DeSilva, who was unarmed, was suspected of driving a stolen car. In January 1997, Kurt DeSilva, 34, was shot and killed by a Pawtucket, Rhode Island police officer after a low-speed car chase.Several days earlier, Kevin Pruiksma, 27, died after being restrained by a sheriff's deputy. Lyndon Stark, 48, died of asphyxia in a cloud of pepper spray while handcuffed behind the back in a prone position.

In December 1996, two men in two weeks died in handcuffs at the hands of the Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies in Florida.

The media covered the issue extensively, calling particular attention to the fact that police abuse was not evenly distributed throughout American society, but disproportionately victimized people of color.īut six years later, police abuse is still very much an American problem, as the following examples from three recent months demonstrate:

Political leaders condemned police use of excessive force and appointed special commissions to investigate incidents of brutality. The Rodney King incident projected the brutal reality of police abuse into living rooms across the nation, and for a while, the problem was front page news.

No one who viewed that beating will ever forget its viciousness. An amateur video, televised nationwide, showed King lying on the ground while three officers kicked him and struck him repeatedly with their nightsticks. In the early hours of March 3, 1991, a police chase in Los Angeles ended in an incident that would become synonymous with police brutality: the beating of a young man named Rodney King by members of the Los Angeles Police Department. CONTROLLING THE POLICE - COMMUNITY GOALSĬertification and Licensing of Police Officers

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