Explain The Key Issues In Law Enforcement

The police force is no longer composed of just white males, “ The morning roll call, which 20 years ago would have been, for the most part, a lineup of white men with military haircuts, included blacks, Latinos, Asians and women” (Nagourney), now the police force in more diverse than ever. This change was forced upon, as it was the only way that the LAPD could closer associate with the residents that they serve and protect. The racial tensions are still there, but now that the police force is not all white. Most communities feel that they can once again trust the police, as a result of the new racial diversity within the

It becomes a vicious cycle; the police stigmatize the minorities (even those who are not involved in any illegal behavior) and the minorities respond in a way they feel will garner them respect. Many times, guilt is placed without reason and they feel powerless against the bias. It’s in these moments that they will react inappropriately, knowing that they will be likely punished or abused. This sense of control causes a downward spiral in their social stability. Once a minority is targeted, it is very unlikely they will be able to shake the labels put on them by the

There is a significant health issue facing the public as well as law enforcement every day, suicide. The numbers surrounding suicide are shocking effects people of all backgrounds. In the year 2010 more than 38,000 adults committed suicide. Then in 2011 around 1 million adults admitted to attempting suicide, while 8 million had serious suicidal thoughts. Law Enforcement officers are at an even higher risk then most due to experiencing such a large number of risk factors. These factors include but are not limited to poor physical health, access to fire arms, domestic abuse, substance abuse, exposure to violence and suicide; depression, anxiety and other mental diseases. These factors lead to an above average number of officer suicides every

This paper provides an overview of the problems facing the police in their efforts to improve relations with minority communities in the United States, as well as a survey of previous research and existing literature on cultural diversity

There is recent controversy over police use of force, especially in minority communities such as in African American communities, Hispanic communities, and other publics with large populations of minorities. Increased levels of force among these communities have created challenges for police departments. These challenges include a lack of trust from the community towards law enforcement officers and an absence of respect creating situations that lead to police use of force. There are already various programs in place that attempt to decrease this challenge by educating the public, respecting one another, and giving those who were on the wrong track second chances. A combination of these solutions and the implementation of more of them would decrease the number of contacts between police and minorities that lead to the use of force (Roberg & Novak, 2014).

A critical issue that law enforcement faces from the time it was created to present day, is a lack of police training. The most recent data research done by the Bureau of Justice Statistics about police training across the United States was done in 2009. It reported that in the year 2009 basic training programs averaged 761 hours of classroom training (about 19 weeks). A third of academies also had additional mandatory field training with an average length of 453 hours. The topics with the average most instruction time in these training programs consisted of firearm training (60 hours), self-defense (51 hours), health and fitness (46 hours), patrol procedures (40 hours), investigations (40 hours), emergency vehicle operations (40 hours), criminal law (36 hours), and basic first aid (24 hours). In Texas, only 618 hours of basic training are required by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.

In communities where there are heavy percentages of racial and ethnic minorities, racial profiling can cause a gap between them and law enforcement departments. Communities and officers work better together if they are in a positive relationship. However, when the two parties are at odds with each other due to racial profiling, it diminishes the ability to find criminals and probe crimes and also minimizes belief in these agencies (Head). What racial profiling specifically does is cause a central problem to minority communities: trust. When there is trust between people, organizations, or other groups, there develops the power to cooperate and actually move forward. In a simple racial profiling case, an officer arrests an African American male

Do relations between the police and minority and the police and non-minority communities differ, how, and for what reasons?"

Cooperation from members of the public is important in order for police officers to effectively fight crime within the community. In order to obtain cooperation from members of the public, police officers must gain their trust and confidence. It has been known that African Americans and Hispanics have lower levels of trust and confidence in police because of racial disparities and racial profiling. This paper will discuss the public opinion of police by different ethnic groups and how racial minorities hold lower levels of trust and confidence in police.

After the rise of groups like Black Lives Matter in response to the shootings of African-Americans, police departments are being forced to take a second look at the way they interact with minority communities. The problem in many communities is that law enforcement officials do not mirror the communities that they police. In cities like South Houston, the population is 90 percent Hispanic. The police in this area are almost 75 percent white.

Criminal justice administration mainly focuses on crime prevention and punishing any illegal activities. Criminal justice administration is wide and it entails law enforcement and the judicial administration. Some of the jobs that relate to criminal justice administration include; security coordination, juvenile delinquency administration, law enforcement and being a courtroom official. Additional crime is also part of criminal justice administration. This field entails terrorism prevention, immigration policies and social policies. Other duties that criminal justice entails include; police officer, community relations advocate and correctional officer. For an officer working with the criminal justice administration, his work involves law enforcement (Bharti, 2008).

It has been consistently shown in research that minorities are more likely to be mistreated by the police compared to other people (Dunnaville, 2000). Recent incidents have seen the police use excessive force on people and mistreat minorities. As such, the legitimacy of the police has been put under scrutiny and questioned. Many communities in the United States have demonstrated in reaction to recent incidents of police misconduct and excessive use of force. The people have lost trust in the police because of these issues. The police force has been accused of mistreating people, sexual harassment, violent and careless arrests among people particularly the minorities. As demonstrated in the movie ‘Policing the Police’ police officers are seen mistreating people for instance the scene where the police sexually harassed a teenager by touching sensitive areas. Community members are not willing to trust or work with the police to fight crime. As such, it is critical for the police agencies and department to make improving police-community relationship a top police priority. Policies should be developed that will strengthen the mutual trust between the police and the community. This relationship is critical because the police depend on information from the community to fight crime in the society.

Brown (2004) said that it is essential that police officials adjust their polices and practices to accommodate the changing needs of the populace as it continues to metamorphasize. He suggests that police help educate immigrants about U.S. laws and the role of police, and believes that serving a diverse society requires police to interact with minorities in a respectful manner while also seeking their input on local problems. Overall, Brown touts the option of community policing and shows that he is in favor of integrating the police into the community in order to create deeper bonds with citizens and form a sense of trust. In various studies, community policing has been shown to effectively increase positive relations between citizens and the police; when people begin feeling like they can trust the police, they are more likely to help the authorities out by offering information regarding crimes that they may have witnessed, or even acting as eyes on the street when the police are not

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.

There is a perception of distrust between law enforcement and the community. This distrust stems directly from the dangerous words police use when communicating with the community. (Willis, 2015, p.) Simply choosing better words can help build relationships between law enforcement and the community. It is necessary for law enforcement to have trust with their community. There are many things that hinge on the police-community relationships, the ability of law enforcement to perform their duties, are the most important. Law enforcement must be willing to rely on the public to observe the law. They must always demonstrate absolute impartiality to the law.