Psychologists and criminologists argue that police officer do not just act in inappropriate ways without having in mind justifiable reasons to do so. However, the public and victims of police violence have never taken time to interrogate and understand what compels police officers to act brutally (Stark, 1972). The following are some of the appropriate and inappropriate explanations that describe why police officers may sometimes decide to be brutal when handling civilians.
Poor supervision of police officers. One of the key reasons why police brutality is rampant in modern society is because there is little or no supervision on how police officers perform their duties once they are out on the streets (Embrick, 2015). It is arguable that in most cases police officers establish the street rules on how to manage gangs and criminals. They do so and execute their plans without minding whether they will be reprimanded or not. This means that they are always free to do as they want since nobody is watching them. Various police brutality cases have always ended up being the individual responsibility of the police officer since the supervisors all pass the blame to the culprit and claim that individual accountability is necessary to the role of police officers in executing their duties (Lawrence, 2000). The roles of police officers are difficult and dangerous and cases of police brutality occur when they are left to determine how to do their work. .
Ambiguity of necessary force. Police officers all over the world are allowed to use excess force when they deem it necessary to do so. This concept has been misused in many cases of police brutality since there are no clear descriptions or explanations that describe the extent or limit of excess force (Desmond, Papachristos, & Kirk, 2016). It is ironical that most victims of police brutality are usually helpless individuals running their daily activities.