What is the cause of police brutality and how does it affect Oakland residents? Hillary Walker, a teacher at Life academy and an Oakland resident believes that police brutality is based on the way that people of privilege judge others by their image and value (Walker). Police cause brutality because they put communities, youth, and institutions in danger.
Effect In Oakland
What type of effect does police brutality have on Oakland residents? Especially those seen as non valuable? Luz Orozco an Oakland Resident and mother of 3 kids has a very strong opinion about police brutality and believes that the more brutality that is created by police against lower class people in Oakland could and will lead to communities losing trust in the people who are supposed to protect us. Oakland is supposed to be a highly diverse city but, when it comes to violence caused by police the people who are seen as non valuable are the ones targeted which is unfair because it’s rare when police use violence against people of higher class. The way that police oppress lower class humans makes police seem as non valuable themselves because instead of protecting us against violence, police cause extremely violent brutality when violence is a impediment that is meant to be broken. But, as long as police don’t see it as an impediment to a more peaceful world than the brutality will just continue to get worse and worse (Orozco).
Effect on Oakland youth
There is a lot of ways that police brutality is spread and it affects many people. But, are youth of lower class also the targeted by police brutality? Darwin BondGraham is a writer who specializes on news and social justice. In an article written By Darwin BondGraham he described the moment when a 14 year old-girl who lived with her parents and her infant brother became a victim of police brutality here in Oakland, California. The victim’s dad was in the middle of a discussion with and officer due to the fact that her father had an arrest warrant filed against him. The girl’s mother pulled up to her home in Oakland and left her 14 year-old daughter in the car watching over her infant son. A few minutes later Shaun Williams the father of the victim was arrested. A police officer ordered the 14 year old girl to exit the car but, the girl refused. “Due to plaintiff’s questions and in violation of the First Amendment, defendant Martinelli brutally punched Plaintiff in the face” (Bondgraham). Oppression has grown stronger throughout the years but the police as our protectors should influence people to create change instead of making the oppression we face grow stronger. Not only are people of lower class being affected by Police brutality but our youth are also being lured into the unhealthy space that police create due to the fact that they believe that they have the power to hurt others. If police have the audacity to hurt youth in what other ways could police target people in Oakland.
Public Institutions Targeted by Police
Public institutions in Oakland have been used as battlegrounds for police and victims of police violence. Tom Head is a very credible historian that specializes in ethics and religion he has also written more than 25 books based on civil liberties. Tom Head created an article based on the story related to Oscar Grant’s death The Fruitvale Bart station was treated as a battle ground in the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant. Oscar Grant was an African American male who was shot and killed by police. As shown in a widely disseminated cell phone video of the shooting, Grant was restrained by two officers. A third, 27-year-old Johannes Mehserle, then drew his service revolver and shot Grant fatally in the back(Head). Public institutions like Fruitvale BART have been places where people of color have been targeted and unfortunately killed. Oakland has been affected by this factor because police officers who protect the city and keep Americas laws intact end up breaking the laws and creating a serious reputation that makes police and Oakland seem as an unsafe place.
In Conclusion, police brutality is caused by the ignorance and disrespect by police officers.The effect in Oakland is negative because people don’t feel safe and can’t trust their ¨protectors¨ that are supposed to keep communities safe. How do police really want to be seen? As heros? Or Monsters?
Work Cited
Bondgraham, Darwin. Oakland to Pay $60,000 After Police Officer Slapped 14-Year-Old Girl. 4 Dec. 2018,
Head, Tony. The Shooting Death of Oscar Grant: What You Need to Know. 28 Dec. 2017, www.thoughtco.com/shooting-death-of-oscar-grant-721526.
Orozco, Luz. “People of Lower Class and Police Brutality.” 16 Dec. 2018, pp. 1–2.
Walker, Hillary. “Hillary Walker and Police Brutality.” None, none, no. none, 16 Dec. 2018, pp. 1–2.
Kenya,
Your blog was extremely well-written and you have a great perspective on police brutality. I really like the perspective you took on who the police attack. You focused on how they don’t protect the lower socio-economic classes and instead hurt them. In essence they give better treatment to the higher classes. Why do you think that is so? I was also enraged to learn that a 14 year old girl got punched in the face for practically doing nothing. I agree police have way too much power when using violence. I believe to “serve and protect” means just that and not using violence if necessary. One thing I would encourage is research on what Oakland is trying to do to help end that divide of police mistrust and what steps has the police department has taken to show they are not using violence for many of their arrests. Also, I am curious to see how what you think your community can do to help end police brutality and what programs can you come up with to help bridge the gap between police and community. I think this is a problem across the United States and not just in Oakland. I think race does have some aspect in it, and it stems from stereo-types and prejudice.
Great Post,
Brendan Davila
Dear Brendan,
I would like to thank you for commenting on my blog. It was great to read your comment and learn from your perspective on police brutality. What really stood out to me from your comment was when u stated, ¨How what you think your community can do to help end police brutality and what programs can you come up with to help bridge the gap between police and community”. Your comment helped me expand my thinking on how our communities can fight and stand against police brutality because it is indeed a problem that we need to address as humans. I also agree with you about how police brutality doesn’t only happen in Oakland which is also why I feel like we should take a stand and fight against brutality to prevent there being any more negative interactions between police and people. Hopefully i get to hear back from you again and your perspective on police brutality!
Thank you!
Kenya Sanchez
Dear Kenya,
I like your blog “Police Brutality Cause and Effect in Oakland”, because you talk about how police brutality impacts people and the community along with the effects police brutality has on the people and the community. One sentence that stood out to me is when you wrote “Oakland has been affected by this factor because police officers who protect the city and keep Americas laws intact end up breaking the laws and creating a serious reputation that makes police and Oakland seem as an unsafe place”. This stood out to me because I love how you talk about how and why Oakland has a bad reputation not being safe. Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next. =)