Aguayo 1

Amanda Aguayo
Ms. Donlin
PSJ Block 3
May 26, 2015
The Treatment of Others in Our Home
Awareness:
The social justice outing that I attended was the meet and greet with the four new city
council members of San Jose. The place where this event was held was Sacred Heart Center
here in San Jose by downtown. It took place on March 11 and lasted about two hours. During
this event many issues were brought up. Some of the issues talked about were plans for
affordable housing for everyone in San Jose, the rights of immigrants, and racial discrimination
that takes place in our criminal justice system. All the issues talked about were interesting and
shocking to hear, especially hearing the voices from those in the crowd who were concerned
and experienced these issues. From this event though one issue stood out to me the most and
was the most talked about. The issue that I was concerned about and that I believe should be
changed is the racial discrimination in our criminal justice system. This in shorter terms is also
specified as police brutality.
Analysis:
The role and jobs of police in our society are simple; they must go out into the world to
protect and serve others, meaning to serve their community. Some of the things that they are
required to do to help and protect us are things such as giving tickets, monitoring criminal
activity, making arrests, and more. All these examples of the work of police sound fair to better
the community, even if it means they must do it in a tough in strict manner most of the times.
Lately in society though, throughout the US, stories and news broadcasts are shared about how
police may be going too far with the power that comes with their job.

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To go into the meaning of police brutality one could say to be harsh on people. The true and
most looked upon definition of police brutality is simply defined as the wanton use of excessive
force, usually physical, but also common in forms of verbal attacks and psychological
intimidation by a police officer. According to one source, the definition of police brutality is
broken down with examples of excessive force that police use towards citizens. The examples
they listed were nerve gas, batons, pepper spray, and guns; of course these do apply to the
physical form that police would use. The non-physical form of police brutality that occurs and is
witnessed today is verbal abuse, false arrests, police corruption and racial profiling
(http://thelawdictionary.org/article/what-is-police-brutality/). In this article, one point really stood
out that is true in what is shown all over the media. Racial profiling is the most popular and has
the highest number of the reasons why police brutality exists. The quote that exemplifies this is
Even though racial profiling still exists, anyone regardless of race, gender, or age can become
a victim of police brutality.
Behind police brutality there are reasons why this happens. Most of these reasons are the root
causes that stimulate this behavior, such as race which means officers judge by a persons
ethnicity and the history behind their racial background. A second example is the classism of a
person such as a black or hispanic person, which is the top two high kinds of people to be
harassed more often by officers just because of where they come from and the financial status
they may be presumed to have (http://policebrutalityccb.weebly.com/root-causes.html). A last
root cause is even stereotypes and emotions that can get the best of them and make them get
aggressive (http://www.sunypress.edu/p-4690-race-and-police-brutality.aspx). Along with the
root causes though come the effects. Some of the effects of this issue are simply too much
force being used it could lead to big trouble and possible firings, officers thinking they have the
full power to do what they deem necessary, and lastly citizens becoming enraged with the
behavior of officers that retaliation could start up.
Discernment

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Although police may think they are doing the right thing and are bettering the community
sometimes they may not think deeply the actions they do. In PSJ, we learned about all the
catholic social teachings and how they apply to the lives of everyone each day. With the police
brutality situations the CST that mainly applies is the human right and dignity of others. This
CST is about respecting people and the dignity of their lives where everyday it is not followed
and someone loses their life. With police brutality and the CST, it means that at times police can
do very violent actions that it has led to the death of the suspect in many instances of many
situations. Aside from the CST, another example from PSJ that can apply to the criminal justice
system and police brutality were the treatment of the homeless activity where someone was
homeless and the class must examine how to treat that person. Although the topics are
different, the activity can still compare with how people treat others based on appearance; which
can apply to how officers treat civilians based on the racial profiling.
With many people who fear the treatment of their fellow neighbors and community members,
catholics are also taught by the church to follow the commandments. These commandments are
strong statements and should be followed everyday just like there are church documents that
pertain to certain topics and what we should learn from them. One quote from one of the church
documents captures the message of this whole injustice of the issue of police brutality, with it
saying Justice is an essential ingredient to the liberation of human beings- not to mention a
key expression of Christian love. Since many who suffer injustice are voiceless, the church must
speak on their behalf (Justice in the world 59).
Based on all the information researched, the event I attended, and the notes and stories I kept
in my mind, I believe that we must come up with solutions to better this social issue. We must
change this issue quickly because as we have seen protests and abrupt actions have been
taken and looked at as an option by those who have lost someone to the situation of police
brutality. I believe that everyone deserves to live their life and should not harmed or tortured
over excessively by force whether it is physical or not. We are called to live in peace with each

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other and do Gods will which I know is not to hurt others badly. Though I hear these awful
brutality stories in the media and it saddens me, I know change is out there and it is up to us to
be that change and start that change process to happen.
Action

Direct Service: Donate money to an organization in need of money to carry out plans for

action against police brutality. (http://www.cuapb.org/)

Direct Service: Volunteer for a organization against police brutality such as volunteering at

an event or more. (http://www.handsupunited.org/)

Advocacy: Educating the public about police brutality and harsh excessive force actions that

they have done and how we can change this issue. (https://www.mffh.org/mm/files/AFJ_what-isadvocacy.pdf)

Advocacy: Being a part of or organizing a meeting or rally about peaceful action and

solutions against police brutality. (https://www.mffh.org/mm/files/AFJ_what-is-advocacy.pdf)

Works Cited
Police Brutality (Analysis)
1. https://networks.h-net.org/node/16794/reviews/17176/adler-holmes-and-smith-race-andpolice-brutality-roots-urban-dilemma
2. http://thelawdictionary.org/article/what-is-police-brutality/
3. http://policebrutalityccb.weebly.com/root-causes.html
4. http://www.sunypress.edu/p-4690-race-and-police-brutality.aspx
Discernment

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1. (Justice in the world 59) - church document
Action
1. http://www.cuapb.org/
2. http://www.handsupunited.org/
3. https://www.mffh.org/mm/files/AFJ_what-is-advocacy.pdf
Event I attended
1. Carrasco, Magdalena. Meet and Greet with the New San Jose City Council Members.
Sacred Heart Community Service 1381 S. 1st St., San Jose, CA