“You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you.” Most of us know exactly who says this and what it means. The only problem is that this quote is the extent of our knowledge as an outsider to the Greensboro Police force. I was able to get an inside look at what really happens in a day in the life of an everyday police officer. I spent two days at the department observing the officers and riding alongside one in the police car. Throughout my experience I learned that most of the stereotypes I had about police officers were completely wrong. One of the first officers I talked to was Corporal Donaldson, who is also my father. I asked him about his experiences with the general public. He told me that …show more content…
However despite this there are many more problems that police officers have to deal with like disrespect from the public. I asked the officers what one word is that really stands out to them as blatant disrespect, 90 percent of them told me that word was pig. A “pig” is a slang term which is used to disrespect a police officer. Most officers say they will just ignore this but according to state law “it is illegal to make or use any utterance, gesture, display or abusive language that is intended to and likely to provoke violent retaliation.” About 5 of the 20 officers I interviewed told me they have arrested people for repeatedly calling them a pig. Not only is this a normal reply, but most people, including me, do not know that officers can do this.
While I was riding around in the patrol car with Officer Hank I saw firsthand that many people do not respect police officers. One person who he pulled over cursed, yelled, and all together disrespected Officer Hank due to their taillight being out after already being warned. Officer Hank told me he was not going to give them a citation before they disrespected him. I also found that when officers where cameras people are less likely to be disrespectful to them. My dad always wears a camera when he is patrolling and besides people pulling the “race card” disrespect is something he rarely has to deal with. Another key factor is the gender of the officer in
Police brutality and office involved shootings have sparked national debate and created a strain between police officers and citizens. Recently, there have been more home videos that display acts of aggression by police officers. These police officers often use excessive forces or a condescending tone towards people of color which is why there needs to be a better way to mend police and civilian relationship. People should be able to trust the police in their communities rather than fear them.
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.
They were trained to serve and protect, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t mess up from time to time. Now, I am not sticking up for those who don’t deserve it, and I will admit that there are some Officers in the world that shouldn’t have a badge anymore. But when you look at the whole of Law Enforcement, people have to realise that not every single Officer is racist. Not every Officer has the same exact mindset, or opinions of things. We are all people, and every single person is different in their own ways. There are no reasons for you to judge a single Officer, because of the actions and words done by another Officer. If you were a waitress at a diner, and your fellow waitresses are very rude and disrespectful.. How would you feel, if every customer that came in, assumed that you were just as rude? Or what if you worked for the Department of Homeland Security, and people automatically assumed that you just wanted to make their day horrible? It isn’t great to be labeled, and thrown into a group of people when that’s not who you
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.
Police officers are individuals who enforce the law upon their community to ensure that their citizens remain safe. In the past couple of years, officers of the law have been involved in acts of brutality that seem to go beyond the proper measurements of protection for their citizens. Policemen are supposed to protect their citizens from danger and from harm, not impose a threat on them. The fact that officers have a history of abusing their power indicates that their trust amongst the community has been corrupted. Those who have been affected of police brutality feel as though they have been deceived. They no longer feel that police officers will protect them, but rather abuse them, and that is a problem. We have began to live in a community in which an individual feels frightened when seeing a cop, rather than feeling protected. Some individuals may argue that police brutality is not a problem due to the fact that it is not consistent enough to catch the attention of needing a solution. However, that idea means little when the level of brutality has led to the death of several innocent victims in some cases. We must not wait for there to be a pattern of death at the hands of police officials to consider this a problem. One death indicates that preventive measures must be taken to ensure that these officers are no longer put in the position to abuse their power to begin with.
Police have many roles to take on an everyday basis. The main goal for an officer is to keep criminals off the streets and to try and maintain a safe environment for people to live. Many people disagree with some of the decisions officers make to enforce these rules and causes a lot of controversy. Today many people don't respect our police officers because of actions made by others. A major issue today is police use of force, stop and frisk.
Have you ever asked yourself what it would be like to become a police officer. Becoming a police officer isn’t an easy take because they have to risk their life everyday to protect and serve the community. They have to go through the dangers of arresting criminals when there is a chance that they could die. However, in today’s society only a small amount of police officers actually serve their community and protect citizens from danger. Right now, most police officers abuse their power to the point where they don’t seem to care for the safety of the community. They would usually arrest innocent people, make accusations, and even use their power as a source to show their dominance. If you think about, whenever you are stuck in traffic some
A study conducted by The Police Foundation surveyed 80 police officers regarding their power of authority. The survey revealed that the majority of police officers disapprove the use of excessive force. However, when situations escalate to a certain point that requires excessive force, police were asked a series of questions. They were asked questions about their attitudes regarding excessive force and their perceptions of behavior with their fellow officers. The results showed that, “Almost 25 percent felt that it is sometimes acceptable to use more force than legally allowable to control a person who physically assaults an officer (Weisburd, 24).” The survey asked police officers a question that dealt with The Code of Silence, when a police officer sees misconduct from another officer and does not report it. The response of the survery revealed that “80 percent of American police do not accept that the code of silence is an essential part of the mutual trust necessary to achieve good policing (Weisburd, 26).” When asked about the attidues of civilians of a different race, the survey results came back as, “Almost 2 in 10 police officers in the U.S. believe that whites are treated better than African Americans and other minorities (Weisburd, 30).” Is there an issue of racism or targeting certain races when it comes to police and their authortity?
Within the past year, law enforcement officers across the nation have come under intense scrutiny for police encounters that have resulted in the use of force and police involved shootings. Every time a person of color is killed by a police officer, the media broadcasts the shooting nationwide, inciting hate, anger and racism. Nothing productive is achieved when the media focuses on officers killing people of color. Instead, trust, faith and respect is lost from the public, and law enforcement officers are feared. People fear that when they encounter the police, they will be shot because of who they are. Sadly, all officers across the nation deal with the harsh scrutiny that has resulted from the actions of few. Majority of officers are good, hard working individuals who would put their life on the line to save and protect human life. Yet, on a daily basis, officers across the nation are disrespected and hated, simply for the job they do and who they represent. Despite recent events, police brutality is not an issue; law enforcement officers are still deserving of the public’s trust and this trust can be rectified with the understanding of use of force, increased community policing and continued use of force training for officers.
Have you ever asked yourself what it would be like to become a police officer. Becoming a police officer isn’t an easy take because they have to risk their life everyday to protect and serve the community. They have to go through the dangers of arresting criminals when there is a chance that they could die. However, in today’s society only a small amount of the police officers actually serves their community and protect citizens from danger. Right now, most police officers abuse their power to the point where they don’t seem to care for the safety of the community. They would usually arrest innocent people, make accusations, and even use their power as a source to show their dominance. If you think about, whenever you are stuck in traffic
A great deal of society views law enforcement officers as heroic and honorable individuals, whose main purpose is to protect and serve the community. For many officers, this description is accurate, however for others; violence and brutality against innocent citizens is part of getting the job done. For years, minorities have fallen victim to police brutality based on racial profiling, stereotypes and other
These days, police are often stereotyped as aggressive, corrupt beings. The growing hatred for police officers widens the divide between citizens and law enforcement, causing tension and intensely aggressive feelings on both ends. The recent shootings of young African-American men have also added to the societal hatred of law enforcement. Through media exposure, these shootings have been portrayed as cruel, often times revealing the victim to be an unarmed man.
The factors that were associated with citizens’ experience of disrespect from police officers in project on Policing Study were that the suspects are disrespectful with the police, but the police were less initially disrespectful towards the suspects at the time of encounter. When it comes to minority, police behavior towards these suspects show a lack of respect compare to their counterpart.
Baltimore police force is provided with more resources than a small town police force. The wire showed how provided the Baltimore police was. In the wire it showed how the media turned the murder case into a drug case. When the media got involved the police chief made a new drug task force to fix the problem. This drug task force was made of people in different departments of the Baltimore police. It shows how the Baltimore police force can spared people for a new program. When this drug force started to get information about the suspect the head chief funded the program. With the funded the drug force got more cars, vans, and listening devices to help them get the suspects faster. When the drug force got enough information for a bust. The police force spared manpower and vehicles, so they can get the suspect.
The psychologist serves a great purpose in the law enforcement as well. The police psychologists provide services that are used to counter police use of excessive force. The psychologists are there to characterize the types of officers who are known to abuse force and to recommend psychology-based intervention that could help police managers reduce cases of excessive force. Some think that the police departments should rely mostly on pre employment screening to identify violence-prone candidates.