Judicial Issue : Police Misconduct

Lack of training and policing standards are closely linked to the myriad problems bedeviling police work, especially in small departments (Brodeur, 2010). All over the country, police departments report cases of officers being caught in uncompromising and unprofessional situations, resulting in disciplinary actions such as redeployment, suspension or sacking. These cases of unprofessionalism have led to questions being asked about policing, occasioned by recurring series of questionable and controversial encounters with police officers (Brodeur, 2010). The consequence of such encounters is increasing public distrust in law enforcement agencies.

One additional strategy against Police misconduct that I would like to mention is the involvement of departments in becoming accredited. The goal of the organization

We hear about police misconduct case and wonder, Why don’t they do anything to stop this? Many say that we should keep the police officers’ perspective in mind. Others say that these actions are due to racism or post 9/11 paranoia. Whatever the excuse may be for these cases, there should be no need for violence anywhere. Police brutality videos go viral and reveal to the world that it actually happens and that it may happen to you too. This pervades people with fear and anger because their civil right are being violated. Riots are the outcome making the streets unsafe and chaotic. Statistics show percentage of the movements taken upon these criminal acts performed by police officers. We can put a stop to this and we will put a

The media has portrayed Officers in a new light. Rather than protective guardians, they are now unstable, power-fueled workers of the law. It is their choice what they will do with the duty of enforcing the law. Anyone can fall victim to Police Brutality. However, America’s social and economic society is improving at an alarming rate. America is at a time now where peaceful protests and the like are promoted, while aggressive out lashes, unlawful activities, and excessive force is frowned upon. The economy today is a result of the hard work of ancestors who protested and ensured a better future. In the future, it is possible that Officers will no longer be stereotyped as abusive, or unlawful. A united front is required for this future, where there are no more sides, violence, or

Police officers are generally well-respected in American society. They should be, since officers protect the public from drunk drivers, gunmen and other threats to the commonwealth. However, in light of uncovered events involving the misconduct of police officers, these events call into question the ability of police officers to successfully protect and serve the American people. However, in 2010, 6,613 law enforcement officers were reported for involvement in misconduct which varied from excessive force, sexual misconduct et cetera (Packman). Having 6,613 reported cases of police misconduct in America is ridiculous, especially since it is hard validating the claims against officers and it is difficult to punish officers because of this lack of evidence. While the purpose of police officers in society is to protect the commonwealth of the people, the amount of police misconduct in the United States of America involving excessive force and sexual misconduct is detrimental to the credibility of all police officers. This in turn causes rifts and distrust among the American people concerning officers. Police misconduct can be reduced in American society by requiring police officers to wear cameras while on duty, having a clear definition on what excessive force is and defining how much force is legal for an officer to utilize, and better training geared to improve overall conduct with citizens, especially mentally ill citizens.

Millions of free citizens around the world have reported misconduct by law enforcement officers. In the United States alone, 8,800 officers have been reported as using excessive force when performing their job (Packman). One of the major causes of excessive use of force by the police is anxiety and rage brought on by low compensation. The police is a force that is meant to protect the people against threats, not to be a threat. Police are not compensated enough for the dangerous job they dedicate themselves to perform each day. The Federal Government should provide a safe environment to properly maintain a lawful country. When police do not perform their job correctly, the environment is not safe. Therefore, the Federal Government needs to

Police brutality is an epidemic in America that has not subsided despite numerous attempts to ensure that officers will be held accountable. Many calls for reform have been discussed, but unfortunately, nothing substantial has been done. In the first six months of 2017 alone, 492 citizens were shot and killed by police officers (Jenkins.) “These numbers show us that officer-involved shootings are constant over time,” Geoffrey Alpert, a University of South Carolina criminologist said to The Washington Post. “Some places go up, some go down, but it’s averaging out. This is our society in the 21st century,” (Jenkins.) It is profoundly difficult to say what could be done to make sure law enforcement are held properly accountable for their brutality.

Police abuse remains as one of the most deliberate human rights violations in the United States. For over a decade police have acted in ways that makes us question their professionalism. Makes the wonder if law enforcement are taking advantage of their criminal justice “powers” October 22 is “National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and Criminalization of an Entire Generation”. (Aol News). On October 22 many people across the country wear black to fight back against police brutality. Bad police have to be stopped so they don’t forget who they are serving – not themselves but the public. Police Brutality has caused a major concern in the United States.

Law enforcement leaders must be continually vigilant to ensure that the actions of their officers do not violate civil rights and do not compromise public support. The individual officer is granted a tremendous amount of authority and discretion to enforce the law. Their ultimate duty is to protect individual rights from being infringed upon by others in the community. They must never consider themselves above the law while executing their responsibility to enforce the law. This commitment is what distinguishes police in constitutionally based, democratic societies like ours from police in nondemocratic countries, where they are perceived as oppressive agents of a government whose main purpose is to restrict, rather than protect, the rights of civilians (International Association of Chiefs of Police, 2006).

Police abuse remains a significant problem and not enough reform has been made to prevent it from occurring. Around 1000 people were killed by the police in 2015, and over 100 of them were unarmed. The intentional use of excessive force by a person with authority, which oftentimes ends with injuries and sometimes even death, creates a bad perception of police officers and distrust between cops and civilians. To rebuild the relationship between people and police reform needs to take place. Law makers need to refine the unjust criminal justice system, police officers need to obey the fourth amendment, and the city government needs to involve the community in major decisions.

Many law abiding citizens such as police officers risk their lives every day. Police officers are hired to protect the citizens from cries of violence striking the citizens. The streets are a pen of rampant criminals out of control. These people are inhumane bottles of vile that cannot be trusted. These ‘vials’ will stop at nothing to kill someone no matter who they are. Police misconduct is seen as abusive behavior. A question should pop in everyone’s head, what can I do to help society? Citizens have widely spread that corruption or abuse is associated with all officers. I am here to address that police officers, the majority, are not the issue. Respect goes a long way in today’s society, but is rarely tried. Police officers see misconduct and abusive behavior daily. This mentally affects them and gives them another reason not to trust the citizens. With more jumpy officers and rampant criminals, this gives officers a bigger responsibility to decide whether what is right and wrong. We can agree that officers do gain the right to have higher authority over citizens. This is what their job entails and is a must to enforce what is right. This also gives them the right to use deadly force under the right circumstances. Statistically speaking over 9,000,000 crimes were committed in the United States in 2012. This makes police officers more likely to applicate force knowing how dangerous people can be.

In March of this year, police officers in the U.S. killed more people than police officers in the U.K. did in the entire 20th century.(Shortal) Lately it seems a new scandal of police brutality or corruption in the news is a daily occurrence, which is in and of itself alarming--as is warranted whenever people in power begin to infringe on the U.S. public 's constitutional rights. Although this alarming trend continues to grow, the perpetrators of these crimes are able to continue their work unpunished by the legal system. The same legal system regularly shows no mercy to a regular civilian under the same circumstances. This problem may not seem intimidating to you, as you may not worry about any officers committing crimes against you. Ultimately, that outlook is naïve, as it takes only one corrupt police officer deciding that they do not like you, to turn a normal day into a drama with you ending up in a jail cell. Of course, there are good cops on every police force, but one cannot ignore the fact that brutal beatings seem to happen every day and the resulting punishment for such brutality is woefully lacking: police simply get placed on paid leave and are most often brought back to offend again. The brutality that caused the leave initially is likely to be never addressed again.

These two aforementioned events compels me, as a concerned citizen and veteran, to reassess the standards and the roles of our contemporary policing agencies as well as individual law enforcement officers. I believe that by changing the people who are police as well as increasing diversity and officer education would be an effective strategy when dealing with social issues and law enforcement. For instance, when it comes to excessive use of force, discrimination and the like. In regards to the two incidents that involved excessive use of police force, responses to the assault on both King and Garner have varied among the police, the public, and academic circles. Since law enforcement officers are human it is quite possible that individual officers within a department are merely microcosms of society. In other words, this sub-culture within the policing culture, abbreviates in miniature the characteristic qualities or features of something much larger (i.e. society, clubs, and groups,). Moreover, if a police recruit

Police corruption has been a problem to varying degrees since the beginning of organized policing. The United States was forged in the fires of an abusive government. It is not so surprising then that the concept of police brutality so offends the American psyche, on such a deep level. As citizens we entrust our police with immense power to act in our best interest. With this power comes the responsibility for its use to be judicial and fair for all people. Police power is confined by the constitution, federal, state, and local law, which clearly defines the expected behavior of agents appointed on our behalf. However, with such great power there is bound to be abuse. When police make minor incursions into our civil liberties, it is easy to accept the mistakes as long as justice is served. There are, of course, instances when a small group of police act in ways that shocks the conscience of every American Citizen. Instances where the incursion on our civil liberties is so unjust, it damages the public’s relationship with their protectors for generations. Once such case is the system corruption of the Chicago Police Department’s Special Operations Section. Now over ten years removed for the original acts the public is still trying to come to terms with the atrocities committed; and the courts are still dealing out punishments to those who violated the public trust.

Within our police system in America, there are gaps and loopholes that give leeway to police officials who either abuse the authority given to them or do not represent the ethical standards that they are expected to live up to. Because of the nature of police work, there is a potential for deterioration of these ethical and moral standards through deviance, misconduct, corruption, and favoritism. Although these standards are set in place, many police are not held accountable for their actions and can easily get by with the mistreatment of others. While not every police abuses his or her power, the increasingly large percentage that do present a problem that must be recognized by the public as well as those in charge of police departments