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Recommended: Roles of the police
For one to answer this question, it will be important to examine the roles of the police in Canada, and according to Howard (1997) the following are police roles in Canada1.Crime control, responding to and investigating crimes and patrolling the streets to prevent offenses from occurring;2.Order maintenance, preventing and controlling behavior that disturbs the public peace, including quieting loud parties, settling domestic disputes and intervening in conflicts that arise between citizens;3.Service, the provision of a wide range of services to the community, often as a consequence of the 24-hour availability of the police, including assisting in the search for missing persons and acting as an information/referral agency. Base on the roles
of police in Canada, yes they police uphold the charter of right and freedom, but indirectly. The charter governs the relationship between the state and individuals. Police, as an actor of the state is required while conducting his duty, should conduct it in such a way that does not violate the charter of right and freedom of individuals. “In short, yes police are bound by the Charter, they are not required to “uphold” it as such, but in the performance of their duties must behave in a manner that does not violate any of its sections, whether in fact or in spirit” (Martuccelli 2012).It is, however, the job of the court to uphold the charter of rights and freedom. In Canada, while provinces oversee the laws, police as provincial law enforcers can be used in that essence to uphold the charter of rights and freedom.
The Ontario Provincial Police serve the province of Ontario in many functions, including the safety of traffic (Ontario Provincial Police , 2009). The safety of traffic is essential for a secure society; however when a law enforcement member deviates from legislated policing practices causing an unjustified accusation of a civilian, are the people of the Province of Ontario any safer? This issue can be examined in the case of R. v. Harrison, as Constable Bertoncello of the Ontario Provincial Police conducted a traffic stop of Bradley Harrison, which was not justified. Harrison was pulled over for only having a rear licence plate, however the vehicle was registered in the province of Alberta, making this vehicle legal (R. v. Harrison, 2009). The police officer justified his actions to the Supreme Court of Canada by insisting on the importance of upholding police integrity in the public mind, and this regular traffic stop resulted in a search and seizure of cocaine and a charge of driving with a suspended licence. (R. v. Harrison, 2009).This was not sufficient reasoning for Bertoncello’s actions according to the ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada. An examination of the evidence presented before the Supreme Court of Canada in the case of R. v. Harrison, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms violations, precedent cases, and investigative police procedures along with legal proceedings will rationalize the ruling of the court for excluding narcotic paraphernalia for trafficking indictment.
Crime control and due process are two different ideal types of criminal justice. One could say they are extremes on a continuum. The role of crime control is to get the criminal off the street and to protect the innocent. The due process model of criminal justice is like an obstacle course, you have to keep going through legal obstacles to ensure in the end you convict the right person. In Canada the police lean toward crime control and the courts lean toward due process. This causes tension between the police and the courts. I will argue for both crime control and due process, putting more weight on due process If we did not have due process in Canada, people in positions of power, could manipulate the system for their own personal or political gain and railroad the innocent off to prison.
Early in the 17th century was when the first modern day policing was expected to have begun. Ever since the 18th century begun, incidences of police using excess force by abusing their power have been quite common. As time progressed, these wrongful actions by police have been entitled as police brutality. Police brutality is defined as" the use of excessive force used by police dealing with public... excessive force can be either physical, verbal, and/or psychological". According to this definition, whether it be arresting someone with too much force or even uttering certain statements, can all be classified as police brutality. No individual should be victimized by police officers who use excess force that in no way deters crimes. It does nothing but bring a dire unjust society in which innocent people can feel afraid; and give those officers who are correctly doing their duties a bad reputation. Due to the dispensable, unscrupulous nature of police brutality; several measures including disciplining police officers, stricter laws(and stringent penalties), integration, as well as educating the general public about their rights, must be applied in order to extirpate the misconduct citizens should not have to face.
Source: All information taken from Griffith, C and B Whitelaw and R Parent. Canadian Police Work. Toronto: Nelson 1999 p.77-83.
Policing in Canada is much different from many other nations due to the rich cultural diversity that Canada is blessed with having. The discussion on policing in a multicultural society must be viewed as a much more political question on how to respond to diversity (Ben-Porat, 2007). Policing has a problem when minority groups feel alienated from the Police or when they feel that the police are enforcing discriminating policies and unjust laws (Ben-Porat, 2007). There are many examples in Canada of racial biases on the side of the police. Recently the RCMP commissioner Bob Paulson made a public address acknowledging racial bias in Canadian Policing (Ireland, 2016). Unfortunately, credibility and legitimacy of the police among different minority groups in Canada has yet to be met due to these groups feeling that they have been unfairly treated (Ben-Porat, 2007). Most police agencies in Canada now have some form of diversity training relating to specific minority groups. Another thing that some of Canadas police agencies have done
“A body-worn camera in public policing is a miniature audio and video recording device which allows recording of officers’ duties and citizen interaction,” notes Thomas K. Bud. Police body-cameras are significantly growing in popularity across Canada. While legislation has not confirmed definite rules regarding the use of body-cameras, local police departments have begun their implementation. Canadian police services involved in these projects include Toronto, Victoria, Edmonton, Calgary, and Amherstburg Police Services. The results of these projects have revealed mixed thoughts regarding body-camera effectiveness. Is it a good idea for police to wear body-cameras? While the cost of police wearing body cameras seems prohibitive, police wearing
The Canadian Criminal Justice System is, for the most part, reflective of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and various Supreme Court of Canada case-law. Everyone who finds themselves on the opposing end of the Criminal Justice System is entitled to certain protections every step of the way, beginning even before the arrest; laws protect us from unreasonable investigative techniques, guarantee certain rights at point of arrest, and provide us with the right to counsel. The bail court departs from the ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ standard in that the crown only needs to prove on a balance of probabilities (Kellough, 1996, p. 175) in order to take away a person’s freedom. It is for this reason I decided to limit the scope of my observations to the bail court. What I found is a systemic evidence of a two-tier justice system. In this essay, I will outline the roles of the 'regular players' of the bail court and demonstrate how the current bail process essentially transforms the Canadian Criminal Justice System into a two-tier system where the affluent and powerful are able to receive preferential treatment over the poor.
The symbol of the Canadian judicial system is the balanced scales of justice. When a wrongful act is committed, the scales of justice are greatly misplaced and require a solution to counterbalance the crime and restore balance. Additionally, the scales represent the idea that law should be viewed objectively and the determination of innocence should be made without bias. The Canadian criminal justice system encapsulates the idea of the scale of justice, to control crime and impose penalties on those who violate the law. One of the most important aspects of this system is that an individual charged with a criminal offence is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The current system has two prevailing methods involved in the process of dealing with crime: Retributive and restorative justice. This paper will analyze aspects of retributive justice and restorative justice, with reference to their respective philosophies, for the purpose of finding which is more effective at achieving justice and maintaining balance.
In every society around the world, the law is affecting everyone since it shapes the behavior and sense of right and wrong for every citizen in society. Laws are meant to control a society’s behavior by outlining the accepted forms of conduct. The law is designed as a neutral aspect existent to solve society’s problems, a system specially designed to provide people with peace and order. The legal system runs more efficiently when people understand the laws they are intended to follow along with their legal rights and responsibilities.
The main purpose of the police is to protection, and force should only be use to promote the safety of the community. The police have been charged with the one of the greatest responsibility in the world, and that is with safeguarding the domestic well being of the public. My father was a New York police officer for 20 years, and I know firsthand that this job is not an easy one. The polic...
Improved economy helped Canada’s rate of crime decrease since the 1990’s but different evidence suggests that methods used in response to serious crimes during that time may have influenced the crime trends. The Constitution Act of 1867 contains the authority to enact criminal laws and procedures to be followed by the federal government (Welsh & Irving, 2005). First enacted in 1892, the Criminal Code, continually revised, is used for setting out two main categories of offense: indictable and summary conviction, indictable being homicide and robbery, more serious kinds of crime with involved trials (Welsh & Irving, 2005). Canada is also known for its Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and these police ...
The responsibility of a police officer is to maintain public order, prevent crime, and to detect crime as well. It is a very stressful job that comes with many pressures and expectations from society. Police officers are often engaged in situations that require them to think critically and fast. They undergo many dangerous obstacles and difficult situations that many of us would fear to handle. In some of these harsh situations police officers tend to use brutal force which can ironically lead to the criminal to becoming the victim. Police brutality is the wanton use of excessive force, usually physical, but also common in forms of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation. There are two main common factors that cause police officers to engage in brutality towards an innocent person or a suspected criminal. An officer can either be taking advantage of their authority or be discriminant against a certain ethnicity/racial profiling. Police brutality is a very controversial topic. Police officers should not
Community based policing can best be defined as, 'a collaborative effort between the police and the community that identifies problems of crime and disorder and involves all elements of the community in the search for solutions to these problems' (Sykes). Community based policing is the idea that the role of the police is not that of catching 'bad guys,' but more that of serving the public. In order for community based policing to have an effect, the presence of crime isn?t needed, in fact it?s often more effective without the involvement of crime, ?Modern police departments are frequently called upon to help citizens resolve a vast array of personal problems--many of which involve no law-breaking activity? (Schmalleger). The role of the police officer in community based policing, is to have an active part in the community. This can be something as simple as stopping in at a school just to talk to the kids, or...
The key characteristics of community policing are as follows: Police officers are usually called upon to be particularly thoughtful, creative problem solvers. They are asked to listen to the concerns of community members, to logically reason out the roots of problems, to identify and research potential answers, to implement solutions, and to assess results. Police officers work in partnership with concerned citizens. The second characteristic is that police officers are visible and accessible component of the community and work with youths and other community members top address delinquency problems. On the third characteristic, police officers patrol a limited number of jurisdictions on foot. The so-called foot patrol officers are believed to be more approachable and offer a comforting presence to citizens. The fourth and last characteristic that will be mentioned on this paper is that the community policing have decentralized operations, which allows officers to develop greater familiarity with the needs of various constituencies in the community and to adapt procedures to accommodate those needs.
When you think of police what does it mean to you? The responsibility of a police officer is to protect the public and to serve the community. Also, they detect and to prevent crime, police officers strive to maintain the law. New police officers work with the general duty as patrol divisions, that provides a range of experiences and assignments. The General duty of policing involves patrolling in assigned areas to enforce laws, protect public safety, and arrest criminal suspects either by car, foot, bicycle, or in some cases, horse. Police officers can also do some of the following: they Investigate accidents and crime scenes; to secure evidence and interview any witnesses; they collect notes and reports; they can provide emergency assistance to victims an disaster, crime, and accidents;