Annotated Bibliography

1. The Great Police Cover Up

Background – This article details how the police cover up their shootings. They intentionally avoid reporting the bullets they use. They falsify police reports in general. There is even information on how officers provide false data as to people killed by their hands. This makes it hard for the nation to even prove that police officers abuse their power because they are getting false statistics, unreported police altercations.

Proposal – We can’t even trust our police officers to provide proper data. This is what our tax dollars go to. Supplying a police force that cannot be honest with their reports, do not submit their data to the FBI’s Crime Reporting Program, and keep any sort of actual evidence and date to themselves. There is obviously some kind of reason they want to cover this information up. It goes against them.

2. News Reporter Spreads False Image of Police Officer

Background – KABC reporter Larry Elder posts a fake picture of Darren Wilson’s injuries after his altercation with Michael Brown. This is proven false with a simple right click reverse image search on the photo. It turns out that was actually a picture of man involved in a face plant motocross accident from 2006.

How I used it – This is an example of how the media will lie and spread false information in order to protect the men in blue. The man in the picture does not even resemble Darren Wilson in the slightest. However, that doesn’t seem to matter to Larry Elder, in fact for the first few days it actually worked. The image spread to most other news outlets and the man quickly became the new face of Darren Wilson. Until of course it was proven false. Proving that the media has no problem to lie to the public in order to gain support and views.

3. Attributes of a Police Officer

Background – A list of traits and characteristics that the police try to live by and uphold.

How I used it – In society we are taught how police officers should be and what they should represent. Courage, loyalty, truthfulness, and most importantly, justice. The goal with this is to show that these ideas and expectations we have of our police tend to skew the idea that at that end of the day police are just like us. Human. They make mistakes like us, sometimes they are dishonest, and that it is possible for them to be selfish.

4. Deconstructing a Media Police Cover-up

Background – This article delves into how media outlets attempt to protect and cover-up police misdeeds. It covers the tactics that are used by news media to distort the truth, lean in favor of the police, paint victims as criminals, and their control over the masses.

How I used it– Media always tends to be a key component of how some cops are able to get off with acts of excessive force by manipulating narratives and feeding the general public the half-truths that were reported by the police

5. Why Police Lie

Background – The title of this opinion piece written by Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Alexander goes into detail of how it is police go about lying and how/why they are able to get away with it. She explains how people will plead guilty to crimes whether they actually did them or not, because they are aware that the chances of the jury taking their word over the officer’s are slim to none. She claims that police have an incentive to lie which is to meet an arrest quota, to save their own jobs, or protect another officer.

How I used it – Police lie, there are many cases of police perjury and there are many cases of police getting away with lying in their reports and in court. Both of which are illegal actions. How are we able to trust police to uphold justice when they will put their jobs over innocents? Knowing that police are fully capable of lying and getting away with it, then we should not bother trusting their words alone in trial.

6. Body-Cam Video Released of Fatal Tulsa Shooting After Police Chase

Background – Body camera video of the shooting of alleged illegal weapons dealer, Eric Harris of Tulsa Oklahoma shows Harris running away from police and then being fatally shot in the back by 73 year old reserve deputy Robert Bates. The shooting was said to be an accident as the reserve deputy claims that he mistakenly grabbed his gun instead of his taser. What follows after Eric Harris is shot leaves many in shock. He is tackled and forced down by backup officers with one pressing his knew gets Harris’s head driving it into the ground. Harris claims that he cannot breathe and a friendly officer responds with “Fuck your breath”.

Proposal – The arrest of Eric Harris was justified. There were warrants for his arrest when it was discovered that he may be selling illegal firearms. It was set up as a by the books arrest. Eric Harris, unfortunately made it worse for himself by attempting to run from the police. What he and many others didn’t count on, was that he was going to be shot for fleeing. Many would expect that he would have been tasered and brought down by the police. Instead he was shot, forcibly taken down, and denied breathing space from the officers. Clear cut example of excessive force, and police incompetence that resulted in the death of a man who should have been arrested and put on trial.

7. In One Quote, Morgan Freeman Said What Everyone’s Thinking about TV Coverage of Baltimore

Background – In an interview with the Daily Beast, actor Morgan Freeman expresses his opinion on the recent events of the mystery death of Baltimore citizen Freddie Gray while in custody of police. Rather he would if he properly knew the events of what was going on. With how the media was covering the subject you would think it was just about rioting Baltimore citizens. There was so much focus on the riots that many were not aware why they were rioting in the first place. Fed up with this incompetent media coverage, an exasperated Morgan Freeman asks “Where were all the cameras before the situation escalated into riots? People are saying, ‘You were not all there when we were just talking and trying to make a point, but if we set something on fire, all of a sudden you’re all here. Why is that? What’s the difference?” Finally topping off his questions with “Fuck the media”.

How I used it – The goal of this source is to support my claim of poor media coverage in the events of police brutality. The article discusses that the media will only show up when the situation reaches a boiling point instead of reporting what occurred prior to the riots and what caused the protests and riots in the first place. The media goes on to paint the community as dangerous and that it is no reason a police officer would kill an alleged criminal when they get their hands on them. This in a way works in the officers’ favor since the media is busy distracting viewers with footage of riots, it gives them time to form a good cover-up about the death of suspect.

8. What Happens When Cops Kill Innocent People

Background – This article goes into detail about the process a police officer faces after killing an innocent or suspect. Police normally face the same consequences anyone else does after taking a person’s life. An investigation whether the killing was in self-defense, if the killing was premeditated, and the method in which they killed the person. Police officers however, are placed on paid leave until the investigation ends, or after they are convicted.

How I used it – This will mainly be used to describe the consequences that police face in cases of police brutality/excessive force.

9. South Carolina Officer Is Charged With Murder of Walter Scott

Background – Michael Slager, a South Carolina officer, shoots and kills 50 year old Walter Scott after attempting to flee a traffic stop. Originally it was stated that Scott had taken officer Slager’s stun gun and threatened to use it on him. Slager said that he feared for his life and shot Walter Scott. However, in a released video shows that Walter Scott did not have Michael Slager’s stun gun and tried running away after getting into a scuffle. While he was running Slager shot him up to eight times in the back killing him moments later.

How I used it – This article will be used to support my claim that officers sometimes lie after they shoot and kill a suspect. They will often use the go to “He took my weapon” or “I feared for my life” in order to make them look like the victims and that they only shot in self-defense.

10. The Growing Epidemic of Police Violence: Is It Times to De-Militarize Police Forces?

Background – An opinion/informational piece written by John W. Whitehead, attorney, president of The Rutherford Institute, and author of Battlefield America. Takes time to dissect the rise of police force against criminals and innocent civilians. Not only does the article list many instances of civilian deaths by the hands of police, but also how they are too heavily equipped for their jobs. Resembling something more of a domestic army instead of a simple local police force.

How I used it – The opinion piece was used to support my claim of police using excessive force leading to seriously injured or death of citizens. Whether they are innocent or suspects of a particular crime.