In society, some people decide to work what we deem as ‘normal jobs’ these are jobs that work steady hours in a reasonably safe work environment. Some people through out the course of history as well as today, continue to go above and beyond what is required of them and in many cases place their jobs, freedom and even their own lives on the line. People who take justice into their own hands and may break the law in doing so for the common good are known as vigilantes. Although it is the job of the police to hold people accountable for their actions if they break the law, when vigilantes feel as if the police are not doing their job they take justice into their own hands. Vigilantes perform their work extrajudicially, many times this can give them a bad reputation due to the fact that in our nation we have a constitution that calls for all people to be given a fair and speedy trial. All accused persons no matter how guilty they may seem are innocent until proven guilty and are entitled to due process under the law. In the 2017 New York City Police Department use of force report the department stresses through rhetoric and analysis that extrajudicial violence is not authorized.
The NYPD’s use of force report is meant to give the public and inside look and a review of incidents that happened in 2017 in regards to use of force. One of the main objective of the report is to show the public that the NYPD has every thing under control and is a fair and just organization. One thing I noticed that grabbed my attention was the front cover and the back cover of the report. On the front cover you see the image of the Statue of Liberty and also in the
picture you see the freedom tower. These are symbolic images of America and when people see them it reminds us all of what we have in common with one another. We are all Americans but we are all New Yorkers as well. The freedom tower is something that was also rebuilt in a great way after such a horrible tragedy. The department may have used the freedom tower to metaphorically show how after the tragedy of Eric Garner and other mis-uses of force, that the department has rebuilt and re-invented itself. On the back cover we are shown the Freedom Tower from the opposite angle as well as the Statue of Liberty this is meant to show that we have seen all angles of the report and everything should be transparent.
Inside the report details are released about the levels of force an officer may use and when that use of force is acceptable. As I was reading the report it almost felt as if I was in the NYPD police academy due to the fact that there was so much information being thrown at me. On page 6 of the report. The three levels of force are shown and in big numbers on the right hand side it is purposely made clear that most of the cases that the department has responded to are level one uses of force. Level one is classified as less lethal strikes such as physical strikes. Level one cases made up 89 percent of the total uses of force compared to level three which is deadly force, deadly force made up only 3 percent of cases.
The report establishes clear guidelines and the levels of force to be used. If an officer doesn’t follow the proper protocol the report establishes the steps necessary that hold an officer accountable. These include the different investigation units that have been designed to investigate officer over usage of force. These include units such as Internal affairs, Force Investigation Division and the Risk Management Bureau. The report also explains clearly the duties of each member and level of the department. For example on page 9, there is a list of the
ranks such as immediate supervisor and duty captain. The responsibilities are listed for these positions for them to make sure a proper investigation is not corrupted or tainted.
The NYPD put hours of work into making this report seem perfect. After many instances of police brutality or mis-uses of force the NYPD wants to show that it a department that is back to conducting normal business and that it is a department that treats all people equally. This can be seen by the letter by the commissioner on one of the first pages. Not only is there a letter that explains the report but it also includes a picture of the commissioner. They include this to familiarize the public with the police commissioner to include a face behind the department.
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