In the line of duty, police must sometimes use force in order to save someone’s life or to subdue someone resisting arrest. Many situations occur in which cops have only a second to react. The wrong reaction could mean the life of that cop, a fellow cop, or an innocent bystander. Police do need to be allowed to use force in certain situations; however, it is important that police do not overstep their boundaries and severely injure or kill people without just cause. There have been many incidents of police brutality that have drastically hurt the image of police by society.

One of the most popular instances of police brutality is the incident involving Rodney King. Rodney King was driving recklessly when he was pulled over by police. He resisted arrest and tried to assault one of the cops. The police attempted to subdue the man and hit him several times to get him to the ground. Once he was on the ground some of the cops continued beating him. The incident had been videotaped by a bystander so there was no question that the beating had occurred (“Rodney King”). Rodney King did assault a cop and resist arrest so it was necessary for the police to use some force on him. However, continuing to beat King once he was down on the ground to the point where he had bruises all over his body was excessive. This beating was so excessive that even former cops spoke out against it. “‘I'd seen vicious beatings, but I'd never seen anything like that in America,’ says David Whitfield, a retired New York City police lieutenant” (Glazer).

In the case of Daniel Rocha, police pulled over the 18-year-old Rocha with suspicions that he had just been involved in a drug deal. One of the officers was trying to subdue Rocha when he tried to break free and flee from the police. Rather than use a stun gun on Rocha, the other cop shot him in the back, killing him. At the time the incident occurred, the patrol car video camera had been turned off (Garcia). It is very suspicious that the patrol car video camera was not on while the officers were trying to arrest Rocha. It is understandable that the police did not want Rocha to get away, but he was not assaulting them nor was he armed. There was absolutely no reason for Daniel Rocha to be shot and killed. Shooting this 18-year-old boy was excessive force.

Unlike the incidents with Rodney King and Daniel Rocha, the case of Amadou Diallo involves a man guilty of no crimes. Diallo was working to save money so that he could go to school to study computer science. One night, police came to his door so that they could question him about a rape case. Diallo fit the description of the rapist; however, all the police knew about the suspect was that he was a black man in the area (“Amadou Diallo”). Diallo reached into his pocket so that he could show the police his ID when police began firing shots at him. The officers fired 41 shots at Diallo, and 19 of the bullets hit and killed him. (“Amadou Diallo Case”). The police may have thought that Diallo was reaching into his pocket for a gun. It would have been understandable for one or two shots to be fired at Diallo; however, 41 shots were fired. There is absolutely no reason for this many shots to be fired. Excessive force was used in this situation. These police were responsible for killing an innocent, unarmed man.

The case of Abner Louima is one of the most horrific displays of police brutality in modern American history. Louima was involved in a fight outside of a nightclub. Police arrested him and placed him in the patrol car where they proceeded to beat him several times. They then took him to the precinct. The police then dragged him into a bathroom where they held him down, pulled down his pants, and sodomized him with a plunger. Louima had to be hospitalized after this incident (“NYC Officer”). This incident is completely inexcusable. Sodomizing a prisoner with a plunger is vulgar and repugnant. This incident makes me sick to my stomach. This incident makes police appear to be frightening and makes it very hard to trust police.