SCOPE:
The use of excessive force by the police was brought to the forefront in 1991 by the Rodney King beating. Charges that such beatings are not the exception but rather common practice, especially against minorities, has prompted calls for change. Diverse directions for change have been advocated: more community policing; better internal investigations of misconduct complaints; more prosecution of offending officers; and stricter laws. There are some, however, who question whether police brutality is indeed a serious problem or just a minor problem exaggerated by the media and others for political reasons.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

The following sources will allow you to become more familiar with your topic, will give you ideas for narrowing your topic, and will serve as a starting point for your further research.

SPEECH TABLE ITEMS
CQ Researcher Issues (blue books)
    Policing the Police 2000 p. 209+
    Police Corruption 1995 p. 1041+
    Community Policing 1993 p. 97+
    Police Brutality 1991 p. 633+

Police Brutality: current controversies 

Police Brutality: opposing viewpoints

Police misconduct in America : a reference handbook: contemporary world issues

REFERENCE ITEMS
Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice 
REF HV 6017 .E52

 

Encyclopedia of Ethics
REF BJ 63 .E45

 

Encyclopedia of Social Issues
REF HN 57 .E59

SUGGESTED TOPICS:
This topic is one which can be studied from a number of aspects and points of view. Some of these might be:

• Is police brutality a serious problem?
• Is community policing effective in curbing police brutality?
• Is community policing cost effective?
• Do police discriminate against minorities and other groups?
• What are the causes of police brutality?
• Can police police themselves?
• Can civilians do anything to reduce police brutality?
• Should police training and enforcement procedures be reformed?
• Is racism a key component of police brutality?
• Would police department policies and procedure for screening out rogue cops help reduce police brutality?
• Are police officials attempting to correct the brutality issue?
• Is police brutality in the minority community over emphasized by the media in contrast to the violent crimes posing a real threat to the community?
• Have police measures designed to curb the brutality problem been effective?

LINCC AND EBOOK SUBJECT HEADINGS:

POLICE BRUTALITY SAMPLE LINCC SEARCH

police brutality
police corruption
police complaints against

BROWSE THESE CALL NUMBERS:
HV 8148

HV 8141

FULL-TEXT DATABASES:
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Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center
    Opinion, reference sources and full-text periodicals and books for thousands of controversial topics.

The Orlando Sentinel
    Full-text of the newspaper from 1985 to the present.

SIRS Knowledge Source
    Selected full-text popular periodical articles and government documents.

Social Sciences Full Text
    Offers full-text and abstracts in a wide range of interdisciplinary fields covered in a broad array of social sciences journals.

WEB SITES:
Amnesty International

Shielded from Justice- Police Brutality and Accountability in the USA

Police Abuse.org

ACLU: Fighting Police Abuse

Search Engine Comparison Chart

SAMPLE GOOGLE SEARCHES:

intitle:"police brutality" site:gov
(title and domain search)
inurl:npr "police brutality"
(url and phrase search)
intitle:"police brutality" racial site:edu
(title phrase, default AND and domain search)
"police brutality" racial "civil rights"
(phrase and default AND search)

EVALUATE YOUR SOURCES:
Distinguishing Between Popular and Scholarly Sources
Evaluating Data
Evaluating Internet Sources
Using Primary and Secondary Sources

DOCUMENT YOUR SOURCES:

APA Documentation of Print Sources
APA Documentation of Electronic Resources

MLA Documentation of Print Books
MLA Documentation of Electronic Resources