View source for Police brutality

{{Short description|Use of excessive force by a police officer}}
{{Redirect|Excessive force}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{globalize|date=August 2024}}
[[File:Montreal police brutality protest.jpg|thumb|Police overuse of force at a [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]] protest in 2008]]
{{Police brutality topics sidebar|state=collapsed}}
'''Police brutality''' is the excessive and unwarranted [[use of force]] by [[law enforcement]] against an individual or [[Public order policing|a group]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gale |date=2023 |title=Police Brutality |url=https://go-gale-com.jpllnet.sfsu.edu/ps/retrieve.do?resultListType=RELATED_DOCUMENT&searchType=ts&inPS=true&contentSegment=&prodId=OVIC&docId=GALE%7CEMNQRZ438811059&it=r&enforceAuth=true&_gl=1*jpsnne*_ga*MTgyMTgwODk4Ny4xNjk2MTI4OTA4*_ga_795XZ9TLZF*MTY5NjEyODkwOC4xLjEuMTY5NjEyODk0Ny4wLjAuMA..&userGroupName=sfsu_main&u=sfsu_main&aty=ip}}</ref> It is an extreme form of [[police misconduct]] and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, [[asphyxia]]tion, beatings, shootings, improper takedowns, [[Racism|racially-motivated]] violence and unwarranted use of [[Electroshock weapon|tasers]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Understanding Five Different Types of Police Brutality – Rhonda Hill Blog – Criminal Law |url=https://criminallaw.com/lawyer/rhonda-b-hill-chicago-il/blog/understanding-five-different-types-of-police-brutality |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=criminallaw.com |archive-date=17 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117210737/https://criminallaw.com/lawyer/rhonda-b-hill-chicago-il/blog/understanding-five-different-types-of-police-brutality |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Emesowum |first=Benedict |date=5 December 2016 |title=Identifying Cities or Countries at Risk for Police Violence |journal=Journal of African American Studies |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=269–281 |doi=10.1007/s12111-016-9335-3|s2cid=151639366 |issn=1559-1646}}</ref>
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== History ==
{{more citations|section|date=February 2023}}
[[File:Police brutality in Egypt (4602240333).jpg|thumb|Nine police officers subduing a member of the public in Egypt]]
The first modern police force is widely regarded to be the Metropolitan Police Service in London, established in 1829.<ref>{{Citation |title=Introduction: Policing and State Power |date=2018-08-24 |work=Violence Work |pages=1–23 |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/2473/chapter/1188518/IntroductionPolicing-and-State-Power |access-date=2024-07-29 |publisher=Duke University Press |language=en |doi=10.1215/9781478002024-001 |isbn=978-1-4780-0202-4|url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, some scholars argue that early forms of policing began in the Americas as early as the 1500s on plantation colonies in the Caribbean.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Brucato |first=Ben |date=2020 |title=Policing Race and Racing Police: The Origin of US Police in Slave Patrols |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2564585706 |journal=Social Justice |volume=47 |issue=3/4 |pages=115–136 |id={{ProQuest|2564585706}} }}</ref> These slave patrols quickly spread across other regions and contributed to the development of the earliest examples of modern police forces.<ref name=":0" /> Early records suggest that labor strikes were the first large-scale incidents of [[police brutality in the United States]], including events like the [[Great Railroad Strike of 1877]], the [[Pullman Strike]] of 1894, the [[1912 Lawrence textile strike]], the [[Ludlow massacre]] of 1914, the [[Steel strike of 1919|Great Steel Strike of 1919]], and the [[Hanapepe massacre]] of 1924.

The term "police brutality" was first used in Britain in the mid-19th century, by ''[[The Puppet-Show]]'' magazine (a short-lived rival to ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'') in September 1848, when they wrote:

{{blockquote|quote=Scarcely a week passes without their committing some offence which disgusts everybody but the magistrates. Boys are bruised by their ferocity, women insulted by their ruffianism; and that which brutality has done, perjury denies, and magisterial stupidity suffers to go unpunished. [...] And '''police brutality''' is becoming one of our most "venerated institutions!"<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=9 September 1848 |title=More Police Brutality |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kbMOAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA2-PA14 |magazine=The Puppet-Show |volume=2 |issue=27 |page=14 |access-date=29 January 2021 |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209133534/https://books.google.com/books?id=kbMOAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA2-PA14 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

The first use of the term in the American press was in 1872 when the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''<ref>{{cite news |date=12 October 1872 |title=Police Brutality: A Prisoner was shamefully beaten by Officers, he was Kicked and Pounded in a Cell – Probably Fatally Injured |work=Chicago Daily Tribune}}</ref> reported the beating of a civilian who was under arrest at the Harrison Street Police Station.

In the United States, it is common for marginalized groups to perceive the police as [[oppression|oppressors]], rather than protectors or enforcers of the law, due to the statistically disproportionate number of minority incarcerations.<ref>{{cite book |last=Powers |first=Mary D. |editor=Winters, Paul A. |title=Policing the Police |year=1995 |publisher=Greenhaven Press |location=San Diego |isbn=978-1-56510-262-0 |pages=56–60 |chapter=Civilian Oversight Is Necessary to Prevent Police Brutality}}</ref>

Hubert G. Locke wrote:

{{blockquote|quote=When used in print or as the battle cry in a black power rally, police brutality can by implication cover several practices, from calling a citizen by his or her first name to death by a policeman's bullet. What the average citizen thinks of when he hears the term, however, is something midway between these two occurrences, something more akin to what the police profession knows as "alley court"—the wanton vicious beating of a person in custody, usually while handcuffed, and usually taking place somewhere between the scene of the arrest and the station house.<ref>{{cite journal |volume=44 |publisher=J. Urb. L. |page=625 |date=1966–1967 |title=Police Brutality and Civilian Review Boards: A Second Look |author=Locke, Hubert G. |url=http://heinonlinebackup.com/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals%2Fudetmr44&section=45 |journal=Hein Journals |access-date=4 May 2010 |archive-date=11 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711161410/http://heinonlinebackup.com/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals%2Fudetmr44&section=45 |url-status=live}}</ref>|source=''Police Brutality and Civilian Review Boards: A Second Look'' (1966–1967)}}

Sometimes riots, e.g. the [[1992 Los Angeles riots]], are a reaction to police brutality.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-09/a-history-of-protests-against-police-brutality |title=A History of Protest of U.S. Police Brutality |newspaper=Bloomberg |date=9 June 2020|via=bloomberg.com|access-date=10 January 2023 |archive-date=11 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511105326/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-09/a-history-of-protests-against-police-brutality |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/dec/05/riots-revenge-against-police |title=English riots were 'a sort of revenge' against the police |date=5 December 2011 |website=The Guardian |access-date=10 January 2023 |archive-date=10 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110172354/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/dec/05/riots-revenge-against-police |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/athens-protest-against-police-brutality-turns-violent/ |title=Athens protest against police brutality turns violent |date=9 March 2021|access-date=10 January 2023 |archive-date=10 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110172334/https://www.politico.eu/article/athens-protest-against-police-brutality-turns-violent/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Causes ==

[[File:Ian Tomlinson remonstrates with police.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ian Tomlinson]] after being pushed to the ground by police in [[London]] (2009). He collapsed and died soon after.]]

[[File:Citizens protest police terror.jpg|thumb|Protest against police brutality after the eviction of unemployed demonstrators occupying the Post Office in [[Vancouver]], Canada, 1938]]
=== Hard on drugs campaigns ===

In nations with a reputation for having a high number of drug-related issues, including gang violence, drug trafficking, and overdose deaths, one common solution that government will enact is a collective campaign against drugs that spans the entirety of the state's establishment. Changes to address these issues encompass education, bureaucracy, and, most notably, law enforcement policy and tactics. Law enforcement agencies expand and receive more funding to attack drug problems in communities. Acceptance of harsher policing tactics grows as well, as an {{em|any means necessary}} philosophy develops within the law enforcement community and the militarization of local police forces.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cato.org/blog/police-violence-racist-drug-war |access-date=2022-05-17 |website=cato.org |title=Archived copy |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209133537/https://www.cato.org/blog/police-violence-racist-drug-war |url-status=live}}</ref> However, many studies have concluded that these efforts are in vain, as the drug market has grown in such nations despite anti-drug policies. For example, in the United States, critics of the War on Drugs waged by the government have been very vocal about the ineffectiveness of the policy, citing an increase in drug-related crimes and overdoses since President Nixon first introduced this policy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cooper |first=Hannah LF |year=2015 |title=War on Drugs Policing and Police Brutality |journal=Substance Use & Misuse |volume=50 |issue=8–9 |pages=1188–1194 |doi=10.3109/10826084.2015.1007669 |issn=1082-6084 |pmc=4800748 |pmid=25775311}}</ref>

=== Legal system ===

A type of government failure that can result in the normalization of police brutality is a lack of accountability and repercussions for officers mistreating civilians. While it is currently commonplace for civilians to [[police accountability|hold officers accountable]] by recording them, the actual responsibility of police oversight rests heavily on the criminal justice system of a given nation, as police represent the enforcement of the law. One method of increasing police accountability that has become more common is the employment of body cameras as a part of police uniforms.<ref>{{cite press release |last=Zepcam |title=Growing Number of European Police Forces use Bodycam |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/growing-number-of-european-police-forces-use-bodycam-892044220.html |access-date=2022-05-19 |agency=PR Newswire |language=en |archive-date=19 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519045909/https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/growing-number-of-european-police-forces-use-bodycam-892044220.html |url-status=live}}</ref> However, the effectiveness of body cameras has been called into question due to the lack of transparency shown in police brutality cases where the footage is withheld from the public. In many cases of police brutality, the criminal justice system has no policy in place to condemn or prohibit police brutality. Certain nations have laws that permit lawful, violent treatment of civilians, like qualified immunity, which protects officers from being sued for their use of violence if their actions can be justified under the law.<ref>{{cite web |title=Qualified Immunity |url=https://eji.org/issues/qualified-immunity/ |access-date=2022-05-19 |website=Equal Justice Initiative |language=en-US |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209133537/https://eji.org/issues/qualified-immunity/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Police officers are legally permitted to use force. [[Jerome Herbert Skolnick]] writes in regards to dealing largely with disorderly elements of the society, "some people working in law enforcement may gradually develop an attitude or sense of authority over society, particularly under traditional reaction-based policing models; in some cases, the police believe that they are above the law."<ref>{{cite book |last=Skolnick |first=Jerome H. |author2=Fyfe, James D. |editor=Winters, Paul A. |title=Policing the Police |year=1995 |publisher=Greenhaven Press |location=San Diego |isbn=978-1-56510-262-0 |pages=45–55 |chapter=Community-Oriented Policing Would Prevent Police Brutality}}</ref>

There are many reasons why police officers can sometimes be excessively aggressive. It is thought that psychopathy makes some officers more inclined to use excessive force than others. In one study, police psychologists surveyed officers who had used excessive force. The information obtained allowed the researchers to develop five unique types of officers, only one of which was similar to the [[bad apples]] stereotype. These include personality disorders; previous traumatic job-related experience; young, inexperienced, or authoritarian officers; officers who learn inappropriate patrol styles; and officers with personal problems.{{cn|date=February 2023}} Schrivers categorized these groups and separated the group that was the most likely to use excessive force.<ref>Scrivner, 1994: 3–6</ref> However, this "bad apple paradigm" is considered by some to be an "easy way out". A broad report commissioned by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on the causes of misconduct in policing calls it "a simplistic explanation that permits the organization and senior management to blame corruption on individuals and individual faults{{snds}}behavioural, psychological, background factors, and so on, rather than addressing systemic factors."<ref name="RCMP Review">{{cite web |last=Loree |first=Don |title=Corruption in Policing: Causes and Consequences; A Review of the Literature |work=Research and Evaluation Community, Contract and Aboriginal Policing Services Directorate |publisher=Royal Canadian Mounted Police |year=2006 |url=http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection/PS64-27-2006E.pdf |access-date=1 September 2007 |archive-date=10 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110910142903/http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection/PS64-27-2006E.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> The report continues to discuss the systemic factors, which include:
* Pressures to conform to certain aspects of "police culture", such as the [[Blue Code of Silence]], which can "sustain an oppositional criminal subculture protecting the interests of police who violate the law"<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/15614260290011309|last=Skolnick |first=Jerome H. |title=Corruption and the Blue Code of Silence |journal=Police Practice and Research |volume=3 |year=2002 |page=7 |issue=1 |s2cid=144512106}}</ref> and a "{{'}}we-they' perspective in which outsiders are viewed with suspicion or distrust"<ref name="RCMP Review" />
* Command and control structures with a rigid hierarchical foundation ("results indicate that the more rigid the authoritarian hierarchy, the lower the scores on a measure of ethical decision-making" concludes one study reviewed in the report);<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Owens |first1=Katherine M. B. |first2=Jeffrey |last2=Pfeifer |title=Police Leadership and Ethics: Training and Police Recommendations |journal=The Canadian Journal of Police and Security Services |volume=1 |page=7 |year=2002 |issue=2}}</ref> and
* Deficiencies in internal accountability mechanisms (including internal investigation processes).<ref name="RCMP Review" />

The use of force by police officers is not kept in check in many jurisdictions by the issuance of a [[use of force continuum]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Stetser |first=Merle |title=The Use of Force in Police Control of Violence: Incidents Resulting in Assaults on Officers |year=2001 |publisher=LFB Scholarly Publishing L.L.C. |location=New York |isbn=978-1-931202-08-4}}</ref> which describes levels of force considered appropriate in direct response to a suspect's behavior. This power is granted by the government, with few if any limits set out in [[statutory law]] as well as [[common law]].

Violence used by police can be excessive despite being lawful, especially in the context of political repression. Police brutality is often used to refer to violence used by the police to achieve politically desirable ends (terrorism) and, therefore, when none should be used at all according to widely held values and cultural norms in the society (rather than to refer to excessive violence used where at least some may be considered justifiable).

Studies show that there are officers who believe the legal system they serve is failing and that they must pick up the slack. This is known as "vigilantism", where the officer-involved may think the suspect deserves more punishment than what they may have to serve under the court system.<ref>Chevigny, P. (2008). "Police Brutality", In ''Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict''. Oxford: Elsevier Science and Technology, 2008.</ref>

During high-speed pursuits of suspects, officers can become angry and filled with adrenaline, which can affect their judgment when they finally apprehend the suspect. The resulting loss of judgment and heightened emotional state can result in inappropriate use of force. The effect is colloquially known as "high-speed pursuit syndrome".<ref>{{cite web |author=Kevin Mullen |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fe%2Fa%2F1996%2F04%2F05%2FEDITORIAL9376.dtl |title=The high-speed chase syndrome |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=5 April 1996 |access-date=12 November 2011 |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209133536/https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/The-high-speed-chase-syndrome-3148123.php |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Global prevalence ==
[[File:NSW police use illegal pain hold on activist at University of Sydney.JPG|thumb|[[Australia]]n police using an illegal pain hold on an activist at the [[University of Sydney]] in 2012]]
* The [[Amnesty International]] 2007 report on human rights also documented widespread police misconduct in many other countries, especially countries with [[authoritarian]] regimes.<ref name="Amnesty 2007">{{cite web |title=Amnesty International Report 2007 |url=http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/Homepage |publisher=Amnesty International |year=2007 |access-date=8 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807192225/http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/Homepage |archive-date=7 August 2007}}</ref>
* In the UK, the reports into the death of New Zealand teacher and anti-racism campaigner [[Death of Blair Peach|Blair Peach]] in 1979 was published on the Metropolitan Police website on 27 April 2010. They concluded that Peach was killed by a police officer, but that the other police officers in the same unit had refused to cooperate with the inquiry by lying to investigators, making it impossible to identify the actual killer.{{citation needed|date=January 2011}}
* In the UK, [[Death of Ian Tomlinson|Ian Tomlinson]] was filmed by an American tourist being hit with a baton and pushed to the floor as he was walking home from work during the [[2009 G-20 London summit protests]]. Tomlinson then collapsed and died. Although he was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, the officer who allegedly assaulted Tomlinson was released without charge. He was later dismissed for [[gross misconduct]].<ref>{{cite news |title = Ian Tomlinson case: PC Simon Harwood sacked for gross misconduct |date = 17 September 2012 |url = https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/sep/17/simon-harwood-sacked-gross-misconduct |last = Walker |first = Peter |newspaper = The Guardian |access-date = 6 August 2013 |archive-date = 22 December 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191222132536/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/sep/17/simon-harwood-sacked-gross-misconduct |url-status = live}}</ref>
* In the UK, in 2005, a young Brazilian man was arrested and shot by Metropolitan Police in Central London. The man, Jean Charles Menezes, died later.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dispatch.co.za/2005/08/23/Foreign/amendez.html |title=Dispatch Online - Your premier Eastern Cape news site |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109143617/http://www.dispatch.co.za/2005/08/23/Foreign/amendez.html |accessdate=2022-05-20 |archive-date=9 January 2009}}</ref>
* In Serbia, police brutality occurred in numerous cases during protests against [[Slobodan Milošević]], and has also been recorded at protests against governments since Milošević lost power.{{citation needed|date=June 2011}} The most recent case was recorded in July 2010, when five people, including two girls, were arrested, handcuffed, beaten with clubs, and mistreated for one hour. Security camera recordings of the beating were obtained by the media and public outrage when released.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2010&mm=07&dd=06&nav_category=16&nav_id=443501 |title=Policija brutalno tukla i devojke |work=B92.net|date=7 June 2010 |access-date=2 October 2015 |archive-date=4 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004160546/http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2010&mm=07&dd=06&nav_category=16&nav_id=443501 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Hronika/197194/Policija-nas-tukla--bez-razloga |title=Blic Online – Policija nas tukla bez razloga |work=Blic |date=7 July 2010 |access-date=2 October 2015 |archive-date=3 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003203417/http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Hronika/197194/Policija-nas-tukla--bez-razloga |url-status=live}}</ref> Police officials, including [[Ivica Dačić]], the Serbian minister of internal affairs, denied this sequence of events and accused the victims "to have attacked the police officers first". He also publicly stated that "police [aren't] here to beat up citizens", but that it is known "what one is going to get when attacking the police".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2010&mm=07&dd=07&nav_id=443903|title=Dačić: Policija nije tu da bije |work=B92.net |date=7 July 2010 |access-date=2 October 2015 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924045408/http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2010&mm=07&dd=07&nav_id=443903 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* Episodes of police brutality in India include the [[Rajan case]], the death of Udayakumar,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/04/stories/2005100419970300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110190836/http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/04/stories/2005100419970300.htm |url-status=dead|archive-date=10 November 2012 |location=Chennai, India |work=[[The Hindu]] |title=Police question forensic experts |date=4 October 2005}}</ref> and of Sampath.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/17/stories/2011051755890500.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521225829/http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/17/stories/2011051755890500.htm |url-status=dead|archive-date=21 May 2011 |location=Chennai, India |work=[[The Hindu]] |title=Sampath case: 4 police officers to turn approvers |date=17 May 2011}}</ref>
* Police violence episodes against peaceful demonstrators appeared during the [[Anti-austerity movement in Spain|2011 Spanish protests]]<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/27/spanish-protesters-clash-with-police Spanish police clash with protesters over clean-up] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224232019/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/27/spanish-protesters-clash-with-police |date=24 February 2017}} – ''The Guardian''</ref><ref>[http://www.publico.es/espana/378668/los-mossos-d-esquadra-desalojan-a-palos-la-plaza-de-catalunya Los Mossos d'Esquadra desalojan a palos la Plaza de Catalunya] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111203112815/http://www.publico.es/espana/378668/los-mossos-d-esquadra-desalojan-a-palos-la-plaza-de-catalunya |date=3 December 2011}} – Público {{in lang|es}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube |id=Geg_6Xoy04s |title=Indignats – Desallotjament de la Plaça Catalunya}}</ref> Furthermore, on 4 August 2011, Gorka Ramos, a journalist of ''Lainformacion'' was beaten by police and arrested while covering 15-M protests near the Interior Ministry in Madrid.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/05/spanish-police-clash-austerity-protesters Spanish riot police clash in Madrid with anti-austerity protesters] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319114219/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/05/spanish-police-clash-austerity-protesters |date=19 March 2017}} – ''The Guardian''</ref><ref>[http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2011/08/05/comunicacion/1312558334.html Los periodistas, detenidos y golpeados al cubrir las manifestaciones del 15-M] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104112837/http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2011/08/05/comunicacion/1312558334.html |date=4 November 2011}} – El Mundo {{in lang|es}}</ref><ref>[http://www.publico.es/espana/390284/doce-policias-para-detener-a-un-periodista Doce policías para detener a un periodista] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111107044855/http://www.publico.es/espana/390284/doce-policias-para-detener-a-un-periodista |date=7 November 2011}} – Público {{in lang|es}}</ref><ref>[http://videos.lainformacion.com/asuntos-sociales/gorka-ramos-me-tiraron-al-suelo-me-patearon-y-luego-me-detuvieron_mKeinSMbGcQSEzMAbwP8V/ Gorka Ramos: "Me tiraron al suelo, me patearon y luego me detuvieron"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512095239/http://videos.lainformacion.com/asuntos-sociales/gorka-ramos-me-tiraron-al-suelo-me-patearon-y-luego-me-detuvieron_mKeinSMbGcQSEzMAbwP8V/ |date=12 May 2013}} – Lainformación {{in lang|es}}</ref><ref>[http://www.elpais.com/videos/espana/policia/detiene/periodista/Gorka/Ramos/elpvidnac/20110805elpepunac_1/Ves/ La policía detiene al periodista Gorka Ramos] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105231316/http://www.elpais.com/videos/espana/policia/detiene/periodista/Gorka/Ramos/elpvidnac/20110805elpepunac_1/Ves/ |date=5 November 2011}} – El País {{in lang|es}}</ref> A freelance photographer, Daniel Nuevo, was beaten by police while covering demonstrations against the Pope's visit in August 2011.<ref>[https://archive.today/20130423183742/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/the-pope/8711224/Spanish-police-officer-slaps-g--~~~~irl-during-Pope-protests.html Spanish police officer slaps girl during Pope protests] – ''The Telegraph''</ref><ref>[http://www.publico.es/espana/392134/la-policia-golpea-a-un-fotografo-y-a-una-joven La policía golpea a un fotógrafo y a una joven] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111209003923/http://www.publico.es/espana/392134/la-policia-golpea-a-un-fotografo-y-a-una-joven |date=9 December 2011}} – Público {{in lang|es}}</ref>
* In Brazil, incidents of police violence have been well-reported and Brazil has one of the highest prevalences of police brutality in the world today.{{cn|date=March 2025}}
* South Africa from [[apartheid]] to today has had incidents of police brutality, though police violence is not as prevalent as during the apartheid years.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

===Statistics and cases===
* [[List of countries with annual rates and counts for killings by law enforcement officers]]
* [[List of cases of police brutality by date]]
* [[List of cases of police brutality]]
* [[List of unarmed African Americans killed by law enforcement officers in the United States]]
* [[List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States]]
* [[List of killings by law enforcement officers in Canada]]
* [[Police brutality by country]]

== Investigation ==
{{more citations|section|date=February 2023}}

In [[England and Wales]], an independent organization known as the [[Independent Police Complaints Commission]] (IPCC) investigates reports of police misconduct. They automatically investigate any deaths caused by or thought to be caused by, police action.

A similar body known as the [[Police Investigations and Review Commissioner]] (PIRC) operates in Scotland. In Northern Ireland, the [[Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland]] has a similar role to that of the IPCC and PIRC.

In Africa, there exist two such bodies: one in South Africa and another one in Kenya known as the Independent Policing Oversight Authority.

In the United States, more police are wearing body cameras after the [[shooting of Michael Brown]]. The [[United States Department of Justice|US Department of Justice]] has made a call to action for police departments across the nation to implement body cameras in their departments so that further investigation will be possible.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Investigation of the Ferguson Police Department |year=2015}}</ref>

== Measurement ==

Police brutality is measured based on the accounts of [[Crime victim|people who have experienced]] or [[Witness|seen it]], as well as the juries who are present for trials involving police brutality cases, as there is no objective method to quantify the use of excessive force for any particular situation.{{cn|date=February 2023}}

In addition to this, police brutality may also be filmed by [[police body camera]]s, worn by police officers. Whereas body cams could be a tool against police brutality (by prevention, and by increasing accountability). However according to Harlan Yu, executive director from Upturn, for this to occur, it needs to be embedded in a broader change in culture and legal framework. In particular, the [[Open access|public's ability to access the body camera footage]] can be an issue.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/story/body-cameras-stopped-police-brutality-george-floyd/ |title=Body Cameras Haven't Stopped Police Brutality. Here's Why |magazine=Wired |first=Louise |last=Matsakis |access-date=19 April 2021 |archive-date=24 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424125704/https://www.wired.com/story/body-cameras-stopped-police-brutality-george-floyd/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://progressive.org/api/content/f8f69360-0ce1-11eb-948e-1244d5f7c7c6/ |title=Why Police Body Cameras Haven't Stopped Police Brutality |first=Andrew |last=Lee |date=13 October 2020 |website=Progressive.org|access-date=22 April 2021 |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209133537/https://progressive.org/latest/police-body-cameras-police-brutality-lee-201013/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theverge.com/21378159/police-brutality-protests-body-cameras-video-surveillance-black-lives-matter |title=Police body cameras don't tell the whole story. This experiment shows it. |first=William |last=Poor |date=31 August 2020 |website=The Verge |access-date=19 April 2021 |archive-date=19 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419100314/https://www.theverge.com/21378159/police-brutality-protests-body-cameras-video-surveillance-black-lives-matter |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1985, only one out of five people thought that police brutality was a serious problem. Police brutality is relative to a situation: it depends on if the suspect is resisting. Out of the people who were surveyed about their account of police brutality in 2008, only about 12 percent felt as if they had been resisting.<ref>{{cite web |author=Bureau of Justice Statistics |title=Use of Force |url=http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=703 |website=Bureau of Justice Statistics |publisher=Office of Justice Programs |access-date=15 November 2014 |archive-date=20 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141120235230/http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=703 |url-status=live}}</ref> Although the police force itself cannot be quantified, the opinion of brutality among various races, genders, and ages can. African Americans, women, and younger people are more likely to have negative opinions about the police than Caucasians, men, and middle-aged to elderly individuals.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jefferis |first1=Eric |last2=Butcher |first2=Fredrick |last3=Hanley |first3=Dena |title=Measuring perceptions of police use of force |journal=Police Practice and Research |year=2012 |volume=13 |issue=6 |pages=81–96}}</ref>

== Independent oversight ==
Various community groups have criticized police brutality. These groups often stress the need for oversight by independent [[civilian review board]]s and other methods of ensuring accountability for police action.{{cn|date=February 2023}}

Umbrella organizations and justice committees usually support those affected. [[Amnesty International]] is a non-governmental organization focused on human rights with over three{{nbsp}}million members and supporters around the world. The stated objective of the organization is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated".{{cn|date=February 2023}}

Tools used by these groups include video recordings, which are sometimes broadcast using websites such as [[YouTube]].<ref>{{cite news |title=YouTube.com prompts police beating probe |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2645350&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312 |agency=Associated Press |last=Veiga |first=Alex |date=11 November 2006 |access-date=12 November 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061130233223/https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2645350&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312 |archive-date=30 November 2006}}</ref>

Civilians have begun independent projects to monitor police activity to try to reduce violence and misconduct. These are often called [[Copwatch|"Cop Watch"]] programs.<ref>{{cite news |title=Policing the Police: Civilian Video Monitoring of Police Activity |url=http://theglobaljournal.net/group/global-minds/article/643/ |work=[[The Global Journal]] |last=Krupanski |first=Marc |date=7 March 2012 |access-date=13 March 2012 |archive-date=11 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311163022/http://theglobaljournal.net/group/global-minds/article/643/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Authoritarian personality]]
* [[Civil liberties]]
* [[Civil rights]]
* [[Death squad]]
* [[International Day Against Police Brutality]] (15 March)
* [[Law enforcement agency]]
* [[Law enforcement and society]]
* [[Legal observer]]
* [[Militarization of police]]
* [[Photography is Not a Crime]]
* [[Police misconduct]]
* [[Police riot]]
* [[Prisoner abuse]]
* [[Rough ride (police brutality)|Rough ride]]
* [[Suicide by cop]]
* [[Use of force continuum]]

===US specific===
* [[Christopher Commission]]
* [[Copwatch]]
* [[Pitchess motion]]
* [[Police brutality in the United States]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{further cleanup|date=January 2023}}
* {{Cite book|editor-last=della Porta|editor-first=Donatella|editor-link=Donatella della Porta|title=The policing of transnational protest|date=2006|publisher=Ashgate|editor-last2=Peterson|editor-first2=Abby|editor-last3=Reiter|editor-first3=Herbert}}
* {{Cite book|last=della Porta|first=Donatella|title=Policing protest : the control of mass demonstrations in Western democracies|date=1998|publisher=Univ. of Minnesota Press|isbn=0-8166-3063-1}}
* {{Cite book|last=Donner|first=Frank J.|title=Protectors of privilege : red squads and police repression in urban America|date=1990|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-05951-4|location=Berkeley}}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Earl | first1 = Jennifer S. | last2 = Soule | first2 = Sarah A. | year = 2006 | title = Seeing Blue: A Police-Centered Explanation of Protest Policing | journal = Mobilization | volume = 11 | issue = 2| pages = 145–164 | doi = 10.17813/maiq.11.2.u1wj8w41n301627u }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Oliver | first1 = P | year = 2008 | title = Repression and Crime Control: Why Social Movements Scholars Should Pay Attention to Mass Incarceration Rates as a Form of Repression | journal = Mobilization | volume = 13 | issue = 1| pages = 1–24 | doi = 10.17813/maiq.13.1.v264hx580h486641}}
* {{Cite book|last=Ross|first=J.I.|title=Making news of police violence a comparative study of Toronto and New York City|date=2000|publisher=Praeger|isbn=0-275-96825-1}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Zwerman|first1=G.|title=Repression and mobilization|last2=Steinhoff|first2=P.|date=2005|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|editor-last=Davenport|editor-first=C.|location=Minneapolis|pages=85–107|language=English|chapter=When activists ask for trouble: state-dissident interactions and the new left cycle of resistance in the United States and Japan|editor-last2=Johnston|editor-first2=H.|editor-last3=Mueller|editor-first3=C.}}
* {{Cite book|last=Hessbruegge|first=Jan Arno|title=Human rights and personal self-defense in international law|date=2017|isbn=978-0-19-065503-7|edition=First|location=New York, NY}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Library resources box|onlinebooks=yes}}
* [https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/police-brutality/ Police Violence]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150510011129/http://copcrisis.com/ Police Brutality Statistics]
* [http://www.policebrutality.info/ Worldwide Police Brutalities archive]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070612152202/http://members.fortunecity.com/brutalitycanada/names.html Names of Victims of Police Brutality In Canada]
* [http://theglobaljournal.net/group/global-minds/article/643/ Policing the Police: Civilian Video Monitoring of Police Activity]
* [https://www.politicalgraphics.org/to-protect-and-serve To Protect and Serve?: Five Decades of Posters Protesting Police Violence]

{{Abuse}}
{{Discrimination}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Police brutality| ]]
[[Category:1870s neologisms]]
[[Category:Human rights abuses]]
[[Category:Police misconduct|brutality]]
[[Category:Political repression]]
[[Category:Torture]]
[[Category:Violence]]

[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]