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eric garner Ernest Baeza
Professor Keller
CRJ 102
November 19, 2019
Damaged Relations
There are a variety of different definitions that we use to define police-community
relations. However, the term generally refers to the behavior and attitude between the police and
the community they serve, which is important in building trust between the two sides. This is a
critical aspect of policing because without their trust, police work becomes less effective.
Generally speaking, the relation between law enforcement and the community has been poor
throughout the United States in the past couple of decades. Some of the reasons why citizens
may tend to distrust the police in American is because many believe they racially profile citizens
or because they are viewed as lazy people who don’t get the job done. However, the media has
shined a light on different types of police brutality that law enforcement commits on a daily
basis. Some of these acts can consist of excessive force, wrongful search and seizure, false arrest,
or even sexual harassment. When committing these unlawful acts, many law enforcement
officers rarely face any chargers, which makes it seem like the police are above the law. This is
why many citizens tend to fear law enforcement officers, which makes them feel unsafe in their
own community. These factors play a critical role in why many American citizens don’t trust the
police.
Police brutality, which is the excessive force used when dealing with a citizen, has been
and continues to be one of the most debated issue in America society. Generally speaking, law
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enforcement officers have been trained to use reasonable force in a variety of different situation
in order to neutralize a threat and then take them into custody. However, Dr. David J. Thomas, a
retired police officer, stated in his article, Law Enforcement Must Regain the Public’s Trust, that
there is a gray area when defining the amount of force that is allowed to be used by a police
officer when detaining a suspect. Dr. Thomas explained that the actions of the citizen usually
determines the amount of force that they encounter. That they’re allowed to go one step higher
than the citizen because if there is an equal force on both sides, control could never be
established by the police officer. However, in many situations, these altercations tend to get out
of hand. For instance, Eric Garner, an African American man, died when confronted by a New
York police officers for allegedly selling illegal cigarettes. Garner, who had his hands up when
being approached by the officers, was taken down and put into a chokehold by several police
