Breach Of Accountability

Breach of Accountability:

The Rodney King Case

California Highway Patrol attempted to pull Rodney King over for speeding. They chased him for about fifteen minutes before the chase finally ended. While the two California Highway Patrol officers with their firearms drawn attempted to arrest King. Four other officers came and intervened. These officers went on to using excessive force towards King. The process in which excessive force was used is as follows:

1. Physical presence

2. Verbalization

3. Swarming

4. Taser (several times)

5. Use of batons (excessively)

The breach of accountability began when the officers started hitting King excessively with batons as well as hitting him above his shoulders with them. Mr. King did not cooperate with the commands and so they believed their actions were ok. The officers could have sprayed him with O.C. spray and then handcuffed him. The officers assumed that he was on PCP. They also assumed due to his past offenses that he was uncontrollable. There are many factors that contribute to police violence; the main one would be lack of experience or being on the job way too long. The types of police brutality would be verbal and physical.

The liability lies with the commanding officer at the scene as well as all the officers present. I believe human error does play a role because no one should be treated the way Mr. King was. I feel that the entire organization should not be judged as a whole because these individuals acted upon themselves, the organization did not agree with all of their actions. The social impact was that riots broke out everywhere in the city; as well as African-Americans not trusting the officers anymore. They felt like there