Policinging, Police, Corruption, And Police Use Of Force

Gaines, L. K., & Kappeler, V. E. (2014). Policing in america (8th ed.). (S. Decker-Lucke, Ed.) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America: Anderson Publishing. Retrieved January 2017

In this essay a discussion will be explored about the benefits and problems associated with police use of discretion. Which current policing strategies have the most potential for controlling officer discretion and providing accountability, and which have the least, and why is that the case? And finally, how might these issues impact the various concerns facing law enforcement today?

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.

Policing in the United States has changed dramatically since it was first brought to the thirteen colonies from England. However, some of the issues faced then are being faced in policing today. There are also new trends that are prevalent, and these trends will continue to have lasting effects on the future of policing. Even though new trends improve policing overall, they can also cause more serious issues. It is crucial to continue making changes topolicing because it allows law enforcement officers to keep up with the rest of society, including the knowledge of new crime trends. This paper will

This research question will clearly address the variations of police practices over the past 5 years in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, due to the recent incidents regarding police brutality and corruption. Using Chapter 12 Politics, Power, War, and Peace, will help show the relationships between politics in law enforcement and police officers, which deals with a lot of power and peace. Chapter 12 Politics, Power, War, and Peace, Section Cultural Controls in Maintaining Order states “Every culture has various forms of cultural control to ensure that individuals or groups conduct themselves in ways that support the social order. People who challenge or disturb the order face negative consequences” (W. Haviland; pg 315). In Baltimore

The role of police in their communities and society as a whole, is an interesting and unique position. They are citizens that are responsible for policing fellow, equal citizens and are the extensive arm of the government. Police are required to enforce laws set by the state, regardless of the effectiveness or rationality of the laws and any negative consequences they cause. These consequences often result in racial disparities in the criminal justice system between blacks and whites or an unequal concentration of poor Americans in police interactions. With such apparent injustices, it

The unearthing problems and regulations of policing by discretion of the law enforcement actor is the topic of this article. The author, Katherine Beckett, who is a Law Professor at the University of Washington, identifies the origin of the ideology behind police discretion, along with the methods of application, problems, and possible solutions in her article. Many changes developed in the law enforcement world as a result of this beginning. Katherine Beckett identifies those changes and the effects of the changes on society, shown through sociological studies. A comparison is made of events in which police discretion has a significant effect, such as the war on drugs, the development of police regulatory organizations and the growing need

Over the years, police have been portrayed in the media, television shows, and the local newspaper as crime fighting heroes. This portrayal would make one think a police officer is always out doing a dangerous job, which may require shooting, beating up, or arrested the bad guy. The truth is, most officers will not make a felony arrest in a given year, and there are also many officers who have never fired their weapon. There are various perspectives of the policing functions. I will examine these perspectives from the local, state, and federal organizational levels. I will identify and address possible future changes in laws and the overall

Throughout its’ history, the United States of America has had a military branch in order to protect the country from foreign enemies, dating back all the way to the Revolutionary War when the brave young Colonies declared independence from Great Britain. However, the first official domestic defense did not come until almost one hundred years later when the city of Boston established the first official American police force in 1838, followed by New York City in 1845 (Potter 1). Soon major cities all over the country followed in the footsteps of Boston and New York City. Police forces were seen as a positive presence in the United States when they were established; enforcing justice against the unjust. Law enforcement in the United States has been scrutinized from the beginning of its’ creation due to bad apples within police forces across the nation. The bad apples unfortunately were corrupting an organization that was supposed to be serving and protecting the people of the United States for approximately a couple hundred years. Fortunately, the evil and undue police within departments across the country were heavily outnumbered by the good cops in this country. The same is true today, but in recent history police brutality has been a widespread issue in the United States. Although police corruption and brutality is present in America today, the need for police is more apparent now than ever because police forces across the country as a whole are keeping the peace and are

The issues that our police departments face in today’s society consist of corrupt police departments, publicity, operating expenses, and constant training to meet the guidelines set by court decisions.

How did American policing evolve and from what system? Is our fragmented system of policing a strength or a weakness in enforcing justice? Do we have the same level of legal enforcement of the laws in our system? Discuss. What has and is the role of politics in policing? What are the biggest problems facing American policing today?

The purpose of this paper is to describe the problem of police brutality in modern law enforcement. Despite all of the advancements in contemporary policing, there are still flaws in the system. Many of these problems are found in civil rights, corruption, police-community relations, and police brutality. Even though all of these items are closely related, police brutality is currently the biggest issue throughout the United States and continues to shower the news headlines on a continual basis and cause uprisings among citizens throughout the country.

Since the beginning of police work in America, the system has changed from disorganized chaos into a well structured and rather complex network of communication, response efforts, and detection of lawless behavior. From the creation of the town watch to the transformation of the first police force in the colonies to the lawlessness of the old west and the efforts to revive efficient police work, America has been ever advancing its protection of those who live in the White House, the suburbs, the slums, and even those struggling on the streets. The History of Policing in America is not derived from one origin of time but rather taking the highest qualities of protection from within itself and countries of both friend and foe.

When debating the issue of police use of force, the issue of what actions constitute too much force must also be addressed. Another concern is the possibility of corruption amount officers. When given such great power, the probability of corruption is high. Officers generally do not start out as corrupt, but years of work on the force can create animosity between officers and suspects and lead them to decide to use force more quickly (McEwen, 1996). Many times, officers patrol the streets alone which creates the opportunity for potential abuse of power (McEwen, 1996). Although police officers need to be permitted to exercise some discretion, they also need limits and guidelines to follow when using their powers of discretion (Manning, 1997). The decision to use force should not be taken lightly in that citizen’s lives are at stake. Police should be allowed discretion in decisions to use force; however, this discretion should be limited. In several cases in Arizona, officers have used deadly means of force. In all cases, the officers

This paper will compare and contrast the thoughts of two police officers from different police departments. In fact one officer has been actively working in the state of Nevada while the second has been inactive for several years now. Both officers are male, one African-American and the other Caucasian. Both officers feel very strongly about the importance of police work and were not very shy at giving their opinions. The interviews were not conducted in person but each officer was sent a number of questions via e-mail and asked to answer them to the best of their knowledge and return their answers via e-mail no later than Saturday, November 22, 2008. The questions and