Verified Document

Amadou Diallo And Police Brutality Case Study

¶ … Son How has systemic oppression and discrimination impacted each of the three cases in this documentary?

Every Mother's Son depicts the challenges which face young black men when they are confronted by law enforcement officials who perceive all African-American males as a threat solely as a result of their skin color. In the case of Amadou Diallo, he was profiled as a potential suspect purely on his rough resemblance to a man accused of rape. Anthony Baez (who was training to be a police officer) was placed in a chokehold that killed him after an enraged officer was livid because Baez accidentally bounced a football off of his car; Baez was seen as disrespectful because of this accident even though he meant no harm. Gary (Gidone) Busch was killed because he was carrying a small ceremonial hammer used on Orthodox Jewish prayer; officers had no idea of its symbolic significance and immediately viewed it as a weapon. Cultural ignorance, rage, and profiling were factors in all three cases to varying degrees.

Q2. Identify 3 micro, 3 mezzo, and 3 macro (9 total) factors that affected one or more of the three cases in this documentary. Explain how each factor influenced the incident(s) that occurred and/or the outcome of the incidents.

In the case of Amadou Diallo, on a micro level, Diallo believed he had no reason to fear the police: he had done nothing wrong and was...

His personality, which was relatively non-confrontational assumed he would have no conflict with the police. He had not been acculturated to believe the police were a threat; nor had he been acculturated as a West African immigrant to believe he would be perceived as one.
On a mezzo social level, the NYPD had been engaging in aggressive policing of the community and were poised to view any apparently aggressive act by an individual as potentially harmful. The police as an organization are inclined to view all unexpected behavior as threatening because their very lives depend upon it. Diallo came from a society which was far more homogenous than New York, in which all individuals were relatively of the same culture, and which had a much less aggressive attitude towards policing.

On a macro social level, the incident is highly revelatory of the state of racial relations in America. Historically speaking, African-American males have often been perceived as threats and/or profiled by the police. New York was currently attempting to 'clean up' its image by emphasizing law and order in policing. Diallo was not aware of this history or that he might be perceived of as a threat purely because of his appearance; he based his actions on his own cultural understanding of what was 'correct' (which was to reach in his pocket to display ID).

Q3. Describe at least 3 strengths of…

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Police Vs. Public
Words: 3513 Length: 10 Document Type: Essay

Police Interviews The author of this report has been asked to conduct two interviews of police officers with six basic questions being the crux of both interviews. To protect the anonymity of the officers as well as a way to get the most honest and complete answers, the identity of the officers as well as the departments they have or do work for will not be identified in any way, shape

Police Culture and Individual Characteristics
Words: 457 Length: 2 Document Type: Discussion Chapter

However, in certain instances, the element of fear in a policeman cannot justify the use of lethal force. This restraint, according to the Federal Bureau of investigation, is highly advocated for since deadly force is unlawful and can be mostly be used against a law enforcement officer. Areas of shoot out in schools and traffic and in states or cities, where the populous if high highly exempt the use of

Police Officers Are Faced With
Words: 1160 Length: 4 Document Type: Literature Review

Bell was unarmed, yet the officers fired more than 50 shots into his car" (2007, p. 46). Following a grand jury investigation of the incident, three of the five detectives who were involved were charged for the shooting (Mayer, 2007). According to Mayer, "The incident is reminiscent of a similar situation in New York in 1999, in which a West African street vendor, Amadou Diallo, was killed when police

Police Officer Might Be One
Words: 2028 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

In places such as Richmond, that have an already checkered past in their relationship with the public, the public perception is further damaged by the rise in crime. This is true of the police department in the rest of the country as well. The rise in crime affects the perception of the public with regard to the police department, and not the government. In actions such as racism and

Excessive Force by Police Many
Words: 1285 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

Analysts worry that the imagery of "terrorist" and "immigrant" will be a potent source of increased uses of excessive force (Bai and Tang 2002). Finally, the fact that juries rarely convict police officers for use of excessive force indirectly contributes to this culture. The police officers accused in the Diallo killing and the Rodney King beating, for example, were acquitted. Author and former prosecutor Scott Turrow wrote about the difficulty

Ethics-Criminal Justice System Details of the Source
Words: 893 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Ethics-CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM Details of the Source When does police mistake become murder? The Christian Science Monitor, Date of publication: 04-05-1999, Summary of Facts Racial profiling is probably the biggest concern of minorities groups in our country because it has been the cause of numerous injustices against them. Our law enforcement agencies appear to be ruthlessly biased in their exercise of duty as is clear from this article. The author shows that racial profiling has resulted

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now