Zellner 1

Victor Zellner

Ms. Kenly

British Literature 1B

5 March 2019

Annotated Bibliography

Alang, Sirry. "How to Dismantle Racism and Prevent Police Brutality." USA Today (Online), 12

May. 2017. SIRS Issues Researcher,https://sks.sirs.com.

"Police brutality is a preventable cause of death that does not burden all racial groups equally.

That is clear....Time to stop the twisting in search of an answer that really lies in a preventable

cause of death. One that makes us all uncomfortable to address--racism. The deaths of unarmed

black men highlight broader racial issues reflected in police-public relations that we have not

quite addressed in the U.S. These issues create inequities in health, well-being and in

productivity. To address police brutality and limit its impact, we must focus upstream." (USA

Today (Online)) In a commentary, the author offers "7 steps individuals can take to prevent

police brutality and address structural racism."

Anderson, Christina. "Outcry in Sweden After Pregnant Black Woman is Dragged from Train."

New York Times, 04 Feb. 2019, pp. A.10. SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

"Footage of security officers dragging a pregnant black woman off a Stockholm subway

train and pinning her to a bench has caused an outcry in Sweden, raising questions about the

treatment of minorities in a country often seen as a beacon of tolerance....The episode occurred

days after a prominent TV investigative program reported on racial profiling in

Sweden....Sweden, once one of the most welcoming of nations for immigrants and long
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considered 'a moral superpower'...has experienced a rise in anti-immigration sentiment amid

increasing globalization, immigration and anxiety about national and cultural identity." (New

York Times)

"Behind the Police Shootings." Los Angeles Times, 27 Nov. 2018, pp. A.12. SIRS Issues

Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

"Many justifications are being offered for the tragic police shooting on Thanksgiving

[November 22, 2018] night that killed 21-year Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr. at the Riverchase

Galleria in Hoover, Ala., just south of Birmingham. They all seem beside the point....Certainly, if

a man holds a gun at the scene of a shooting, police are more likely [to] zero in on him than on

others....Yet guns are ubiquitous in this nation, whether we like it or not....Officers should expect

that. They should be trained for it." (Los Angeles Times) This article is an editorial that argues

"the legal standards for professional negligence in policing, and the training that goes with them,

should be toughened up."

Cahill, Teddy,Wesley Lowery, and Niraj Chokshi. "No Charges for Cleveland Police Officers in

Shooting Death of 12.." Washington Post, 29 Dec. 2015, pp. A.4. SIRS Issues

Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

""A local grand jury declined Monday [December 28, 2015] to bring criminal charges

against a rookie Cleveland [Ohio] police officer who in November 2014 shot and killed a 12-

year-old boy who was playing with a toy gun, closing a year-long investigation into one of

several police shootings that sparked nationwide protests....The case highlights the extraordinary

hurdles to pursuing criminal charges when police kill someone, even when the victim is a
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child....In a statement, Tamir's mother, Samaria Rice, said she was 'devastated' by the

decision...and she urged federal officials to pursue civil rights charges." (Washington Post)

Details of the case are provided.

Chabria, Anita. "Federal Civil Rights Review Planned in Police Shooting." Los Angeles Times,

06 Mar. 2019, pp. B.1. SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

"Federal authorities announced Tuesday [March 5, 2019] they will conduct a civil rights

review of the police shooting of an unarmed black man in California's capital last March [2018],

a killing that triggered a year of racial upheaval in Sacramento and has become the focus of

legislation to curb the use of deadly force. The announcement came hours after California's top

prosecutor declined to file charges against the two Sacramento police officers, Terrence

Mercadal and Jared Robinet, who fired on Stephon Clark 20 times after mistaking his cellphone

for a gun....On Monday night, more than 80 people were arrested by what appeared to be twice

that many SWAT officers at a demonstration in East Sacramento, one of the city's wealthiest

neighborhoods." (Los Angeles Times) Details of the case are provided.

Crepeau, Megan,et al. "Police Case Rulings Leave Questions about Reforms." Chicago

Tribune, 20 Jan. 2019, pp. 1. SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

"By any definition, the criminal cases connected to Laquan McDonald's murder have

been watershed moments for a city with a decades-long history of police abuses. Yet on back-to-

back days last week at Cook County's main criminal courthouse, many reform advocates were

left disappointed and wondering if any real progress has been made. In one courtroom Friday

[January 18, 2019], a judge sentenced Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke to just under
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seven years in prison for killing 17-year-old McDonald, less than half of what prosecutors had

sought....A day earlier, a different judge acquitted three of Van Dyke's fellow officers of charges

alleging a cover-up of McDonald's shooting." (Chicago Tribune)

LaTasha Givens, LaPorsche Thomas, Family, friends identify Atlanta man killed in officer-

involved shooting (https://www.11alive.com/article/news/crime/family-friends-identify-atlanta-

man-killed-in-officer-involved-shooting/85-f365688b-3fde-49c2-b838-708fbb3fae7d)

Published: 9:39 AM EST January 22, 2019

“ATLANTA — Family and friends have identified the man shot and killed at an apartment

complex in southwest Atlanta on Tuesday as 21-year-old Jimmy Atchison. Kevin Rowson with

Atlanta FBI said agents were serving a warrant to an armed robbery suspect at an apartment

complex in the Adamsville neighborhood on Middleton Road off Martin Luther King SW around

9 a.m.. When they tried to make contact, the suspect led them on a chase through the building.

An Atlanta police officer who is part of the FBI task force fired the deadly shot, according to

police. No officers were hurt. Friends say the man was visiting his child's mother before he was

shot and killed.”

Lowery, Wesley. "Police are Still Killing Black People. Why Don't we Notice?" Washington

Post,
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18 Mar. 2018, pp. B.3. SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

"Police violence--beatings, Taserings, killings--and criminal justice reform more broadly

were arguably the leading domestic news storyline during the final two years of the Obama

administration. The deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile and

others dominated headlines, inspired nationwide protests and brought on a pro-law-enforcement

backlash that helped elect President Trump. Now the issue has all but vanished from the national

political conversation." (Washington Post) This article examines why, despite continuing

protests and activism in the face of police violence and misconduct, "policing reform has lost our

national attention."

Meisner, Jason. "Appeals Court Upholds Conviction of Chicago Cop for Firing 16 Shots.."

Chicago Tribune, 08 Jan. 2019, pp. 5. SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

"A federal appeals court on Monday [January 7, 2019] rejected a bid for a new trial by

ex-Chicago police Officer Marco Proano, saying the 'brazenness alone of Proano's actions' in

firing 16 shots into a car filled with teens was enough for the jury to find he'd used excessive

force. Proano, 43, is serving a five-year sentence at a low-security prison camp in Pennsylvania.

He was the first Chicago police officer in decades, if not ever, to be convicted for an on-duty

shooting. A jury found the veteran officer had used excessive force....The incident was captured

on police dashboard camera video" (Chicago Tribune).

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Patrick, Robert. "Undercover St. Louis Cop Says Colleagues Beat Him 'Like Rodney King'."

St.Louis Post-Dispatch, 22 Jan. 2019, pp. A.1. SIRS Issues Researcher,

https://sks.sirs.com.

"An undercover St. Louis police officer who was beaten by colleagues during protests in

2017 later described the attack as a 'free for all' and told someone at police headquarters that he

was beaten 'like Rodney King,' according to recently released court documents. Detective Luther

Hall's statements about the night he was attacked were used by the FBI to justify searches of four

officers' cellphones and associated accounts as agents investigated both Hall's attack and the

arrest or detention of other protesters following the Sept. 15, 2017, acquittal of former St. Louis

police Officer Jason Stockley....That investigation resulted in charges in November [2018]

against four police officers." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Staff, ProQuest. Police Brutality Timeline. Leading Issues Timelines, 2019. SIRS Issues

Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

This article presents a timeline of some key events concerning police brutality in the United

States.

"Who Will Police the Police?" Economist, Aug. 2018, pp. 36-37. SIRS Issues Researcher,

https://sks.sirs.com.

"Finding evidence of police brutality in Kenya should not be too tricky. Amateur footage of

officers shooting suspected crooks in the back of the head is shared on social media. Vigilante

police groups post photographs of suspects they have killed, or intend to kill, on Facebook....Yet

since starting work six years ago [2012], Kenya's police watchdog has managed to secure
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convictions against just three officers, despite receiving nearly 10,000 complaints of abuse."

(Economist) This article explains why little has changed since Kenya created its Independent

Policing Oversight Authority to investigate police corruption and brutality.

"Why can't we Sue Cops?" Los Angeles Times, 06 Apr. 2018, pp. A.8. SIRS Issues Researcher,

https://sks.sirs.com.

"The Supreme Court this week [April 2, 2018] ruled that a Tucson police officer who

shot and wounded a woman in her front yard couldn't be sued for damages. It was the latest, but

almost certainly not the last, decision by the court to give the benefit of the doubt to law

enforcement officials accused of abusing their authority. It's time for the court to reconsider this

and other legal doctrines that make it hard for victims of official misconduct to have their day in

court. And if it doesn't, Congress should act." (Los Angeles Times) This article is an editorial

that argues that the Supreme Court "needs to stop placing its institutional thumb on the scale

when those in authority are accused of violating the Constitution."