The Law Enforcement Must First Achieve Respect And Trust

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.

Society in general have showed the distrust, protests and many questions for the like hood of the police profession. The reputation of the police profession is that of the 6 pillars of policing in the modern world as outlined by the President’s Task Force on the 21st Century Policing, which sought to recommend steps forward. Under the banners of ‘Building Trust and Legitimacy’, ‘Policy and Oversight’, ‘Technology and Social Media’, ‘Community Policing and Crime Reduction’, ‘Officer Training and Education’, and ‘Officer Safety and Wellness’ – here are concise definitions for each one and what they mean for American policing ("Final report of the resident’s task force on 21st century policing," 2015).

Many black communities throughout the U.S. have a complete lack of trust in law enforcement due to the dangers of being profiled, and this lack of trust is mainly active in the poor black communities. Many of the individuals of black communities feel this type of distrust because when police are present in these communities, they are viewed as an “occupying force coming in from the outside to rule and control the community” (Washington). More times than not racial profiling has often led to police brutality, all the more reason why there is no trust between those that reside in black communities, and police officers.

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.

Because of this, we would see people with different backgrounds getting shot and arrested for no reason. Whenever we go on social media, we would see that people are living in a state of fear whenever a police is nearby because they don’t know whether something bad will happen to them. In the article, “Something’s wrong when the law-abiding are afraid of police,” it talks about how a black woman was fearing for her life because a police officer pulled her over. The police officer didn’t arrest or shoot her but instead asked her if she was feeling fine since she was driving under the speed limit. People started commenting that this black woman wouldn’t need to fear the police officer if she obeyed him. Perhaps that’s true for someone else, but African Americans are live a different truth. The problem with this is that no one should fear a police officer because they are suppose to serve and protect the community. When someone is fearing a police officer then we know that something isn’t right. We see that many different ethnic people are getting killed by police officers because they don’t seem to trust them but white people. That is why as a community, we should train police officers to become more comfortable with residents of a different racial background. Police officers are required to make our society safe but it turns out that they are the one that are causing us to live in a state of perturbation. For that reason, we know that our police officers are failing their

There is recent controversy over police use of force, especially in minority communities such as in African American communities, Hispanic communities, and other publics with large populations of minorities. Increased levels of force among these communities have created challenges for police departments. These challenges include a lack of trust from the community towards law enforcement officers and an absence of respect creating situations that lead to police use of force. There are already various programs in place that attempt to decrease this challenge by educating the public, respecting one another, and giving those who were on the wrong track second chances. A combination of these solutions and the implementation of more of them would decrease the number of contacts between police and minorities that lead to the use of force (Roberg & Novak, 2014).

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.

Many of the problems and conflicts between the community and the police are based on situations involving police misconduct and race. Other issues occur because of an experience one has had with the police because he or she is minority. Early resentments from White officers cause a different outcome when handling a police situation that involves a different race as oppose to his or her own. This begins to shape the perception of the residents that witness these actions. It has been shown that an officer’s attitude and behaviors when dealing with a minority is harsher and unfair. Several situations like the Rodney King story and police brutality where a minority was the victim is viewed by the public and discriminatory behavior solely caused by a person’s race or ethnicity. This creates distrusts and suspicion with regard to the way a police department handles these issues. The public is disappointed and reluctant to construct a relationship with his or her fellow officer.

Because of this, we would see people with different backgrounds getting shot and arrested for no reason. Whenever we go on social media, we would see that people are living in a state of fear whenever a police is nearby because they don’t know whether something bad will happen to them. In the article, “Something’s wrong when the law-abiding are afraid of police,” it talks about how a black woman was fearing for her life because a police officer pulled her over. The police officer didn’t arrest or shoot her, but instead asked her if she was feeling fine since she was driving under the speed limit. People started commenting that this black woman wouldn’t need to fear the police officer if she obeyed him. Perhaps that’s true for someone else, but African Americans are living a different truth. The problem with this is that no one should fear a police officer because they are suppose to serve and protect the community. When someone is fearing a police officer then we know that something isn’t right. We see that many different ethnic people are getting killed by police officers because they don’t seem to trust them but white people. That is why as a community, we should train police officers to become more comfortable with residents of a different racial background. Police officers are required to make our society safe but it turns out that they are the one that are causing us to live in a state of perturbation. For that reason, we know that our police officers are

In communities where there are heavy percentages of racial and ethnic minorities, racial profiling can cause a gap between them and law enforcement departments. Communities and officers work better together if they are in a positive relationship. However, when the two parties are at odds with each other due to racial profiling, it diminishes the ability to find criminals and probe crimes and also minimizes belief in these agencies (Head). What racial profiling specifically does is cause a central problem to minority communities: trust. When there is trust between people, organizations, or other groups, there develops the power to cooperate and actually move forward. In a simple racial profiling case, an officer arrests an African American male

Cooperation from members of the public is important in order for police officers to effectively fight crime within the community. In order to obtain cooperation from members of the public, police officers must gain their trust and confidence. It has been known that African Americans and Hispanics have lower levels of trust and confidence in police because of racial disparities and racial profiling. This paper will discuss the public opinion of police by different ethnic groups and how racial minorities hold lower levels of trust and confidence in police.

Since a very young age we have been taught to put our trust into police officers. If we are in distress, they are always there to help since it is their job to protect and serve the common citizen. So what happens when the individuals we are supposed to trust to bring justice are the ones causing the injustice we see in the news? Recently, several police officers have been under fire for their excessive use of force. The number of casualties caused by police officers in the recent years have citizens demanding a reform in the system that officers work under.

Pillar one references to building a bridge which joins the community and law enforcement together. Building trust and legitimacy between police and citizen play a fundamental role in the law enforcement agencies as well as the communities they serve. Many studies have shown and proven that people/citizens will uphold the law/s of the country when the ones who have the authority to enforce the law are proven to be legitimate. Law enforcement officer will not gain the trust of the people/ community if they are view as controlling and corrupted. The community on a whole wish for a guardian rather than a warrior within the police force. The mindset of all police officer should be to gain the trust and legitimacy within their community. To build

It has been consistently shown in research that minorities are more likely to be mistreated by the police compared to other people (Dunnaville, 2000). Recent incidents have seen the police use excessive force on people and mistreat minorities. As such, the legitimacy of the police has been put under scrutiny and questioned. Many communities in the United States have demonstrated in reaction to recent incidents of police misconduct and excessive use of force. The people have lost trust in the police because of these issues. The police force has been accused of mistreating people, sexual harassment, violent and careless arrests among people particularly the minorities. As demonstrated in the movie ‘Policing the Police’ police officers are seen mistreating people for instance the scene where the police sexually harassed a teenager by touching sensitive areas. Community members are not willing to trust or work with the police to fight crime. As such, it is critical for the police agencies and department to make improving police-community relationship a top police priority. Policies should be developed that will strengthen the mutual trust between the police and the community. This relationship is critical because the police depend on information from the community to fight crime in the society.

There is a perception of distrust between law enforcement and the community. This distrust stems directly from the dangerous words police use when communicating with the community. (Willis, 2015, p.) Simply choosing better words can help build relationships between law enforcement and the community. It is necessary for law enforcement to have trust with their community. There are many things that hinge on the police-community relationships, the ability of law enforcement to perform their duties, are the most important. Law enforcement must be willing to rely on the public to observe the law. They must always demonstrate absolute impartiality to the law.