Why Law Enforcement Should Be Legal Essay

Every day, law enforcement officers encounter danger while carrying out their duties. The foremost duty of law enforcement officers are to serve and protect citizens. Most law enforcement agencies do this successfully. However, many people view law enforcement officers as the enemy. People need to be better informed about law enforcement and why officers take specific actions in certain circumstances. In our society, police are in a very dangerous position when it comes to the amount of force they can use when dealing with an individual. Officers use discretion when deciding the best course of action for the situation, whether it be physical force, persuasion, or coercion. They must take the correct course of action, because if they are too lenient or to forceful, even when dealing with petty things, they can be reprimanded by superiors and the public. Should police use force? Which circumstances warrant use force and what are the limits of force they can use? These questions are often asked when police are compelled to use force.

Police use of deadly force in the United States has been growing at a rapid pace due to several incidents that have taken place over the last few years. The biggest question today remains why has this been such a relevant topic across the U.S. lately? The use of deadly force is specifically important because it directly affects the publics’ attitudes and behaviors towards the police and government. Some will blame police policies, some will blame abuse of power, and some even claim the use of deadly force is necessary to in order to properly defend themselves. The use of deadly force continues to increase due to lack of what the true definition of “use of force” and what actually means. This lack of definition creates

The militarization of the police is becoming more and more prevalent issue in our society. There are positives and negatives to this issue, but in my opinion it is a negative occurrence. Excessive use of force further divides police and community, which eventually may lead to severe consequences that may be irreparable.

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.

Rise of the Warrior Cop, by Radley Balko, centers around police in the United States and how it has gone through militarization throughout the years. Militarization is a process in which the police departments take on tactics that are similar to the tactics used by the military. Police forces were initially made to make our environment a safer place to live in. In this book, Balko explains how that has changed. Practices of policing first began when people would get hired, unofficially, to keep slaves under control and catch them if they try to run away. These people were sometimes known as slave catchers. Soon it evolved into formal policing, allowing police to catch criminals and make the neighborhood safe. However, today it is not so much about catching criminals; it involves a lot of violence and Balko questions whether this is even constitutional. In his writing, Balko brings awareness to the horrible tactics police are using in today’s society and how we could fix it.

The media has portrayed Officers in a new light. Rather than protective guardians, they are now unstable, power-fueled workers of the law. It is their choice what they will do with the duty of enforcing the law. Anyone can fall victim to Police Brutality. However, America’s social and economic society is improving at an alarming rate. America is at a time now where peaceful protests and the like are promoted, while aggressive out lashes, unlawful activities, and excessive force is frowned upon. The economy today is a result of the hard work of ancestors who protested and ensured a better future. In the future, it is possible that Officers will no longer be stereotyped as abusive, or unlawful. A united front is required for this future, where there are no more sides, violence, or

President Barrack Obama in a Huffington Post article back in 2014 said, “I think it 's probably useful for us to review how the funding has gone, how local law enforcement has used grant dollars, to make sure that what they are purchasing is stuff they actually need. Because there’s a big difference between our military and local law enforcement and we don 't want those lines blurred. That would be contrary to our traditions.” This is all too familiar nowadays. Police Militarization has appeared to have gone too far in local and state police officers. To combat the war on drugs in 1971 President Richard Nixon declared the war on drugs causing a dramatic increase in federal agencies both in size and presence. It wasn’t until 1997 when the 1033 program launched causing billions of dollars of military surplus equipment to be available to local and state law enforcement. Now in 2015 some lawmakers are attempting to stop the program, such as Democratic Florida representative Alan Grayson. Grayson failed in his attempts in June to stop the 1033 program by a 3 to 1 margin by his own Democratic Party. It is unclear how our reliance on high duty weaponry and the latest technology can help police officers who only see the equipment as toys. For example, in August 9th the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri caused unrest when a police officer shot an unarmed man. Putting race aside this is a direct violation of the 4th amendment. Justice Byron R. White stated that, “The

I am researching about the brutality of police and police militarization. Recently with shootings involving police officers have led to protests and controversy with people not standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. This has led to outrage by many citizens, as well as Donald Trump stating that the NFL should take action against this. This issue has had people agree and disagree on the actions of the football players and this separation has increased following the shooting in Las Vegas, which took the lives of almost 60 people and wounded over 500 more. Police brutality has been a huge deal, especially with the LA Riots resulting from the beating of Rodney King, and recently with Ferguson and San Diego last year. The issue with Police Militarization

Ware (2014) states a militarized police organization causes chaos by making aggressive attempts to intimidate and draw battle lines. Stating military hardware on neighborhood streets signal an escalation of violence. Peak (2012) believes it cultivates the “us vs them” mentalities and hinders the intellectual and creative thinking process in officers. On the other hand, some people feel as though a militarized law enforcement agency is beneficial. One of the highest concerns the general public has is corruption within law enforcement agencies. Quasi-military authoritarian style allows leaders to maintain control of their staff; enforcing obedience to authority. Policing is a dangerous occupation; one you might find yourself placed in a situation where you may legally have to take the life of another human being. Having a well-disciplined agency can minimize critical, even fatal

Militarization of the police is an arising public concern over the past recent years. Society has tried to comprehend the concept of militarizing the police. The public is terrified of the idea of what militarizing the police can mean for America. According to US Senator Elizabeth Warren “This is America, not a war zone,” she felt the need to express her thoughts because of the outrage that were occurring in Ferguson. Citizens feels as though militarizing the police will cause more insecurities and less confidence that were already so little in the police force. Media footage of events such as Ferguson and Baltimore have negatively influence the public opinion on supporting militarization of police. People believe police officers use

The militarization of police, with shockingly clear threats to our God-given rights, is unconstitutional and needs to be stopped immediately. It is even acknowledged by our forefathers that “there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations, as warned by James Madison. That is what is happening, a slow and silent progression of the taking our freedom, via the militarization of the police. The founding fathers would be absolutely terrified of our current law enforcers. Before the Revolution, it was England’s use of soldiers for

The public impression of police use of force, as brutality, in modern day policing continues to be a sensitive issue for law enforcement agencies across the nation. Police agencies across the United States deal with accusations of misuse of force on

The militarization of America and the transformation into police state does indeed deserve to be recognized and addressed. The United States of America is indeed militarized, and this should not be tolerated because it is unfair to the innocent people that live here. Recently, at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on September 9, lawmakers grilled Administration officials about the provision of military-grade equipment to State and local police departments by the Federal Government (“Police Use of Military Equipment” 1). Basically, this concept explains how higher level security within the United States is beginning to become more and more popular as time goes on. Cities with bad reputations are

In today’s society it seems as if all the violence that is occurring is revolved around race. Negative law enforcement involvement has been one of the major controversial topics that our generation has been faced with. Race, violence and authority is a very well-known racial disparity that will take some time to be seen otherwise. After the incidents occur, what really shakes the nation is that there is no real accountability. No one wants to admit that an injustice occurred and a small altercation lead to a casualty. Leadership within the justice system often gets challenged with such scenario. Does one discipline and makes an example out of his law enforcement officer (LEO), or does one address the public so that there is no uproar on such final decision.

A common issue presented in today’s national media is police brutality. Police brutality is the use of unnecessary force on civilians by police. The concept of having police officers is to ensure safety and protection of citizens. Police should only use force necessary to accomplish their lawful purpose. The common occurrence of police brutality has sparked responses nationwide in the form of protests, riots, and movements to end the excessive and sometimes fatal force of police officers. The public rallies are also in response to lack of conviction or repercussions of many of the cops who demonstrate unjust police brutality. These incidents are also commonly associated with racial disparity. The headline news stories of the shooting and killing of unarmed African Americans, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and twelve year old Tamir Rice, all in the same year, prompted citizens nationwide that change in the law enforcement system is necessary. While a majority of police abide to their oaths and stand for justice, a noticeable amount have historically misused their power. If a community cannot trust police officers, it will be detrimental for society as a whole.