The People and the Police: Oakland 1974 (Part 1)

1974 www.amazon.com Watch the full film: thefilmarchived.blogspot.com Police brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer. It is in some instances triggered by “contempt of cop”, ie, perceived disrespect towards police officers. Widespread police brutality exists in many countries, even those that prosecute it. Police brutality is one of several forms of police misconduct, which include false arrest, intimidation, racial profiling, political repression, surveillance abuse, sexual abuse, and police corruption. Throughout history, efforts to police societies have been marred by brutality to some degree. In the ancient world, policing entities actively cultivated an atmosphere of terror, and abusive treatment was used to achieve more efficient control of the population. The origin of modern policing based on the authority of the nation state is commonly traced back to developments in seventeenth and eighteenth century France, with modern police departments being established in most nations by the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (see Police – History section). Cases of police brutality appear to have been frequent then, with “the routine bludgeoning of citizens by patrolmen armed with nightsticks or blackjacks.” Large-scale incidents of brutality were associated with labor strikes, such as the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, the Pullman …