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  • Essay / The Use of Pepper Spray in Police Brutality - 833

    The Use of Pepper Spray in Police BrutalityPolice brutality has become a growing trend in the United States. The tactics used to apprehend suspected criminals have become cruel and humiliating, not to mention life-threatening. There have been numerous cases where police officers have intentionally brutalized people during arrest attempts. Pepper spray appears to be the new weapon of choice for police officers nationwide; it contains a dangerous chemical component called OC (oleoresin capsicum). Contact with this chemical can "choke people already weakened by health problems such as asthma, enlarged heart, hypertension or obesity, or people affected by drugs or because they are tied up and left lying on their stomachs” (Koury and Reed 19). There have been cases where people have died after being pepper sprayed; therefore, pepper spray is a deadly weapon that police officers should only use in life-threatening situations. The safety of pepper spray has never been scientifically proven. Additionally, “since 1992, there have been more than seventy pepper spray/OC-related in-custody deaths, including thirty-seven in California” (Earth First 7). Despite all these deaths, pepper spray is still used randomly by police officers. For example, “the San Francisco police still stick to the chemical [pepper spray], even though it has been linked to at least two high-profile in-custody deaths” (Koury and Reed 11). A fatal incident involving pepper spray occurred in Novato, California, when Brian Prosser, who suffered from asthma, "died on October 20, 1997 after...police pepper-sprayed him to master” (Barak 5). His death was allegedly caused by "cardio... middle of paper... wo lawsuits." Novato Advance Archives January 20, 1999. Novato Advance. 22 para. Online. Internet, April 25, 1999. Available HTTP: www.novatoadvance.com/archi...doc=/1999/January/20-272-news9.txtEarth First. “How you can help with pepper spray.” Headwaters Prison and Legal Assistance, Fall 1997. Envirolink Network. 18 para. Online. Internet. April 12, 1999 Available HTTP: www.enviroweb.org/headwaters-ef/actions/pepperspray/support.htmlKoury, Renee and Dan Reed. “Berkeley may ban or limit police use of pepper spray” San Jose Mercury News October 28, 1997. Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services. 25 par. Online. Internet, April 19, 1999. Available HTTP: www.inspire-indiana.netWilson, Lynne. “Pepper spray madness.” Covert Action Quarterly, Spring 1996. Covert Action Publications, Inc. 28 par. Online. Internet. April 12, 1999. Available HTTP: caq.com/caq56pepper.html