Is police brutality still an issue in todays society Essay

Is police brutality still an issue in todays society - Essay Example This paper discusses the manifestation of police brutality in today’s society. During the civil rights movement of the 1960’s there were lots of protests and at times violent incidents which led to cases of police brutality. â€Å"The 1960’s civil rights movement in the United States was also accompanied with police brutality, especially in the cases of mixed race marches†¦.† (Wisegeek, 2009). During such marches the police utilized tactics such as pain holds, pepper spray, and batons to intimidate the protesters which many times resulted in physical injury. One of the most famous cases of policy brutality occurred in 1991. That year a black man named Rodney King was physically abused by a gang of cops who almost beat this man to death during a routine traffic stop. A citizen caught the hold incident on video tape and the person turned the evidence over to the justice department. The case went to trial and despite the clear evidence of police brutality the policemen were declared innocent. In the aftermath of the court decision the bl ack community was outraged and riots spread out through Los Angeles. The infamous incident is commonly referred to as the L.A. riots of 1991. The police claimed it would make changes to prevent police brutality from manifesting itself, but the results of their efforts to clean up the police departments across America have not been too effective. Police brutality is not only a problem in the United States it is also a problem in other parts of the world. In 1996 over 5,000 students from Yunsei University in Seoul were involved in a protest. The police intervened to stop the protesters. Their tactics were both abusive and illegal. â€Å"Two helicopters hovered over the two buildings, pouring liquidized and colored tear gas, and the 3,400 policemen blocking the entrance to the building fired tear gas grenades toward the students in