Police Powers And The Constitution

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.

The basis of criminal justice in the United States is one founded on both the rights of the individual and the democratic order of the people. Evinced through the myriad forms whereby liberty and equity marry into the mores of society to form the ethos of a people. However, these two systems of justice are rife with conflicts too. With the challenges of determining prevailing worth in public order and individual rights coming down to the best service of justice for society. Bearing a perpetual eye to their manifestations by the truth of how "the trade-off between freedom and security, so often proposed so seductively, very often leads to the loss of both" (Hitchens, 2003, para. 5).

Policing methods have unequivocally expanded throughout the years with several different amendments from the U.S. Constitution like the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment. Through these amendments, many speculate if expanding law enforcement methods are bypassing the rights of the U.S. Constitution.

Stop and Frisk laws have been a statistically proven means of crime prevention across America as a whole. Still, ever since their creation, Stop and Frisk laws have been a major source of controversy in America. The constitutionality of Stop and Frisk laws was confirmed in the 1968 case of Terry vs Ohio and since then, crime levels across America have been at historic lows. Yet, the 2013 verdict of the class action lawsuit, Floyd v. City of New York has ruled otherwise. The court found the NYPD of violating both the fourth and fourteenth amendment mostly on the grounds of racial profiling. The court has as a result put in place a serious of complex changes to these laws making the job as a police officer even more dangerous than it already was. The topic of “racial profiling” is the fuel to the majority of the arguments opposing Stop and frisk. However, the subject of racial profiling is vastly misconstrued and deeply misunderstood. Stop and Frisk laws have flaws and are not perfect by any means, nevertheless they are an imperative source of preventing crime in America that needs to continue.

The US Bill of Rights, written to limit government power in response to the tyranny of England on the colonies, gave birth to the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. The fourth amendment, contained within the Bill of Rights, will be the principle subject in this research paper. Swanson, Chamelin, Territo and Taylor (2012), noted the Constitution’s fourth amendment stated the following:

criminal justice system (CJS), but arguably Amendments II and IV are a citizen’s primary defense against law enforcement (Evans & Michaud, 2015).

Under the fourth amendment, each individual in the United States is protected against unreasonable search as seizures. However, if there is probable cause law enforcement can perform a warrantless search without a warrant. Some examples in which law enforcement perform warrantless searches include: consent to search, plain view, and extreme emergency purposes. Under the fourth amendment, law enforcement can perform a warrantless search under these conditions. The reason law enforcement can perform a warrantless search based on consent is because an individual has given them the right to search their property. Therefore, anything that an officer find can be used in court. In the Schneckloth v. Bustamante 1973 case, the U.S. Supreme Court held

Police are violating the 4th amendment which is protection from unreasonable searches and seizes. Police officers are stopping and frisking black and latino people just because of the color of their skin or what they are wearing. The police officers are harassing them and stopping them in public and leaving them with little to no explanation. Donnel Baird a community organizer in Brownsville, New York believes that real criminals are too advanced to be out in the public's eye and out for police officers to stop and search them to actually find something on them that could help them. When it comes to the topic of policing, most of us will readily agree that they are necessary to help keep peace in the community. Where this agreement usually

2) Removal to another federal district court. 3) The denial of bail or parole. 4) A claim of double jeopardy. 5) The failure to provide for a speedy trial or hearing. 6) The legality of extradition to a foreign country. (https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/habeas_corpus)

Question 7: Despite the wording of most statutes proscribing the offense of escape, courts increasingly require the prosecution to prove the defendant’s specific intent to avoid lawful confinement. Are courts justified in imposing such a requirement on the statutory law?

It is crucial that administrators develop safeguards to ensure that internal investigations are conducted fairly and ethically, demonstrating the best interest of both the officer and its employers. This paper discusses the Police Officer Bill of Rights created by a subcommittee created by the Legislative Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the importance of it being implemented and standardized across the United States.

The Fourth Amendment stops the government from conducting unreasonable search and seizures. Law enforcement can conduct a search if they have probable cause without the courts approval. There are times when the law enforcement must go to the courts to get a search warrant before the can search and seize.

An arrested person has a right to consul, and to be defended by person a legal practitioner of his choice.

Police Powers in England and Wales The police as an institution in England and wales has a key and functional role of maintaining law and order, protecting life and property, detect and investigate crime, doing this without fear of favour, and respecting the culture and belief of others. To enable them to perform this role, certain legislative powers are promulgated to enable them to discharge these duties effectively which includes arrest with or without warrants, stop and search, detention and prosecution of suspects. Unfortunately, this role has not gone unchallenged due to some shortcomings which the public have reacted to; such as perceived racism and discrimination. Also, evidence abound of unjust police brutality, miscarriage of justice,

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.