Is there an epidemic of police brutality or we are just seeing it now because i-phones and other related gadgets have become ubiquitous?
Both. I heard an NPR interview with a police psychologist many months ago who said police officers today, even those he's worked with in small towns and suburbs with very little crime, are far more fearful of getting killed on the job than they were when he first started.
The media/TV influence that has gotten citizens to lock their doors and worry about violent crime has also made police citizens more paranoid about violent crime. Fear creates these corrupt acts of aggression.
If cops are terrified now that crime is in record lows then I don't want to think how they felt and acted during the 70's and 80's.
