Police brutality in the United States | Definition, History, Causes, & Examples

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[{"p":3,"t":2064580},{"p":2,"t":2076186},{"p":1,"t":1244196},{"p":1,"t":2106701},{"p":4,"t":119368},{"p":22,"t":467289},{"p":1,"t":547123},{"p":5,"t":143120},{"p":2,"t":324086},{"p":1,"t":119317}], "sequence": 1, "topics": {} }); </script> <article class="article-content container-lg qa-content px-0 pt-0 pb-40 py-lg-20 content md-expanded" data-topic-id="2064580"> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col-auto"> <div class="topic-left-rail md-article-drawer position-relative d-flex border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/police-brutality-in-the-United-States-2064580">police brutality in the United States</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <ul class="list-unstyled my-0" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><div class="pl-25"><a class="link-gray-900 w-100" href="/topic/police-brutality-in-the-United-States-2064580">Introduction</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref334676"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/police-brutality-in-the-United-States-2064580#ref334676">African Americans and police brutality</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref334677"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/police-brutality-in-the-United-States-2064580#ref334677">The Great Migration</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref334678"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/police-brutality-in-the-United-States-2064580/Police-brutality-after-World-War-II">Police brutality after World War II</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref334679"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/police-brutality-in-the-United-States-2064580/Police-brutality-after-World-War-II#ref334679">Police brutality and race riots</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref334680"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/police-brutality-in-the-United-States-2064580/Antibrutality-campaigns">Antibrutality campaigns</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li></ul> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/police-brutality-in-the-United-States-2064580/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/police-brutality-in-the-United-States-2064580/images-videos">Images</a> <div class="slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100 "> <div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex overflow-hidden text-nowrap ml-15"> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/96/71296-050-6A212E1E/demonstrator-rights-police-dog-reaction-Alabama-Birmingham-May-3-1963.jpg" data-href="/media/1/2064580/97520" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/96/71296-004-0B8CB497/demonstrator-rights-police-dog-reaction-Alabama-Birmingham-May-3-1963.jpg" alt="civil rights movement" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/99/74199-050-AC61AC93/Guardsman-standing-watch-rioting-policemen-Los-Angeles-April-1992.jpg" data-href="/media/1/2064580/71943" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/99/74199-004-BB1D59EF/Guardsman-standing-watch-rioting-policemen-Los-Angeles-April-1992.jpg" alt="Los Angeles Riots of 1992: National Guardsman standing watch" height="50" /> </a> </div> <button disabled class="prev-button js-prev-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-blue " aria-label="Previous"> <span 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Author of <em>Black Rage in New Orleans: Police Brutality and African American Activism from World War II to Hurricane Katrina</em> and others. </div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Leonard Moore</span></div> <div class="font-serif font-12 text-gray-700"> <span class="qa-fact-checked-by">Fact-checked by</span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 qa-editor-popup font-12" href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 text-black">Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/police-brutality-in-the-United-States-2064580/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref1232237"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/police-brutality" class="md-crosslink ">police brutality in the United States</a></strong>, the unwarranted or excessive and often illegal use of force against civilians by U.S. police officers. Forms of police brutality have ranged from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/assault-and-battery" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">assault and battery</a> (e.g., beatings) to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/mayhem" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">mayhem</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/torture" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">torture</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/murder-crime" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">murder</a>. Some broader definitions of police brutality also <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="encompass" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/encompass" data-type="MW">encompass</a> harassment (including false arrest), intimidation, and verbal abuse, among other forms of mistreatment.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="marker h2"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref334676"> <h2 class="h1"><span id="ref1236326"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/African-American" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">African Americans</a> and police brutality</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Americans of all races, <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="ethnicities" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethnicities" data-type="MW">ethnicities</a>, ages, classes, and genders have been subjected to police brutality. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, for example, poor and working-class whites expressed frustration over discriminatory policing in northern cities. At about the same time, Jewish and other immigrants from southern and eastern Europe also complained of police brutality against their <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="communities" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communities" data-type="MW">communities</a>. In the 1920s many urban police departments, especially in large cities such as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/New-York-state" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">New York</a> and Chicago, used extralegal tactics against members of Italian-immigrant communities in efforts to crack down on <span id="ref1281738"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/organized-crime" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">organized crime</a>. In 1943 officers of the <span id="ref1281739"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Los-Angeles-Police-Department" class="md-crosslink ">Los Angeles Police Department</a> were <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="complicit" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/complicit" data-type="MW">complicit</a> in attacks on Mexican Americans by U.S. servicemen during the so-called <span id="ref1281741"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Zoot-Suit-Riots" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Zoot Suit Riots</a>, reflecting the department’s history of hostility toward Hispanics (Latinos). Regular harassment of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/homosexuality" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">homosexuals</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/transgender" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">transgender</a> persons by police in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/New-York-City" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">New York City</a> culminated in 1969 in the <span id="ref1281742"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Stonewall-riots" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Stonewall riots</a>, which were triggered by a police raid on a gay bar; the protests marked the beginning of a new era of militancy in the international <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/gay-rights-movement" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">gay rights movement</a>. And in the aftermath of the 2001 <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/September-11-attacks" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">September 11 attacks</a>, Muslim Americans began to voice complaints about police brutality, including harassment and racial profiling. Many local law-enforcement agencies launched covert operations of questionable legality designed to surveil and infiltrate mosques and other Muslim American organizations in an effort to uncover presumed terrorists, a practice that went unchecked for at least a decade.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Notwithstanding the variety among groups that have been subjected to police brutality in the United States, the great majority of victims have been <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/African-American" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">African American</a>. In the estimation of most experts, a key factor explaining the predominance of African Americans among victims of police brutality is antiblack <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/racism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">racism</a> among members of mostly white police departments. Similar <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="prejudices" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prejudices" data-type="MW">prejudices</a> are thought to have played a role in police brutality committed against other historically oppressed or <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="marginalized" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/marginalized" data-type="MW">marginalized</a> groups.</p><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Whereas racism is thought to be a major cause of police brutality directed at African Americans and other ethnic groups, it is far from the only one. Other factors concern the unique institutional <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="culture" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture" data-type="MW">culture</a> of urban police departments, which stresses group solidarity, loyalty, and a “show of force” approach to any perceived challenge to an officer’s authority. For rookie officers, acceptance, success, and promotion within the department depend upon adopting the attitudes, values, and practices of the group, which historically have been infused with antiblack racism.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Because African Americans have been the primary—though certainly not the only—target of police brutality in the United States, the remainder of this article will deal mainly with their experiences, both historically and in the present day.</p><div class="module-spacing"> </div><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span> </section> <span class="marker h3"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref334677"> <h2 class="h1">The Great Migration</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Interactions between African Americans and urban police departments were initially shaped by the <span id="ref1284140"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Migration" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Great Migration</a> (1916–70) of African Americans from the rural South into urban areas of the North and West, especially following <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">World War II</a>. Most white communities, including white police departments, were unaccustomed to the presence of African Americans and reacted to their increasing numbers with fear and hostility, attitudes that were <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="exacerbated" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exacerbated" data-type="MW">exacerbated</a> by deeply ingrained racist <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="stereotypes" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stereotypes" data-type="MW">stereotypes</a>. Reflecting the beliefs of many whites, northern police departments acted upon the presumption that African Americans, and especially African American men, possessed an <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="inherent" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inherent" data-type="MW">inherent</a> tendency toward criminal behaviour, one that required constant surveillance of African Americans and restrictions on their movements (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/racial-segregation" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">segregation</a>) in the interests of white safety. Accordingly, by the mid-1950s many urban police departments had implicitly reconceived their missions as essentially that of policing African Americans—i.e., protecting whites against Blacks.</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The forms of police brutality to which this situation gave rise were variable and generally not limited to physical assault (e.g., beatings) and excessive use of force. They also included unlawful arrests, verbal abuse (e.g., racial slurs) and threats, sexual assaults against African American women, and police homicides (murders of civilians by police). Police were also sometimes <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="complicit" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/complicit" data-type="EB">complicit</a> in drug dealing, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/prostitution" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">prostitution</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/burglary" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">burglaries</a>, protection schemes, and gun-smuggling within African American neighbourhoods.</p><div class="module-spacing"> <DIV class="marketing-INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION marketing-content" data-marketing-id="INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION"><style> .student-promo-banner-wrapper { container-type: inline-size; margin-bottom: 15px; } @container (min-width: 475px) { .student-promo-banner { flex-direction: row; } .student-promo-banner-img-wrapper { margin-bottom: 0; margin-right: 10px; justify-content: flex-start; } .student-promo-banner-text-wrapper { text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; } .student-promo-banner-button-wrapper { margin-right: 0; } }</style> <div class="student-promo-banner-wrapper"> <div class="student-promo-banner d-flex flex-column align-items-center bg-blue rounded p-20"> <div class="student-promo-banner-img-wrapper mb-20 mr-0 d-flex justify-content-center"> <img class="rounded" style="max-width: 100px; min-width: 80px" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/marketing/BlueThistle.webp" /> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-text-wrapper ml-0 mb-10 text-center text-white"> <div class="h2 mb-10">Get Unlimited Access</div> <div class="h4 font-weight-semi-bold">Try Britannica Premium for free and discover more.</div> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-button-wrapper d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center ml-auto mr-auto"> <a class="btn btn-m btn-orange" href="https://premium.britannica.com/premium-membership/?utm_source=premium&utm_medium=inline-cta&utm_campaign=august-2024">Subscribe</a> </div> </div> </div> </DIV></div><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD8 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Although police brutality against African Americans had become a serious problem in many urban areas by the mid-20th century, most whites remained unaware of it until about the mid-1960s, in large part because most large-city newspapers (whose readerships were primarily white) did not consider it newsworthy. In contrast, incidences of police brutality were regularly covered in the Black press from the early 20th century, frequently in front-page articles. Likewise, local and national <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/civil-rights" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">civil rights</a> organizations collected thousands of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="affidavits" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affidavits" data-type="MW">affidavits</a> and letters from African Americans documenting their direct experiences of police brutality.</p><span class="marker MOD8 mod-inline"></span> </section> <span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":3,"pageId":2064580,"pageLength":802,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.133.9"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.133.9' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"B","adLeg":"B","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"PAGINATED","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":true} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Police brutality in the United States | Definition, History, Causes, & Examples | Britannica