police brutality

This guide is an introduction to the research process that, while not being an exhaustive list of information resources available, should be helpful in getting started in your research about police brutality.  Below you will find pointers to suggested research terms about police brutality, materials in the library catalog about police brutality, websites relevant to police brutality, and links to library databases that contain information about police brutality.  Please use our email reference service, contact us at (310) 434-4254, or visit us in the library at the reference desk if you need further assistance.

Go to:   Suggested Research Terms   Materials in the Library Catalog    Websites   Library Databases

Suggested Research Terms

One of the really helpful things when searching for information about a topic is a short list of terms related to a topic.  We think the following terms will help with your research about police brutality:

• police brutality
• police misconduct
• police complaints against 
• community policing

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Materials in the library catalog about police brutality

We have the following materials in the library catalog about police brutality:

• police brutality
• police misconduct
• police complaints against 
• community policing

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Websites on police brutality

The following websites will help you with your research on police brutality:

• Human Rights Watch report on police brutality: �Shielded from Justice
  Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States�
  http://www.hrw.org/reports98/police/
  �This report examines common obstacles to accountability for police abuse in fourteen large cities representing most regions of the nation.� Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization �dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world.�
• Amnesty International report: �Police Brutality and Excessive Force in the New York City Police Department�
  http://www.amnesty-usa.org/rightsforall/police/nypd/
  �This report describes the results of an investigation by Amnesty International into allegations of ill-treatment, deaths in custody and unjustified shootings by police officers in the New York City Police Department (NYPD).� Amnesty International is �dedicated to freeing prisoners of conscience, gaining fair trials for political prisoners, ending torture, political killings and "disappearances," and abolishing the death penalty throughout the world.�
• Policeabuse.org
  http://www.policeabuse.org/
  We exist to help citizens report misconduct. We assist with the filing of complaints because we believe that accountability is critical to the public service mission of police organizations. Our efforts are not intended to hinder the police nor to embarrass officers without cause. However, we are sure that cases of misconduct and the failure to receive complaints by the police must be publicized to prevent their reoccurrence.
• American Civil Liberties Union: �Fighting Police Abuse: A Community Action Manual�
  http://www.aclu.org//police/gen/14614pub19971201.html
  �The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is our nation�s guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the liberties guaranteed to all people by the Constitution and laws of the United States�
• The National Police Accountability Project
  http://www.nlg-npap.org/
  �The National Police Accountability Project is dedicated to curtailing police abuse of authority through coordinated legal action, public education and support for grassroots and victims' organizations combating police misconduct.� The National Police Accountability Project is a division of the National Lawyers Guild. This site contains many research reports on police misconduct.

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Library Databases relevant to police brutality

The following Santa Monica College Library online databases may contain material relevant to police brutality.  Databases may include magazine, newspaper and journal articles.  Off-campus users, please note: you must be a Santa Monica College student, faculty or staff member to use these services.

Academic Search Premier, MasterFile Premier
Academic Search Premier and MasterFile Premier provide full text for over 6200 periodicals including full text for more than 3,500 peer-reviewed journals. Coverage spans virtually every area of academic study and offers information dating as far back as 1975.

CountryWatch
Country Reviews provide geographical, political, economic, corporate and environmental information for every country in the world. Country Wire is compiled from the wire services on the latest political, economic, corporate, and environmental events on a country by country basis.

National Newspapers (1985- current)
Local, regional and national news coverage from selected newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Denver Post, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor.

Newspaper Source Plus
Provides selected full text for many U.S. and international newspapers. The database also contains full text television & radio news transcripts, and selected full text for more than 800 U.S. regional newspapers.

JSTOR
Back issues of over 300 scholarly journals in a wide variety of disciplines: African American Studies, African Studies, Anthropology, Archeology, Art and Architecture, Asian Studies, Ecology, Economics, Education, Finance, Geography, History, Language & Literature, Latin American Studies, Mathematics, Music, Middle East Studies, Philosophy, Political Science, Population Studies, Slavic Studies, Sociology and Statistics.

Readers' Guide Retrospective 1890-1982
Comprehensive indexing of general-interest periodicals. Coverage includes the years 1890 through 1982.