Police brutality — breaking the rules and getting away with it Anthony Baez was playing football in the street with his brothers one December evening in New York in 1994. Their football accidentally hit a parked patrol car. An infuriated police officer grabbed Anthony and held him round the neck, then other officers knelt on his back as he lay face down on the ground. Anthony choked to death. It emerged that the officer had a long history of brutality — there were at least 14 prior complaints against him — yet he was still on duty. Caroline Sue Botticher, an African American women, died in April 1997 after police from West Charlotte, North Carolina, fired 22 rounds at the car in which she was a passenger. The car had failed to stop at a police checkpoint, but there was no evidence to suggest that anyone in the car was armed. Tragically, these are not isolated incidents. Each year local state authorities and the US Justice Department receive thousands of complaints of assault and ill-treatment by police officers. Inquiries into some of the country's largest urban police departments in recent years have uncovered systematic brutality. In each case the authorities had turned a blind eye to routine abuses in high crime districts. In each case police officers had covered up misconduct by fellow officers, hiding behind a "code of silence", in which police officers refuse to report or confirm misconduct by fellow officers.

Members of the Florida National Guard 'subduing' a suspect © AP

Across the USA, people who posed no threat have been beaten, kicked, punched and shot by police officers. They have been hurt, or even killed, as a result of being placed in dangerous restraint holds which prevented them from breathing, given electric shocks by stun guns and other weapons, or subjected to excessive use of chemical sprays. Many people have died, many have been seriously injured, many have been deeply traumatized. Each year US local authorities pay out millions of dollars in damages to victims or their relatives in civil suits, yet prosecutions of police officers are rare. The overwhelming majority of victims of police brutality in many areas are members of racial or ethnic minorities, while most police departments remain predominantly white. Racial prejudice and distrust between the police and members of minority communities — especially young black and Latino males in inner city areas — are widespread. It is difficult to gauge the true extent of police brutality or use of excessive force in the USA, as there is no reliable national data. More than 17,000 police agencies operate in the USA, each with its own codes of practice and methods of recording and investigating abuses. A law was passed in 1994 requiring the federal government to collect and analyse nationwide data on police use of excessive force, but Congress has not yet provided the necessary funding. International standards which have been endorsed by the USA regulate the conduct of the authorities in their fight against crime. They provide that police officers should use force only as a last resort and that the amount of force must be in proportion to the threat encountered and designed to minimize damage and injury. Many US police departments have guidelines which broadly conform to these international standards. Despite this, police forces throughout the USA regularly violate these standards, using levels of force entirely out of proportion to the threat faced. Although some police departments have introduced reforms in recent years, often in the wake of severe criticism from inquiries, discipline imposed on officers who use excessive force is frequently inadequate. Few police officers are ever prosecuted for human rights violations. Their "code of silence" contributes to the continuing climate of impunity.

Many instances of police abusing their power only come to light through the determined and tireless work of human rights campaigners, civil rights lawyers and relatives of the victims. 'Police brutality seemed to occur ... whenever we uncovered corruption Mollen Commission of Inquiry, 1994, into corruption in the New York City Police Department

 

Turn words into action "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness..." The United States of America declared its independence with this resounding affirmation of human rights. It has repeatedly proclaimed its commitment to human rights at home and abroad. The reality for many in the USA can be very different. For the poor, for Latinos, blacks and other minorities, justice and equality are often denied, the right to life and liberty frequently abused. Police brutality is a daily occurrence. Ill- treatment, even torture, takes place in prisons across the country. Condemned prisoners are executed after unfair trials. The US authorities have failed to stamp out these widespread violations of human rights. The US government uses the language of international law, human rights and democratic values to justify its policies. Yet the USA has often been reluctant to allow its own record to be scrutinized by the international community and has been selective in its defence of human rights abroad, keen to criticize its enemies but less willing to speak out about abuses by its allies. This campaign aims to support the struggle for the human rights of all in the USA. Its goal is to make the US federal, state and local authorities more accountable for human rights violations. Every voice counts Join us in our campaign

Send your letters to/ Write to: President Bill Clinton The White House Office of the President 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington DC 20500 USA Urge him to call for the establishment of an effective national system for monitoring and preventing abuses by police. Urge him to call for police agencies to adopt and rigorously enforce internationally recognized standards prohibiting torture, ill-treatment and other use of excessive force by law enforcement officers. Amnesty International is a worldwide voluntary human rights movement that campaigns for the release of prisoners of conscience, fair trials for political prisoners, and an end to torture and the death penalty, "disappearances" and political killings all over the world. Amnesty International works impartially to promote all the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards. For more information about Amnesty International and our campaign to counter human rights violations in the USA, contact Amnesty International in your country or write to: Amnesty International International Secretariat 1 Easton Street London WC1X 8DJ United Kingdom Other Appeals: The Death Penalty Asylum Seekers Torture of prisoners