Abuse Of Police Power

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The community have given police officers beyond substantial amounts of power over civilians, to ensure the safety of society and the prevention of crime. These entail the power to arrest and detain people, obtain information, carry out searches on you, your possessions or your vehicle, seize things, and obtain identifying information, such as DNA and fingerprints ("Under arrest and police powers | Legal Aid WA", 2018)(us et al., 2018). With these reigns the police have a wide range of freedom to utilise their judgement in regards to which laws to enforce, when and against whom ("Misuse of police powers: Police officer involved domestic violence | Abuse of power | Diane Wetendorf Inc", 2018). While there are certain protocols that they need …show more content…

When law enforcement officers misuse and abuse their authority to in fact harm civilians, it contradicts their role in society which is to keep society “safe”, questioning our trust in them. Some officers regard themselves as the law itself rather than their actual role, which is to enforce the law. Every law enforcement officer which abuses their authority, use the criminal justice system as a leeway to abuse their power. They state to the victim that is within their power to deprive them of their physical safety, security, privacy, freedom and life if and when they choose. An example of what officers tend to say to their victims are: "Call the police. Who are they going to believe?”. This shows that the police use their authority as a way to manipulate civilians, removing them of their civil liberties and as a result abusing the law. They know that a great systemic resistance against prosecuting an officer exist so they continuously do it ("Misuse of police powers: Police officer involved domestic violence | Abuse of power | Diane Wetendorf Inc", 2018). The law enforcers need to remember that just because they hold a badge it does not mean that they are above the law, they still need to comply with protocols and procedures to play their role in …show more content…

Brown was unlawfully murdered by a Caucasian police officer in Ferguson Missouri, in 2015. Following the tragic event, statistics on police brutality in the US skyrocketed and were at an all time high, with the majority resulting in death of the victims. Two days after the death of Michael Brown, another black man, Ezell Ford was unlawfully murdered by law enforcement officers in Los Angeles. In November the same year, Ohio police officers again unlawfully murdered a 12-year-old child who was playing with a replica shotgun in a playground (Nedim, 2018). An evident trend in these police brutality cases are that people of colour or civilians from marginalised areas are always the set targets. A survey was conducted and 71% of participants agree that police brutality has racial and bias elements. Responses

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