Explain The Five External Measures For Promoting Police Accountability

Use of force has been scrutinized even more recently due to the media. Recordings of officers using force (weather excessive or not) become uploaded to the web and many individuals quickly jump to conclusions. Police use of force is up to the discretion of each individual police officer, and with each action a multitude of consequences can occur. The public often gets enraged after a court justifies the use of force, but often individuals do not have the full facts or understand how the justice system works. Because of the outcomes of some use of force cases, many individuals are asking for transparency of agencies. Policy makers are often quick to react to satisfy the public by changing police policy.

_ An independent review board in the executive branch. This proposal envisions a review board composed of nonpolice personnel to review allegations of violations of constitutional rights by the police. The problem with this alternative is that police oppose it because it singles them out among public officials for differential treatment. Moreover, outsiders are viewed by the police as unlikely to be able to understand the difficulties and dangers inherent in police work.

Even though more attention is being directed to citizen oversight boards and what they have the capacity to do, little attention is being devoted to how the police officer him/herself feel about them. There is no accurate number as to how many police oversight agencies there are in the United States. Although, by 2001 almost 80 percent of large departments had some form of citizen oversight boards (De Angelis, 2007). This number shows that many agencies are moving to find a way to hold police officers accountable for their actions. Since most

As far back during the time of the Great Depression law enforcement has been used by local, state, and federal government agencies-authority to enforce the law and preserve justice (Yamato, 2011). U.S. law enforcement officers, security guards, and other officials like judges and prosecutors have been given tremendous power. The resolution of the law enforcer is to assert justice and ensure the constitutional rights of all citizens are upheld. However, police misconduct is regularly reported: excessive force, sexual assaults, false arrest, fabrication of evidence, deprivation of property and failure to keep from harm. Excessive force is when law enforcement officers are allowed to use whatever force is reasonably necessary (Federal Bureau of Investigation, (2015). Consequently, disagreement between the police and the citizens are escalating.

In recent years, police actions, particularly police abuse, has come into view of a wide, public and critical eye. While citizens worry about protecting themselves from criminals, it has now been shown that they must also keep a watchful eye on those who are supposed to protect and serve. This paper will discuss the types of police abuse prevalent today, including the use of firearms and receipt of private information. I will also discuss what and how citizens ' rights are taken advantage of by police. For these problems, solutions will be discussed, focusing on political reform, education, and citizen review boards. These measures are necessary to protect ourselves from police taking advantage of their positions as law enforcement officers with greater permissive rights than private citizens. Because of this significant differential, all citizens must take affirmative action from physical brutality, rights violations, and information abuse. . All citizens must be aware of these rights to protect themselves against over-aggressive officers who take advantage of their position as badge and gun holders to intimidate and abuse civilians for personal or departmental goals.

Due to the lack of access to the information of police officer’s conduct and cooperation from the police officers involved, instead of establishing independent review boards made up of local citizens to monitor alleged police misconduct as was done in the 1970s and 1980s, the government should alternatively open an independent channel for any citizens to report such misconduct (“Police Brutality”) . A citizen, for example, witnesses a illegal police searching could videotape it and send to an independent agency for further investigation. In this scenario, if the citizen, instead, sends the video to the police department, chances are the evidence will be buried by the police officer videotaped or his other connections at the department. As such, this policy would draw attention to some police misconduct that would otherwise go

The criminal justice system is effective in achieving justice, in relations to police power and authority. Police are tasked with an essential role in protecting and enforcing the law. They are a critical aspect towards the criminal justice system and the criminal investigation process. To assist their role to the community, they’ve been provided several types of powers and authorities to achieve their duties towards the community. These authorised powers are used to stop, search and detain a person when they’re certain a crime is committed. Consequently, police can use this authority to potentially violate another individuals’ right, such as privacy. Whilst this power allows police to fulfil their duty to the community, is that justifiable to violate an individuals’ right?

against officers who violate their civil rights. Next, the media and political effects documented in this study suggest that external oversight can

In recent months, there have been a number of different riots and demonstrations occurring to show just how displeased our nation is with the current treatment of American citizens by the police. These movements have been created out of the turmoil that ensued after several different civilians were shot down in the streets by police officers after an encounter. It has become easy for people to look at these incidents and consider them isolated, and downplay the problem at hand. However, statistics taken from the United States Department of Justice would show otherwise. During a national survey, police departments were questioned about abuse of authority, and showed us that most departments have an internal discipline problem, where rule infractions, unmoral behavior, and emotional and physical abuse are overlooked. Forty three percent of cops interviewed said that “Always following the rules is not compatible with getting the job done” (Cop Crisis, 2015). When the rules are put to the side, and the reasoning behind the laws and opinions that put those rules into place is lost, then anything can happen. Over half the cops interviewed, fifty two percent said “It is not unusual for a police officer to turn a blind eye to improper

When one thinks of police misconduct many not too distant stories might go through our heads. Most adults will remember how they felt when they saw the brutal beating of Rodney King on their local news station; or the outrage they experienced when they heard that the evidence in the OJ Simpson trial had been tampered with. But thanks to new guidelines, procedures and even civilian groups who now “police” the police, instances of police misconduct may soon start seeing a decline.

in Ferguson, Missouri (Wolfe & Nix, 2016). While efforts such as those of the PPD and the NYPD are turning the tide, their efforts are hindered by the absence of a national certification program which would ensure that police agency comply with a standard certification and training in the use of force. Some national initiatives towards the deterrence of this challenge do exist. They include the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, the Police Accountability Act of 2015, the Excessive Use of Force Prevention Act of 2015 among other instruments (Thompson II, 2015). While these tools could act as a deterrence to the use of excessive force by the police, their consolidation into a uniform national regulatory program would go a long way in addressing this

Over the last several years, most police departments have been facing numerous financial challenges. The main reason is law enforcement agencies are expected to do more with less and the stagnant economy. The combination of these factors has been placing pressure on many departments to begin imposing budget cuts. Evidence of this can be seen with a survey that was conducted by the University of North Carolina. They found that 67% of police departments made some kind of budget cuts for 2011. The most severe reductions were occurring in large police departments such as Los Angeles, Atlanta and Detroit. (Delfem, 2011, pp. 199 - 205) This is illustrating one of the most pressing issues affecting a wide variety of police departments across the country. To fully understand what is happening requires: examining the situation, how they are able to interact with other agencies (i.e. state / federal) and recommending the way this relationship can be improved. Together, these elements will offer specific insights about how police departments can effectively address this problem.

Police accountability is relevant to the Los Angeles county because there have been many incidents that have resulted in use-of-force both unnecessary and excessive police-civilian shootings. To increase police accountability, I propose that this

Police departments draft and implement policies and procedures to provide consistency and eliminate ambiguity in department practices. These are guidelines are for staff and officers to follow in a variety of different situations. Police policies and procedures may have the force of law, or be considered by a court or jury in determining whether an officer acted lawfully in the line of duty. Procedures related to employee actions can also be subject to legal scrutiny in some cases. A lack of policies on issues involving the community may result in unlawful and inconsistent police action. These adverse actions can create a negative reaction within the

What is police misconduct? It can be defined as any action performed by a law enforcement officer that is unethical by established employment guidelines, unconstitutional, or a crime with in itself. When people hear the term “police misconduct” they automatically think of a police officer using unnecessary force against a civilian. While that is a form of police misconduct it is not only form. Throughout this paper I will bring light to the many types of police misconduct that can happen in the law enforcement industry.