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The role of law enforcement on society
Policing in the united states
Role of police in law enforcement
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Nowadays some police officers continue to abuse their authority which makes the community disappointed and confuse whether or not to trust a police officer. Everyone as a community expects for a law enforcement career employee to keep us safe and away from harm. Police officers should not be wasting their time with innocent citizens, if they have to use force on the criminal they must do it in a proper way, and lastly there must be a fair case. On August 9, 2014, and incident was reported in Ferguson, Missouri.
All throughout America, individuals are taught at a young age that police officers are always the “good guys.” Police officers are painted to be trustworthy, honorable, and advocates of justice. This idea is often displayed in the media through television shows, movies, and news specials. For some, this idea still holds truth, however there are many, particularly individuals of color, whom would quickly disagree. Numerous persons of color have been subjected to racial profiling by officers resulting in stops, searches, and false accusation of crimes.
As a result police officers have become a major key in the arrests of many people of color. Alexander explains how police will stop and search people of color who are “suspected” of containing drugs or who look “suspicions.” Police officers are actually encouraged in their training to use racial profiling and when a person files a complaint the Courts always take the side of the police officer. As stated by Alexander, “The dirty little secret of policing is that the Supreme Court has actually granted the police license to discriminate” (130). Many would argue that police officers and the justice system are fair and that they don’t discriminate and that one does have a fair trial in court from all the lies the media and television shows feeds the people about the justice system and police force.
The report notes that these officers had inadequate training, supervision, and accountability mechanisms. Officers at the department are never held accountable, therefore they feel as though they could act in any way, with no regard to the individual or the impact it has on the community. In response to these findings, the DOJ issued a series of recommendations to help reform the department in hopes of rebuilding the trust within the community. Some of the recommendations include: implementing bias-free policing practices, enhancing officer training and supervision, improving accountability measures for officer misconduct, and restructuring the municipal court system to prioritize fairness and justice. This report paints a clear image of the systematic racial bias and institutional failures within the Ferguson Police Department.
When talking about public scrutiny, oversight, and protest, these are not inherently damaging to the reputation of law enforcement but, rather, it is the persistent failure to address misconduct and violations of constitutional rights that undermines public trust in police. This means that accountability is key in maintaining public trust and confidence in law enforcement. When certain instances of misconduct, abuse of power, or violations of civil liberties occur, it is essential for law enforcement agencies to acknowledge them, thoroughly investigate, and take appropriate corrective action. The failure to address such issues perpetuates a cycle of mistrust and resentment between police and the communities they
Although we hope our Police force will use their powers for good, but sometimes police misconduct can occur. Often, the police are under great pressure to act as quick as possible, espcially in a murder case and if the murder victime is white, a child, police officer, or prominent. For example, In the 1990’s the case of Rodney King, that not only shows a racist issue within the criminal justice system, but also the issue with abuse from police officers, but changed the country’s views on the LA police force. Twenty- Seven years ago,Rodney King was brutally beaten by Los Angeles police officers.
The past few years have focused on putting law enforcement in the spotlight. With the many cases of shootings leading to racial debates, law enforcement has had the magnifying glass turned on them. Many believe the police are racists who look for any excuse to shoot a minority group. Others just think of the police as “pigs” who are officers only for money. Still others support the police in their actions and firmly believe the officers on duty are only doing their job as they were trained to do.
This issue has had a disproportionate impact on people of color, particularly Black Americans, and has eroded trust in law enforcement agencies. Urgent action is necessary to address this issue and to rebuild trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. This will require a multi-pronged approach that includes reforming police training, implementing accountability measures, and enacting new laws and policies. addressing the issue of excessive use of force by law enforcement requires a comprehensive approach that involves multiple stakeholders, including law enforcement agencies, policymakers, community members, and mental health professionals. By implementing reforms to police training, increasing accountability measures, enacting new laws and policies, promoting diversity within law enforcement, and prioritizing community-based solutions, we can work towards a future in which police violence is no longer a pervasive issue in our society.
Utilitarianism ethics mainly decides if a decision is ethical based on if it helps the majority over the individual. It is essentially “the greatest good for the greatest number”. It also states that an action is decidedly right or wrong depending on its consequences. The people who oppose the building of tailing dams argue that the building of these dams is unethical based on the idea that it will not benefit the greatest number of people. They believe that it has a higher likelihood of negatively effecting the majority rather than benefiting from it.
One of the greatest challenges law enforcement are facing is providing effective policing for minority communities. Some factors that prevent minorities from gaining access to justice or being taken advantage of certain criminal justice services are language barriers, racial stereotyping, and cultural differences. Since the 30 's and 40 's, and even during the 60 's, civil rights activists damaged the police-minority relations in the United States, believing that police only interest are protecting white communities. A big explanation of why there 's a poor police-minority relations in the United States is racism on the part of the individual officers. Many minorities in the United States have continued to complain about being treated more harshly than whites and the Department of Justice believes that racial profiling and police discrimination will continue to be a big problem.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, departments that serve less than 2,500 people are 84.4% white and departments that serve millions are 53.4% white (as cited in Fifield, 2016). Notably, Over the years, a lack of diversity within law enforcement has become a pertinent issue. Notably, the underrepresentation of minorities within law enforcement influences the relationship between communities and law enforcement by engendering distrust with law enforcement. To say nothing of, underrepresentation of minorities have had many people question whether departments mirror a diverse community. Nevertheless, with that being said, underrepresentation of minorities have generated tension and distrust between communities and law enforcement and many believe that police department need to mirror the race composition within their cities.
Throughout history, disputes and tensions between law enforcement officials and communities of minorities have endured hostility and violence between each other. Racial profiling has become a “hot topic” for researchers as well as for politicians and by now it is likely that most citizens are at least aware of the common accusations of racial bias pitted against law enforcement (Cochran & Warren, 2013). Communities of color are being discriminated against and racially profiled by white police officers for any suspicion of criminal activities. It has been widely assumed by policy makers and citizens alike that allegations of racial profiling are mostly associated with the policing practices of white officers and their treatment of racial and ethnic minorities (Cochran & Warren, 2013). Also, individuals of minority descent will certainly recognize that they are being racially profiled during a stop that is being conducted by a white police officer.
Police Brutality is an ongoing problem and existent concern in the United States and should be resolved immediately. Law enforcement must function as an element that consists of organized and civilized officers. The presence of police brutality is becoming more of an issue as society grows. The problem posed by the illegal exercise of police power is an ongoing reality for individuals of a disfavored race, class, or sexual orientation. Police brutality must be stopped so that police do not forget who they are serving – not themselves, but the public.
The rise in violent conflicts between the citizens of the United States and the police is the issue that I want to solve. Due to my own age, race and gender, I am very well aware that I may be personally and directly impacted by this issue. The interaction between people of color and law enforcement in America is a key aspect of this larger issue. This issue has two main viewpoints: (1) that of people of color and, (2) that of law enforcement. While these two viewpoints overlap and intersect at several points, I believe them to be separate problems, each caused by different things.
Random sample surveys were conducted in Seattle, Washington by telephone, which asked citizen’s various questions concerning their feelings towards police. These questions included their level of happiness in regards to police problem-solving, their views on police hassling citizens, and if they had ever experienced, or perceived to experience racial profiling or bias by law enforcement (Wu, 2014). Of all the citizens that took part in the survey, 64% of African Americans felt that racial profiling was a problem inside their neighborhoods, 28% of Asians, 20% of whites, and 34% of Hispanics agreed (Wu,