Lack Of Discipline Against The Los Angeles Police Department

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

The media has scrutinized the use of force even more recently. 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. 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.

In 2002 alone, large state and local law enforcement agencies, those with 100 or more officers, received more than 26,000 citizen complaints about officers’ use of force. Among those complaints only eight percent had sufficient evidence of the allegation to justify disciplinary action against the subject officer (U.S. Department of Justice). These incidents occur frequently but what truly happens is never very clear. Witness reports don’t hold up with evidence, the victim has their recollection of what happened and the police officer has another. There is no concrete way to hold police accountable for their actions unless there is hard evidence to prove them guilty. This allows officers to use excessive force and not face any penalization from their department or in court.

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.

Ronald Weitzer “Incidents of police misconduct and public opinion” Department of Sociology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA .

The unnecessary use of force use the police officers is referred to as police use of excessive force and police brutality. Both excessive force and police brutality involve physical contact with a law enforcement officer with a citizen or civilian. Physical contact and police brutality can both lead to death. It is entirely within the police officer discretion the type of force to use during an arrest. Maybe a police officer’s cannot handle making the correct judgment call, or perhaps having too much power affects their ability to perform their job effectively. This behavior has to stop, police brutality needs to end today. Society distrust for police has gotten worse over the years. The police need to rebuild the trust again in America.

Allen versus the city of Oakland was one of the largest lawsuits filed and won against the Oakland Police Department for police misconduct. Misconduct has always been an issue with law enforcement. Starting in the early years of law enforcement there were policies set to keep officers from committing these actions. In time, the policies have been changed, reconstructed, and updated to increase effectiveness and efficiency. To get a better view on how these policies are implemented, the actions of the police officers in Allen versus the city of Oakland will be examined and the justifications for their actions will be reviewed. Not all actions can be justified though. For those types of actions with no justification, an

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 looking for answers as to why police brutality is such a big issue today, we see that the problem lies in past actions that were not dealt properly. First, Prohibition reduced respect for authority and law enforcement, as the police committed various unconstitutional acts. Next, the War on Drugs and the War on Terror changed the image of law enforcement from that of a peacekeeper to that of a domestic soldier. As a result of this inaction, American society finds itself in a crisis situation, where people cannot trust the police and where police are struggling to regain credibility with the American population.

“To Protect and Serve” (Dorobek) is the official motto of the American Police Academy and to do that requires a balanced relationship of trust and support between police officers and the people they serve. In different ways, civilians and police officer’s both have a responsibility to uphold the law. It is a police officer’s responsibility to defend their community. A civilian’s civil duty is to support their police force to ensure they can carry out their job in the safest and most peaceful manner. However, a gap in communication has damaged the relationship between officer’s and the members of the communities they serve. In order to put an end to police brutality and repair the relationship between the American Police Force and the communities they serve, the enforcement of body cameras, new and better methods to train, and special prosecutors in police misconduct investigations are all essential.

However, the breakdown of complaints are as followed: 34% of those complaints had insufficient evidence to prove the officer was in misconduct, 25% of the complaints were not based on factual evidence, 23% of these complaints against an officers use of force indeed did happen but was deemed by the jury to be lawful, and 8% of the complaints lead to a disciplinary action due to the officer being in violation (“U.S. Department”). Furthermore, the statistics over the span of April 2009 through June 2010 represents the numbers of reports filed against police officers due to them handling a situation in a nonprofessional and violent-like manner which was reported to be 5,986 during that time frame. Out of the 5,986 reports filed, 382 of those reports claimed a death due to an officer’s misconduct. 33% of the misconduct cases presented throughout April 2009 through June 2010 were officers proven to be guilty of such an offense by the jury, and 64% of the misconduct cases led to imprisonment of the officer whom committed such crime. (Chaney and Robertson 485).

The public’s knowledge of justice and crime as a whole is largely derived from the media. Let us think about this. How often do you come in direct contact with the police? For most Americans we would probably say one or two times a year. Of course, you have your 18 year old teenager who drives his fire red coupe too fast and may encounter law enforcement 7 to 10 times a year. Whatever the case may be, I think that we can all agree that hardly a single one of our encounters with the police have been for the betterment of us. I mean how many times has a police officer pulled you over and given you a twenty dollar bill? Every time we are being stopped we are being forced to hand over money to the state or whatever the case may be. This leaves a sour taste in our mouths. However, is that truly why so many of us seem to have all of this distrust in our law enforcement agencies? The answer is typically no. In this paper I will discuss why so many have this image of police in their heads that leads them to doubt the integrity of our police and distrust them.

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

A common issue presented in today’s national media is police brutality. Police brutality is the use of unnecessary force on civilians by police. The concept of having police officers is to ensure safety and protection of citizens. Police should only use force necessary to accomplish their lawful purpose. The common occurrence of police brutality has sparked responses nationwide in the form of protests, riots, and movements to end the excessive and sometimes fatal force of police officers. The public rallies are also in response to lack of conviction or repercussions of many of the cops who demonstrate unjust police brutality. These incidents are also commonly associated with racial disparity. The headline news stories of the shooting and killing of unarmed African Americans, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and twelve year old Tamir Rice, all in the same year, prompted citizens nationwide that change in the law enforcement system is necessary. While a majority of police abide to their oaths and stand for justice, a noticeable amount have historically misused their power. If a community cannot trust police officers, it will be detrimental for society as a whole.

While many members of the police force are being portrayed as racist, the media contributes to the racial assumptions through various negative proclamations against officers. Newspapers, radio stations, news channels, and other forms of media all decipher situations in any manner they deem necessary in order to appeal to their target audiences. The various types of interpretations by the media often includes negative portrayals of members of police departments by allowing them to appear as racist, as well as murderous, individuals. Mark Aitken writes that officers are feeling displeased with the media’s coverage of law enforcement by only reporting the mistakes made by policemen, which provides civilians with the idea that all law officers are only contributing to society in a negative manner (Aitken). To further clarify, while many officers are responsible for providing safety through various dangerous and complex tasks, there are numerous ways an officer can be unsuccessful. While several members of law enforcement are put into violent situations, they are often limited with the amount of time they have to make a decision. As a result of this lack of time, as well as many other factors, many officers rely purely upon instinct and reaction within their field of work. These instincts and reactions have allowed members of law enforcement to make certain choices that can be perceived as errors. Regardless of the situation, the media will only discuss the mistakes made by a