A CASE STUDY ON POLICE BRUTALITY: HOW IT AFFECT THE PUBLIC TRUST

Case Study

Presented to College of Criminology

Iligan City, Philippines

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirement for the Subject

Practicum (On the Job Training and Community Immersion)

Submitted by:

Iven Lester B. Martinez

Edzel M. Sistual

Johaiver G. Tomondog

Precious Jel M. Villanueva

Alfredo P. Villaver Jr.

May 2022
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction ….................................................................................................
II. Police Brutality …............................................................................................
III. Public Trust ….................................................................................................
IV. Findings...........................................................................................................
V. Conclusions …................................................................................................
VI. Recommendations...........................................................................................
VII. References......................................................................................................

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Introduction

The term “police brutality” is sometimes used to refer to various human rights

violations by police. This might include beatings; racial abuse, unlawful killings, torture,

or indiscriminate use of riot control agents at protests. Police brutality has been and

continues to be a major concern in society. Most of these incidents go un-reported or

un-noticed. In the past year or we have heard, read, or witnessed unjustified shootings,

severe beatings, fatal chokings, and rough treatment which have all contributed to the

ever-present problem of police brutality in several countries most especially in the

Philippines. Police are individuals who enforce the law upon their community to ensure

that their citizens remain safe. Police are also the ones that set an image towards the

society so that people can actually follow them and think they are doing the right thing,

however it is a really disturbing matter knowing that police use and abuse their power

and authority in enforcing the law. The torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading

treatment or punishment (ill-treatment) of common criminal suspects in the Philippines

by the police – one of the world’s smallest forces per population – is under-reported and

almost undocumented. Seldom talked about, it is the country’s dark, open secret.

One of the biggest problems we face today is social injustice, with the biggest

cause by Police officers’ using excessive force on people, which is called police brutality

for short. In order to enforce the law, police are allowed to carry weapons on them, to

respond with force to those who are not obedient and do not respond to their

commands. However, police have been abusing their authority and have been using

force when it is not supposed to be used. This somehow has been a great factor why

the public’s trust towards the police has been a big issue.

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Police Brutality

It is necessary for police officers to use force in their line of work. They must use

force to prevent crime and keep the public safe. Sometimes, however, police officers

use force beyond what is necessary to accomplish their task. This is known as the

excessive use of force. The problem of excessive force is not new, but it is becoming

more noticeable. This study observes the circumstances surrounding excessive force

and the role it plays in the duties of police officers.

According to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, use of force is the

“amount of effort required by police to compel compliance by an unwilling subject” (NIJ,

2012). The general approach is that police officers should not use more force than is

necessary to maintain control of an incident, to carry out an arrest, or to protect the

public and/or themselves from imminent danger (NIJ, 2012). Several factors are

involved in deciding whether or not to use force, including the location of the encounter,

the type of people involved, their mental capabilities, and whether or not drugs and

alcohol are involved (Taylor & Woods, 2010, p.268).

In the United States of America, George Floyd, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor,

Eric Garner and too many other Black people who have been killed by police were

unarmed. Focusing on George Floyd case, The murder of George Floyd, suffocated by

a police officer in the United States, has made the serious problem of racism and police

violence in that country visible again. But this way of looking at it is too simplistic. It is

necessary not to lose sight of the fact that that policeman was a university graduate, as

well as the fact that his crime, which joined many other similar ones, was only one of the

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ways in which racism was expressed in that society. It cannot be omitted that this

racism is historically constitutive of that society, and that it is structural, it permeates all

its institutions and is reproduced through them.

Here in the Philippines, one of the common police brutalities are drug related

cases. As of 30 September 2021, the Philippine government counted 6,201 “persons

who died during anti-drug operations” (PDEA, October 2021). The government’s official

numbers, periodically published under its campaign on Facebook, only include killings

resulting from state operations. These figures exclude ‘vigilante’ killings by non-state

actors, which played a significant role, especially in the early days of the drug war, in

targeting civilians. This omission has come under scrutiny by human rights watchdogs

and media outlets (Rappler, 30 March 2017; ABS-CBN, 6 April 2018; PCIJ, 8 June

2018). As president, Rodrigo Duterte could propagate a new strategy. In the context of

the Philippines, he is now, at least until his term in office as president, beyond the reach

of any prosecution. He made clear that during his term vigilante justice need no longer

be hidden from the light of public scrutiny. That is why one of the reasons why the crime

rate here in the Philippines drops by 14% which is commendable in Duterte’s

administration.

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Public Trust

Public trust in police can enhance police effectiveness and the legitimacy of

police actions (Lea and Young, 1984; Lyons, 2002; Sunshine and Tyler, 2003; National

Research Council, 2004). It is linked therefore to the capacity of state police to provide

basic citizen security (Goldsmith, 2003). Trust, through its presumption of benevolence,

dedication and a shared ethical framework (Six, 2003), also enables police legitimacy

—‘the judgments that ordinary citizens make about the rightfulness of police conduct

and the organizations that employ and supervise them’ (National Research Council,

2004: 291). When the public views police as legitimate (or trustworthy), public co-

operation with police in ways that assist effectiveness is more likely. Yet such trust

cannot be taken for granted. Trust is fragile due to its highly contingent character in

most social relations. Its extent and very existence depends upon a range of factors

both within and outside police control. A deficit of trust in the police is all too common in

deeply divided, post-conflict and post-authoritarian societies (Weitzer, 1995; del Frate,

1998; Mishler and Rose, 1998). However, more generally, wherever there are strong

indicators of social disorganization and relative socio-economic inequality, public trust in

police tends to be problematic (Reisig et al., 2004). In Nigeria, for example, contacts

‘between the police and the citizens are characterized by anxiety . . . more so for those

who are poor and powerless’ (Alemika, 1999: 2). The police’s historical role, degree of

effectiveness and repertoire of practices in dealing with ordinary people play a large part

in explaining the deficit, as this article will demonstrate. Such relations undermine the

important, indeed crucial, role of police in providing citizen safety and protection for

human rights (Goldsmith, 2003). Trust, it has been noted, ‘reduces complexity for

individuals while providing them with a sense of security by allowing them to take for

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granted most of the relationships upon which they depend’ (Warren, 2012: 3–4). Yet the

potential for public trust is not equally distributed between or within particular societies.

Those ‘whose lives are more insecure can less afford to trust’ (Offe and Patterson,

quoted in Warren, 2012: 9). Trust, through its presence or absence, is innately linked to

feelings of existential safety. What is required therefore in police reform thinking is a

much deeper understanding of the notion of trust and its relationship to policing.

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Findings

The most evident issue in this study is the police brutality affecting the public trust.

Police brutality is very rampant among several countries most especially in the

Philippines during President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s campaign on war on drugs. Reports on

campaign-like killings of criminal suspects focused almost completely on the dirty work of

death squads that were generally perceived to have been instigated and led by local

politicians and manned to a significant extent by moonlighting policemen. This made the

everyday violence perpetrated by the police under the label of “armed encounter” largely

invisible in the media. With the Philippine National Police (PNP) proudly reporting

success measured not only by the number of arrests, but also by the number of suspects

killed in “legitimate encounters”, police use of deadly force became a prominent subject

of public discourse.

Police brutality was still substantially higher than during any of the pre-Duterte

years. Despite this caveat, it is important to note that current levels of police use of

deadly force are slowly diminishing even though the rhetoric of the government’s anti-

drug crime campaign has not changed.

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 Due to the existence of police brutality, people’s trusts towards our law

enforcement officers have been greatly affected. It’s undeniable that the law enforcement

officers are given the power by the Chief Executive to carry service firearms and inflict

excessive force towards offenders who resist and attack them that might risk the safety

of our police officers. However, there are lots of cases being reported on media about

police brutality and one well-known example for this is the Jonel Montales Nuezca case

wherein this police officer inhumanely killed Sonya Gregorio, 52, and her son Frank, 25,

after a heated argument in Paniqui, Tarlac last December 2020. In line with this, the

public’s trust towards policemen is a great issue since there are police officers who are

abusive to their power and authority. Due to this circumstance, our law enforcement

officers have been labeled or generalized as inhuman or heartless individuals in ways

like police tend to willingly kill people for personal gain such as upgrading position in

work and for fame.

Policing is a unique profession, one that is different in many ways from other

professions. Police may use their discretionary power to exceed the limits of the law. It is

not rare to see examples of the excessive use of power, even in very simple situations.

As observed in present times, our police officers are already mandated to use body

cameras for them to be monitored in every operation that is conducted.

Furthermore, on the extensive review of police reform and the problem of trust,

Goldsmith (2014) also examined several factors that could possibly undermine trust in

the police. These factors include neglect, indifference, incompetence, venality, extortion,

discrimination, intimidation, inconsistency, excessive use of force and brutality. If the

police are to have high public trust, they must work hard to eliminate these factors in their

day to day activities so that they can be trusted by the people they police.

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Conclusion

It is vital for officers who are guilty of wrongdoing to be held accountable for

their actions. Police officers are entitled to and do receive significant deference under

the law when they use force, but just as important are our constitutional rights to be free

from unreasonable uses of force. This important balance can only be maintained if

officers who use excessive force in violation of the constitution are held to account. No

matter the situation, we stand with those who face police brutality. Police administrators

must note that public trust is influenced by police effectiveness; hence absence of trust

can hugely undermine the success of police organizations. High trust in the police

undoubtedly leads to police legitimacy and voluntary public cooperation with the police.

Thus, police use of force may not only incite additional violence but also erode the

mechanisms for curbing future crimes, as citizens become less likely to provide

assistance or information to law enforcement. Police reform therefore needs to embrace

issues of role and mandate, as well as efficient and respectful execution of prescribed

duties. Establishing trustworthy police in low-trust settings requires fundamentally that

ways of building reflective trust be identified. ‘Reasons to trust’ need to be identified,

reiterated and built upon in the context of police/ citizen contacts and relationships.

Equally, indicators of institutional trustworthiness, both formal and informal, need to be

consciously developed, maintained and preserved.

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Recommendations

1. Police officers are entitled to and do receive significant deference under the law

when they use force, but just as important are our constitutional rights to be free

from unreasonable uses of force.

2. Diversity in the workforce, race relations, and serving the underrepresented are

issues that need to be tackled head on. Mental health and homelessness are two

important social conditions that need to be addressed by the entire community,

not just by the police, whose expertise and resources are not designed to serve

these groups or address these issues.

3. In order to reduce the use of excessive and deadly force, it is important to

improve the relationships between the police department and the community.

Government must establish or make a specific statutory law intended for police

brutality in order to promote the importance of police community relation. Hence, this

would also aid and help to make the duty of law enforcers easier including the

deterrence of the future criminals in committing heinous crime.

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References

Abadines, A. (2017) Philippine Judiciary and Criminal Justice System Under

Pressure: An Inside Look

Alemika (1999) The incident of increasing spate of violence including killings and

maiming

Davide, HG. (2018) The System of Justice in the Philippines

Goldsmith, (2003) Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Differences in Perceptions of the Police: The

Salience of Officer Race Within the Context of Racial Profiling.

Goodwin University (2020) The Importance of the Criminal Justice System and

Today’s Professionals

Huber, A. (2014) Corruption Is a Significant Factor in Human Rights Violations

in Many Criminal Justice Systems

Valle-Corpuz, M The Role And Function Of The Prosecution In The Philippine

Criminal Justice System

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