Police & Emergency Articles

Police Protection: It Could Be The Death Of You

Almost daily, we open our newspapers or turn on our television sets, only to hear or read of some new travesty dealing with police officers and a victim that is either dead or in hospital as a result of an 'alleged' crime. How long will we as law abiding citizens allow this to continue? How can we turn our faces away and ignore an ever growing problem across America today. I am referring to those instances like one in 1998, October 18th, an African-American man passed away just over five days after having been beaten, brutally, by St. Paul's police officers that had stopped him for a traffic violation. Perhaps the most shocking piece of information about this incident is the fact that Mr. Graham's hands had been handcuffed behind his back during the beating, and the officers involved claimed he had been attempting to flee the scene in his vehicle.

A large majority of the complaints are based on racism, and ethnicity, however, there are in fact incidents that involve Caucasian people as well. In Minneapolis, a white woman was shot to death by police officers that had broken open her locked door in her apartment. After not only breaking open the entry door, but also forcefully entering her personal bedroom, the officers shot her to death. This woman suffered from mental illness, and her crime as stated by the responding officers -- she had her radio playing too loudly. There are far too many stories like these. People, later proven innocent, that suffered drastically at the hands of the very ones that swore to uphold the law and to "Protect and Serve" the community and the people in that community. A young boy, 23 years old, happened to be visiting a friend in Minneapolis in 1994. Police arrived and shot the young man from a distance of approximately 25 feet. This young man died at a hospital, a little over an hour later. According to the officers on the scene, he allegedly had a knife in each of his hands -- this was vehemently disputed by several witnesses.

Where does the law that governs society and the law that governs law enforcement officials, end? Are they not one and the same? How can we allow those that claim to be guardians of the law, to twist and tarnish the laws they do not believe apply to them? Granted there are going to be difficult situations and circumstances, but reacting by beating people or killing they should still be punishable by law, even if you are a police officer. We might not like what we read, but how much longer can we show a blind eye, or turn a deaf ear to the tears and crying of innocent souls everywhere. Society as a whole, must band together to see that justice is served for those that are unable to speak for themselves, or are simply ignored. Many have suffered at the hands of an over-zealous police officer, whether it was physical or verbal, none of it is correct. If we continue to allow this behavior and not see that it is punished, we are in a sense, condoning it.

There are many organizations throughout the United States that are operating for the sole purpose of making right the wrongs that have been done to so many people. One organization in particular is UCAPB (United Communities Against Police Brutality). This website is mainly for the Minnesota area; however they do provide links for those that wish to find the nearest group that offers support for those that have wrongly suffered at the hands of the police. If you or someone you know has suffered a legitimate mishandling, the web site for reporting such instances is policewatch.us. This site assigns an agent to your case for review concerning the specifics of the situation. Demand justice, demand your rights!