A Unified Accountability System Of Law Enforcement Essay

One of the barriers that hinder law enforcement from doing an effective and thorough job within the community is communication. Communication is the most important thing to have in any kind of relationship. Where I am from the police go to the least privileged neighborhoods and the talk with the people. Do get me wrong when you are doing something that is against the law, you will be held accountable for your actions. (Schneider, S. R. (n.d.)

Since the founding of the United States, the responsibility for enforcing laws has been given to state and local governments. The biggest strength that this distribution of power has granted is that the citizens can have a connection to their officers because they are feeling that they are being policed by one of their own. This keeps the law, law enforcement, and your connection to it close as opposed to (only) having it enforced by entities who do not know your area or the people that live in the area. Along similar lines, local policing provides the opportunity to build relationships with the people they serve, which can go a long way in reducing crime. Despite these two strengths, the biggest weakness is that local law enforcement agencies can, and often are both underfunded and understaffed, preventing the agency from being able to combat crime and help their communities to the level that they wish. The other big weakness to local law enforcement is that due to there being so many localities (most with their own law enforcement agencies), there can be some confusion to the overlap of jurisdictions. The alternative to local policing, which has been gaining some steam in the United States since the start of the 21st century, is placing the responsibility for law

Police accountability has been seen in the forefront of the criminal justice system much more nowadays, compared to the past. Mainly because of technology. With the use of body cameras and cameras inside police vehicles, their every encounter is now captured on surveillance, which is a useful and wise idea. If I was a police officer I would want video surveillance to capture my encounter with someone. The reason being is to protect myself. We have seen how the media change stories around and make police look like criminals. Citizens look at police officer 's as if they are not human and they’re not able to make a mistake. When police officers are sworn in, they take an oath to be held to a higher standard than an ordinary citizen. However,

As one of the pillars found throughout the foundation of the criminal justice systems I would say that accountability should be a must. As we grow older we are taught to be held accountable for the thing that we have done that is not right. Accountability is an integrity comes hand and hand. A person with good integrity does not mind being held accountable for their mistakes or wrongdoing. The individual does not place themselves on a pedestal to be better than the next individual no matter their status. In the field of criminal justice, law enforcement is held to a higher standard than others, yet are not prosecuted in the same way as others.

The book that I will be analyzing is titled “The New World of Police Accountability”. This work was written by Samuel Walker, an author of 14 books and the Isaacson Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The research that he has conducted includes “police accountability, including oversight of the police, early intervention systems for police officers, and the mediation of citizen complaints against police officers” (Walker 243). This book was published by Sage Publications Inc., on January 4, 2005. The authors perspective while writing this book was to take the research he had developed over a number of years and argue how police accountability has changed. The mains points of this writing involved examining

These types of community involvement foster the positive growth and relations that are needed to ease the tensions with law enforcement. These programs help build trust and can give the community a sense of security. However, incidents such as excessive force can tear away any sense of unity that the aforementioned programs build. In an incident that

Police misconduct not only had consequences immediately experienced by its victims but it also creates broader issues for cooperation and public support with police, compliance with the law and police legitimacy (Harris et al, 2014). Whilst the police enforce the law on the communities behalf, they are unable to enforce it effectively unless they have the support of the community (Millen et al, 2012). It has been debateable whether police misconduct is created by a

Initiating community-oriented policing is about partnerships and building trust in communities between law enforcement and the citizens in the community (Bull, 2015). According to Bull (2015), community policing has shifted from a centralized bureaucratic command to a collaborative style of problem-solving crime and disorder through programs and activities within the community. To be effective, community policing requires the trust of the citizens. According to Schlosser, Cha-Jua, Valgoi, and Neville (2015), The Law Enforcement Code of Ethic states that the duties of a police officer are to serve humankind, safeguard lives and property, protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against

One main issue with the standard policing system is the disconnect between authority figures and the public. Especially in communities of color, there is a huge distrust of police officers; people don’t

Law enforcement officers tend to abuse their power due to the fact that a stronger deviant motivation often give rise to greater deviant opportunity and weaker social control. Grabiner (2016) stated, “Corruption in policing, generally aims towards the poor and working individual and has specific racial dimension” (para. 3). Citizen involvement in policing needs to take a different turn and become more noticeable. The biggest issue is undoubtedly corruption of the law enforcement process. The amelioration of community relations requires not only instituting programs and changing procedure and practices, but re-examining fundamental attitudes. Law enforcement officers have to listen patiently and understandingly to people who are openly critical

Communities are the fundamental base of any society’s success. In most cases, communities provide individuals with the essential components to succeed not only singularly but collectively as well. The social interactions between these individuals contribute to either the progression or deterioration of the quality of life of those within the community. A significant factor that plays into the progression or deterioration of a community’s ability to thrive is law enforcement agencies. In a survey that was conducted at Baylor University, students polled local residence on their perspective on the Waco Police Department and their influence on the city of Waco.

Supreme Court, the application of such laws could have detrimental consequences in those states that have significant amount of minority communities. The essence of modern policing is the building of mutual relationships among law enforcement officers and community members, also known as community policing. The goal is to maintain those relationships so that the community can provide more accurate information to the law enforcement agency about what is going within the community and thus the community becomes the eyes and ears of the law enforcement agency. In return, the law enforcement agency is able to address the community’ problems more effectively, which would help increase the quality of life of many community members and also decrease the levels of crime, which is the main goal of the law enforcement

. Tracing the history of Community policing, There are Compelling reasons why law enforcement leaders believe that time has come to alter the police and practice of their organization. These reasons are rooted in the history of policing and police research during the last quarter of a century in the changing nature of communities, in the shifting characteristics of crime and violence that affect these communities Throughout history individuals have been expected to follow the rules of the majority, the demands to control the behavior of individuals can be traced to the ancient times when the tribe, clan or family controlled the behavior of the individuals and had the responsibility to enforce its informal rules or customs.

Police Accountability and reform is a major topic of discussion in the United States of America today. Whether it’s through protesting on the streets or debating on television, like news shows, it’s an issue that you will most likely hear about over and over again. According to the scholarly article I read, Police Journal, accountability is seen as, “opposed with certain obligations that arise within a relationship of responsibility, where one person or body is responsible to another for performance of particular services” (Cheung 6). On The Daily Show, a man names Charles Kinsey was discussed. Kinsey was shot while trying to help an

The profession of law enforcement has evolved into an era of proactive and preventative policing. The law enforcement community has entered this new era by means of better communication and technology to help track crime and to help create better policing strategies. Police must have the support of the community, agencies and organizations to create public safety. In reaction to recent events that have created tension between law enforcement and members of the community, President Obama signed an Executive Order which created a task force to analyze the distrust the community holds towards law enforcement and ways to restructure 21st century policing styles. Federal, state, local, tribal officials, subject matter experts, community leaders, and representatives of organizations engaged through public hearings, meetings and written communications. The Task Force held seven public listening sessions, heard from over 100 witnesses, and has developed 59 recommendations and dozens of specific action items. Members of the Task Force are confident that these recommendations for action and further study will bring long-term improvements to the ways in which law enforcement agencies interact with and bring positive change to their communities. I support many of the pillar recommendations presented by the task force but I am hesitant to see how law enforcement leaders will enact these changes correctly in their communities and err on the side of caution in regards to implementing