From my understanding of what gives a police officer the right to shoot a person, or the right to use deadly force, is in situations where they are enforcing the law. Using deadly force in "arresting situations" comes with various rules and regulations. After researching deadly force, there seemed to be two major guidelines that police officers must follow and these two things are whether the officers are arresting for a misdemeanor or arresting for a felony. According to the legal dictionary I was reading, under the arresting of someone who has committed a misdemeanor, the officer has the right to shoot the person only if the officer is using self-defense. If the officer shoots and kills the person they are attempting to arrest for reasons other than self-defense, the officer can be held "criminally and civilly liable." Under the arresting of someone who has committed a felony, the police can use all necessary force to overcome resistance, even if that means killing the person they are attempting to arrest. On the other hand, it also is mentioned that if the officer uses more force than was necessary, like killing someone for no apparent reason, the officer can be held "criminally and civilly liable." Nowhere in my research did it say that officers possess the right to kill someone in "arresting situations" or any situation, for that matter, based on the color of their skin. So if police officers can only apply deadly force while enforcing the law, and no where in the law it says that the color of someone's skin determines whether or not they be shot and killed, why do officers keep doing it? Why was Alton Sterling shot and killed? Actually, names do not matter anymore because the list goes on and on and it continues to grow everyday. What does matter is the question, why was anyone shot and killed if they seemed to be no threat to the officers? Why are the unarmed and people who seem to be no threat being shot and killed? On the other hand, why are people who are armed and seem to actually be a threat to police officers not getting shot and killed? Why does the color of someone's skin continue to have huge influence in officers' minds? Why do officers continue to shoot and kill more people of color than white people in the same situations?
It is clear that racism is still a huge problem in America. It is also clear that this problem can and will only be fixed if everyone stands up. Not one race or sex can fix this problem. Either we all unite together and do something about it, or we allow racism to continue to exist and we allow dads, mothers, brothers, sisters and perfectly good people to die at the hands of racism.
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