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Ethics in law enforcement
Law enforcement ethical dilemma
Law enforcement ethical dilemma
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After completing the You Make the Call Activity I learned of several tactics implemented by police officers during a call. One of the tactics is to do a visual search of the scene. By performing a visual search, the officer can get a feel for the situation. Such as, the level of danger the public is in from the violation that was committed. The next is to interview the driver/offender. By interviewing the individual details can be obtained to understand why they broke the law. While the law is the law, there are times when mitigation exists that should be considered. Finally, the officer should organize the evidence before making a final decision. The evidence obtained may be a combination of things: the surroundings, the driver’s statements, …show more content…
When the officers stopped the driver, they should have first completed a visual search of the vehicle and surroundings to determine if there was a threat to public safety. This would help them get a feel for how they wished to proceed with the stop. Then they should have interviewed the driver to understand why she was not using a hands-free cellular device. While there is no audio in the video footage, it does not appear the officers involved spent much time speaking with the driver before arresting her. It is possible that the driver had mitigation for not using a hands-free device, such as, taking an emergency call. Further, it is not clear if the driver exited her vehicle on her own violation or by instruction of the officers involved. If she was advised to exit her vehicle by the officers involved, then it is concerning that the officers did not take time to organize the evidence. From the video footage it does not appear that the officers had taken her license/registration back to their patrol car to run her information before proceeding with an arrest. If she did voluntarily leave her vehicle without being instructed to do so, then her actions may have justified her being arrested. However, it is clear the level of force that was used during the arrest was not warranted, especially after she was
However, if the officer is in immediate threat, he has the right to use deadly force to protect themselves from being the victim. “The Court held that the use of deadly force is subject to the Fourth Amendment's reasonableness requirement, and that the Tennessee statute was unconstitutional in so far as it authorized the use of deadly force to prevent the escape of all felony suspects, whatever the circumstances” (Gross,2016). Nonetheless, it also depends on the seriousness of the crime as to how excessive the force may be to control the civilian actively resisting apprehension. Conversely, “what Graham did was to set the tone for how officers should be trained to react in a given situation” (Doerner,2016). Therefore, there are variables set in place to control and monitor the law enforcement standards and training aspects
This study was created by Lt. Wells on behalf of the Florida Highway Patrol. Lt. Wells was a member of the Law Enforcement Stops and Safety Subcommittee. This committee is volunteer-based and works under the financial support of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and is affiliated with the International Association of Chiefs of Police. As a me...
The Supreme Court has held that vehicle searches are permitted if the arrestee is unsecured and is reaching distance from the passenger compartment or if the vehicle would have evidenced related to the arrest. Riley v. California, 134 S.Ct. 999 (2014). Searches based on information received from a seized cell phone must be permitted by warrant. Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332, 129 S.Ct. 1710 (2009).
There are many forms of intercommunication that law enforcement officers’ use. One is the radio system that’s placed in their car, the writing on the car is even a type of communication, the dispatcher, and police reports, and these are just a few. Officers used their radio system to connect with each from car to car, so they can call for backup and described the crime scene to each other. The writing on a police car is almost a giant warning or a giant sign that law enforcement is near and ready to protect. The dispatcher as the name already says is the person who tells which officers to go to which citizen distress call or which crime scene. Police reports may be one of the most important though this can make or break a criminal case. They include evidence found, witnesses statements, assumed time of death
Imagine being a police officer doing your daily routine job. You are in a patrol car on the highway, watching the cars and trucks drive by. You are also looking for speeders to warn them to be more careful and maybe you’ll ticket them. It has been a very boring day for you, since you have only been called on your radio once, and it was for an accident (fender bender). Almost at the end of your shift, a blue car drives by going ninety miles an hour, but you know the speed limit is only fifty-five miles an hour. You pull the patrol car out of the gravel area that you had been sitting in and you start to follow the car. You put your lights on and catch up to them. After a few minutes you pull the person over. You get out of the car and start walking over towards the blue car. You are right about to talk to the driver and he drives off, leaving nothing but dust in your face. Now, the adrenaline is pumping in your body, but what should you do? You could call for backup or follow the blue car. Anything could happen. How far should you actually go? This is the question that will be answered in this paper. I will explain what police pursuit is and some different things officers do during a pursuit. I will also give some statistics about the fatalities that have happened in a police pursuit. I will also illustrate my opinion about how far police pursuits should go.
First, studies have to show how the officers apply the procedure of stop-and-frisk second, it should describe how the Fourth Amendment ties with how the police officer performs it. As further research has passed, the authors have seen some articles of steps on how stop-and-frisk being done. “Officers should conduct stops only when they are justified.” By this standard, officers should be required to file a report explaining the reason and context surrounding the stop, along with the ultimate outcome (arrest, weapons or drug confiscation, etc.). Police leaders, commanders, and managers should communicate a clear, uniform message about the purpose of the practice and lay out the expectations for police conduct. Officers should be trained to conduct stops legally and respectfully. In essence, they need to “sell the stop” to citizens by explaining the purpose behind it, how it links to the agency’s crime control efforts, and why it benefits the
Many State Troopers were being investigated for a variety of discriminatory stops. An attorney, William Merton, has been a part of the investigation of the troopers and found some very interesting information. A man named John Mean was pulled over by the troopers, where he was driving the same speed as the cars around him and he was pulled over. He then was threatened, with the probability of a search warrant, to give up his privacy rights and be searched. His car was then searched and he was release with a warning, twenty-five minutes later. This incident, like many others, was not reported, which shows a suspicion in the data collected from the department (Bouie 2014).
The understanding of police work is somewhat similar to the same way officers analyze and deal assholes. As we know understanding of police work deals with maintaining order, but at the same time they might come to counter certain individuals who will question the authority of the police. That’s called moral mandate. The officer has to decide in what way he is going to proceed the encounter with. The officer can get physical with the individual, he can just pretend he never heard anything and let it go, or he could find the simplest probable cause to make an arrest. It is similar to when police officers are dealing with assholes. They need to figure out if the individual is going to cooperate, question, or go against police authority. Territoriality is also an important key to understanding police work. It is an advantage if the officer knows his surroundings because then the officer will know when something is going on. Now when it comes to dealing with an asshole, the officer is familiar with the characteristics of someone that is going to be trouble. Once they approach the individual they can if they are dealing with an asshole. If it is an asshole they are dealing with they need to follow three stages to make sure what the circumstances are and how to deal with the individual. Those three stages are Affront, Clarification, and Remedy.
At that call the one officer spoke in Spanish to the people in question so I did not understand a thing that was said. We did pull over a vehicle that was swerving. Officer Todd was nice enough to let me go up to the vehicle with him because of my background of being an officer many moons ago and knowing about officer safety. There were to subjects in the car, a female driving and a male passenger. He asked for driver’s license and registration we took that back to the vehicle and the female was driving on expired driver’s license. Officer Todd also could smell the odor of alcohol in the vehicle. At this time a fellow officer Banks came over to myside and opened the car door and talked with the male passenger. He found open containers of beer and made the male pour everything out. Also Officer Todd asked the female how much she had been drinking and she stated “Two Beers” (the standard answer) we left the suspects in the vehicle and walked back to our
Everyday law enforcement personal have the possibility to face dangerous events in their daily duties. In performing such duties a police officer could come by a seemingly ordinary task, and in a blink of an eye the event can turn threatening and possible deadly. When or if this happens to an officer they won’t have
The civilians are worried about what they have done wrong or if they have done anything at all; therefore, they are on edge and could very easily become very defensive toward the officer which would make the officer worry more. When the officer is approaching a vehicle, a single person or a group of people, he or she will be assessing the situation. Is the the person armed, is he or she hiding anything, is anyone hiding in the car or behind an object to where he or she could injure me? are all questions that an officer could be thinking of when entering a situation. Have two people who are on edge, jumpy, and have many thoughts going through their head can result in misjudgment, quick actions, and poor decisions. The amount of incidents “4,778 alleged victims; 258 fatalities” have sparked people’s attention to how common violent meetings with the police are (Lendman 3). With that many victims and fatalities, anyone who is pulled over will be hoping that they do not become part of the statistic. The feeling one will have toward an police officer will be negative and defensive. Being on guard at all times and knowing how police can react, that mindset and and preconception of all police are bad can put a person in a seriously dangerous situation. When the stories go public the people have opinions, and like to express
As we cruised around the community, he pointed out countless minor traffic violations, both moving and non-moving, but opted not to make any stops. At this point he stated his main concern was to spot any impaired drivers and get them off the road. Eventually, as we came up behind an older civic (the Civic had a broken brake light) on Centreville Road, the officer stated that he detected the scent of marijuana coming from the Civic. The driver of the Civic noticed Crutchman’s police cruiser behind him and dropped his speed to 5 mph under the posted limit. Officer Crutchman began tailing the vehicle which immediately turned off on the next available road. We proceeded to follow the Civic for a couple of miles. I could tell that Officer Crutchman wanted to make the stop, and I inquired why he hadn’t done so already on account of the Civic’s faulty brake light. He responded that he is cautious about making such stops because he does not want a “new law named after him” on account of the controversy surrounding pretextual stops. It is possible that this careful attitude has developed as a result of the rising public outcry against police and
We learn by example, and sometimes at the expense of others, meaning if we see that someone that was sternly punished for driving while using a cell phone, we would think twice before posting a snap chat video while driving. Even though Tucson my crack down on these violators by making the consequences stricter, the Patrol officers can not pull over a car solely for the reason of seeing the driver on a cell phone, the driver must be pulled over for another reason. Knowing this, it seems that this may need to be addressed on a higher level, to give police officers the authority to pull over anyone who they see using their cell phone, whether that are violating a traffic policy or not. The police vow to protect and serve, if they see a potential dangerous situation shouldn't they be held accountable to handle
The appropriate use of police discretion is an essential factor in policing. According to Merriam- Webster, discretion is “the quality of having or showing discernment or good judgment”. A police officer is in constant use of their personal knowledge and experience when dealing with situations. Conditions are constantly changing and officers are obligated to trust their instincts and do what they have been trained to do. However, there are instances where officers are tainted by personal experiences, in which can ultimately result in a negative experience with the community. This concept varies throughout each department and each officer. One’s discretion, may be different from another, making this notion fairly hard to control in the line of duty.
Police, courts, and corrections are separated government institutions with different goals, histories, and operating procedures. Law enforcement officials report crimes that happen in their area. Officers investigate crimes and gather evidence to identify and use against a presumed perpetrator. Thus, it is the duty of the officer to uphold the rights of offenders, victims, and to conduct police procedures within rules set by law. Depending on the nature of the crime and the evidence gathered it is up to the police discretion to make an arrest or issue a citation for the accused to appear in court. The law enforcement has responsibilities that no other component does, thus an officer does not decide the defendant’s conviction; the jury does (Neubauer and Fradella,