Police Power Abuse Research Paper

The police are our nation’s most visible law enforcement entity. We see them driving and walking our streets every day. They are responsible for the safety and well-being of the people. In some instances, they have to make life altering decisions in a blink of an eye. Because circumstances are always changing, police officers are given a decision-making power called police discretion. It is up to the officer to use this given power for right or wrong.

Police brutality is one of the most serious and divisive human rights violations in the United States and it occurs in every community. The job of a police officer is to maintain public order, prevent, and detect crime. They are engaged in a dangerous and stressful occupation that can involve violent situations that must be controlled. In many of these confrontations with the public it may become necessary for the police to administer force to take control of a situation. Sometimes this force takes the form of hand to hand combat with a suspect who resists being arrested. Not all police officers in communities are good cops. At least once a year the news is covering a story about a person

In a democratic country law enforcement officers are expected to undertake their duties with dignity and respect thus following both the rule of law and its procedure. Law enforcement officials whose duty is to enforce the law should abide by the law and should be accountable for both their decisions and consequences of it. But the main issue is – quis custodiet ipsos custodes – who controls the controllers? This critical issue is of importance because the history of policing is littered with scandals in which police officers broke the law and also in which the police organisation failed to detect the deviance (or colluded in it; or tried to deflect investigations by defensive opposition). I will be examining in this article police corruption and its prevention and I shall focus on three main aspects: definitions of corruption; the forms it takes in different societies; ways of preventing

Police officers are given a lot of power because it is needed to help protect citizens and the community. However, police often abuse their power by the over use of force, corruption, sexual misconduct, bias based policing, and failure to maintain police ethics. (Peak, 2011)

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

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

First things first, the damaged community relations between authority and the public must be fixed. If the two cannot trust one another, the odds of eliminating police brutality are almost impossible. The little things we do as humans for other humans will always go a long way. Officers taking time out of their day to play basketball with teenagers, cops mowing lawns for people who are physically incapable of doing it themselves, or the police discovering a homeless family in a car and then proceeding to buy the family a room at a motel are acts of compassion that will slowly but surely repair the distrust that exists between police officers and minorities. If the COPS budget were to actually receive funding rather than lose significant amounts of money, new officers would undergo the proper training that is required for a job that is so physically and mentally demanding. Once the new cops have 5-10 years and a record of good behavior under their belt, then consider trimming the COPS budget once again and have the veteran officers train developing officers. The process will take quite some time, but will save large amounts of money in the long-term as a result. Many cops believe that wearing body cameras is an invasion of personal space and privacy. While this is partially true, if authority has nothing to hide, body

With today’s advanced technology, police body cameras have proven to be very useful. They are crucial in putting an end to unnecessary police misconduct. In 2012, the Rialto Police Department in California implemented police body cameras and recorded the outcome. The results showed that “the number of complaints filed against officers fell by 88 percent compared with the previous 12 months. Use of force by officers fell by almost 60 percent over the same period” (Lovett). Without a doubt, police body cameras do the trick to prevent potentially dangerous situations from occurring. As William A. Farrar, the Rialto police chief once stated, “When you put a camera on a police officer, they tend to behave a little better, follow the rules a little better. And if a citizen knows the officer is wearing a camera, chances are the citizen will behave a little better.” I strongly agree with this statement because if the interaction between the officer and the citizen is being recorded, neither of the two will want to behave badly. The citizen knows that their bad behavior could result in consequences and the officer knows that their misconduct could result in punishment or even the loss of their job. The cameras record every detail that can be looked back on if there was a complaint filed against the officer that was wearing it. Clearly, police body

Body cameras have been created and can now help solve this problem. For example, society has seen police brutality as a misuse of authority and is wanting a change. So by having police wear a body camera, it can help show who was in the wrong. By using body-worn cameras, now there are specific details and evidence of everything that happened during the incident “The objective of body cameras is to deliver an accurate record of officer engagements for complete situational awareness and tamper-proof digital evidence.” (“Should Police Officers Wear Body Cameras”). The goal is that there is hard evidence, even when there is not always a third party witness around. With these body cameras, there will no longer be any need to depend on what the police or citizens have to say about what happened during the incident because there is clarification in the evidence of what went on and what was

2. When the police kill unarmed citizens, the officer is often not charged but cities across the nation pay hundreds of millions of dollars to settle these cases with the families of the victims. Why do cities consistently pay this money? What does the Bill of Rights have to say about police brutality? https://www.thenation.com/article/chicago-has-spent-half-a-billion-dollars-on-police-brutality-cases-and-its-impoverishing-the-victims-communities/

Police brutality is defined as the use of excessive force by law enforcement while dealing with citizens (What Is Police Brutality?). When referring to excessive force, it is defined as using more force than needed when handling a situation (What Is Police Brutality?). Police brutality has been a common issue in the United States since immigration (Walton-Crosby). Police officers target the poor, powerless, and the minorities, which makes it easy for them to have the upper hand (Walton-Crosby). Police officers also target the mentally-ill, because the officers do not know how to deal with the mentally-ill community. The less powerful people in society did not have the power to fight back against police officers,

In the United States of America, law enforcement has the ability to make their own judgement, while encountering criminals. Although discretion is at all levels of the police department, law enforcement agencies can easily make unlawful decision. Researchers determined that police officers are prohibited from using offensive language or speaking discourteously, abusing their authority, and using unnecessary force (Carroll, Kovath, & Pereira, 2004). Law enforcement officers are expected to respect their community and ensure that all citizens are kept safe. Some police activity can occur in a private view without supervision from the public, which allow police officers to make a reasonable decision. Police often make quick reaction when it comes

This paper will describe police power and police authority. I will also talk about police discretion as for as whom gets locked up and who is allowed to go free. This paper will discuss the different use of police force. In this paper I will also talk about police attitude, police misconduct, and physical abuse among police officers.

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

When we think of the police, we normally think of the brave men and women out on the street, enforcing the law, catching criminals, helping out the public in cases of emergency and making us feel safe in general. Most of the Police in most of the world is like that which is a good thing, However in the United States of America the police here are a bit more ruthless. Most of the police officers are very nice people and they really do want to help out in their community, but unfortunately there are some bad and corrupt cops in the system that will break the law and do some bad things. In the Modern world most bad cops are seen as racist and trigger happy. They don’t kill for fun of course but whenever they feel threatened they are trained to feel as though they need to take down their target since they are taught to make sure they don’t do something that will end up killing them. While nobody is at fault with these cases it is unfortunate that it does happen. Thankfully most of those cops are not as bad as the actual corrupted ones where they do business with drug lords and take their money just so that the criminals don’t get ratted out and so that they can continue their business. While there are some organizations that are corrupted the people in America do have power and a decent morality to do something about it. There are many organizations and cases that happened in the supreme court that has changed how the police behave and act when they are out on the