Authors: Cassie R, Gerardo R, Kayla M, Jennifer L

Suspected drunk and destructive man got shot with a revolver and tasered by sheriff deputy in Whittier,CA.

On July 30th, a man was killed by a police officer. It was said that the man supposedly threatened the sheriff to bash his head in, then he took out a metal stick and swung at the sheriff. The officer reacted very harshly to the drunk man and shot him with a revolver then tased him which lead him to his death. The protection of the sheriffs were definitely needed against the drunk man, but were they too harsh on him? There are many more incidents occurring in California. Of course, even including Los Angeles. Police brutality can be happening very close to you. In some cases, such as Israel’s and Ms. Roselman’s, there are people that witnessed such brutality first and second hand.

“The officer pulled me over and I asked why? Do I look suspicious? Am I being detained?” said Israel Martinez, a 17 year old senior at APB , “and the officer told me don’t ask any questions in such rudely manner. The officer slammed me into the car and put his elbow on my neck and then he began to search and the officer checked my record but it was clear and the officer let me go.” Israel believes that police brutality is bad because we put money into taxes and the government comes out with untrained police officers.  Israel told us about a different encounter of someone he knew. That person got detained for looking suspicious; he told the officer that he didn’t commit a crime. The officer grabbed him forcefully and as he was moving he got tased. It is known that police brutality is a form of authority abusing their power. Police brutality is bad because the police comes from the government so it gives a very bad representation of them; it makes them look like they don’t know how to choose good policemen which is a waste of our tax money, said Israel. He believes that this will never end because there is too much corruption. If he had the chance to make a change, he would limit gun use, make sure they’re nice and don’t approach people so aggressively.

In addition to Israel’s experience, chemistry teacher Ms. Roselman reveals a story about her friends in Berkeley, CA.

For instance creating better techniques for background checks because she exclaims that, “Cooky people get jobs and we know nothing about their secret lives.” “I had some friends up north in Berkeley that saw a group of peaceful protesters get pepper sprayed by the police for no reason.” Melissa Roselman, a chemistry teacher at APB, believes that police brutality is wrong because people who have authority overuse it. She tells us that this is an example of how the policemen take advantage of their power. Roselman, believes that it is not ok for them to overuse their power. However, she says that there are dangerous situations where a police might feel threatened, in that case they should use their power to disarm. Roselman exclaimed “They shoot to kill, not to disarm.” She really hopes this comes to an end, because someone will always abuse their power at some point, “The world isn’t perfect, bad stuff is going to happen” said Roselman. Police brutality is something that has to change; if she had the opportunity to change it, she would try to make the system more strict. For instance creating better techniques for background checks because she exclaims that, “Cooky people get jobs and we know nothing about their secret lives.” For instance creating better techniques for background checks because she exclaims that, “Cooky people get jobs and we know nothing about their secret lives.” “