Almost every week, it feels as if another man dies at the hands of the police. Many think police brutality has overcome the nation of America. Left and right, there is coverage shown of a shooting that killed another citizen. Statistically, the number of deaths caused by the police skyrocketed in the last few years. However, the statistical experts deny this claim is true. The specialists announce, "Citizens rely on hunches because real numbers do not exist: likely because no one thought it important to keep a tally until recently." (Minority Threat 34). Furthermore, much of the public does not realize the fact that statistics have not been created until the past few years. While many people think that police brutality is present in this country, they do not consider everything the law enforcement handles.
First of all, many deaths are caused by self-defense from the task force. The public see the deaths of the american citizens as murder. However, they do not take into consideration the fact those who break the law are pronounced criminals by law. (Police Violence 70) Therefore, some criminals are aggressive and need to be stopped by any means. Most criminals' deaths are caused when the criminal acts violently towards another person, which creates a threat that needs to be contained. Containing the threat occasionally means the police has to stop the criminal in the quickest way before he/she endangers more innocent lives. Therefore, the law is put into action and is required to prevent anymore violence by the criminal. This means that the police have to be just in their actions, which sometimes calls for excessive force. .
Secondly, the policemen who go over and above what is required as a cop do not receive the deserved recognition.The media rarely covers a story about a policeman who has been keeping the peace in his precinct. Now on the flipside, the nation is not seeing more police shootings, just more news coverage.