It is interesting how the view of police brutality shifts from case to case. The common perception of police brutality usually comes in terms of the result of the action. This is because it is a verifiable source of evidence. A suspect has bruising contingent with physical confrontation, and their claims are made more apparent in court. If a person does not show the signs of physical altercations, does this still mean that they experienced police brutality? Where does this line begin to be drawn?
Recently, an Illinois police officer has been under fire, and was charged with assault after an incident involving police brutality. The officer was found on camera to have used excessive force to bring a woman to her cell, after being picked up fro drunk driving. In the video, the officer is seen shoving the woman into her cell, where she then stumbles from the force of the push into the concrete bench in the cell. The woman subsequently suffered from a broken orbital (eye socket) and a vicious laceration (as is evidenced by the pool of blood: see link below).
Instances such as these raise questions of the somewhat blurry line in which police brutality begins and the proper and necessary force of the job ends. It seems as though the officer's push was not incredibly hard. But in the context of what the video shows, it seems to be crossing the line of necessary force. The woman, intoxicated, of slight build, and not seemingly resisting, enters the threshold of the cell and is then pushed, from behind, by the officer. We have to ask ourselves where the necessity of the push came into play.
Did the officer push the woman out of malice? Did he consciously try to inflict any sort of pain or further intimidation on the woman? these are important questions that are vital to clearing up our understanding of police brutality.
Illinois Cop Charged in Brutality Caught on Video
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