131/.
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