The Mirror asked Lakeland students their opinions on police brutality. Here are their responses:

Chantal Aytchan
Senior – Psychology Major

“An injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere. My personal opinion regarding police harassment is that I believe it isn’t ethical; however, people tend to judge a book by its cover. I’m not sure if all Americans will get past this, but we can only hope for the best. No person, no matter what skin color, should have to endure injustice.”

Megan Gomez
Junior – Psychology and Criminal Justice Major

“Police brutality is an upsetting phrase to hear because we entrust the police with a lot of power. However, as a society we must be careful when assigning situations. Police are trained to respond to life-threatening situations in a uniform manner and it’s never as simple as the situation may appear. To avoid rash judgments, we should keep in mind that the police are human and we all make mistakes. In reality, only a few police officers cause a majority of the issues. Police agencies can, and most likely will, improve screening methods in order to get police officers out of the department when they have more complaints than normal. Studies show that police officers who abuse their power have a history of doing so.”

Nico Thompson
Senior  – Education Major

“I feel like police brutality should not be a first resort. If anything, police officers should be allowed to use their power excessively, but only if they are forced to. Such force should only be used in certain situations; like, if the person being apprehended is a danger to those around them. But I guess one side could argue that anyone could abuse their power if they are the ones who get to determine if the situation is excusable. To use that authority just because you can or because you dislike a certain race or ethic is not what it is given to you for.”

Julie Bender
Junior – Psychology Major

“Police brutality is real and happening all the time. Anyone who says otherwise is lying or ignorant. I don’t mean to demonize the police as I’m sure most of them do their job properly, but there are a small percentage of police officers who only become police officers because they crave power, and as such, go on to abuse that power. These police officers are often protected by their fellow officers and their group mentality, but in order for justice to be properly served, they need to be removed from law enforcement.”