The first amendment ensures us the freedom of speech. The people of this country use that to voice their opinion on issues in our society. What the average citizen doesn’t know is that their first amendment can be revoked in terms of time, place, and the manner they are exercising it. Recently there have been many protests following homicides of black males by the hands of law enforcement. We’ve seen across the country where an officer involved shooting results in violence among the community. There are rioting, violent protests, putting other citizens at risk of either property loss or being injured, and fires that are set. We know that every agency across the US is just one-officer-involved shooting away from staring down the barrel of that
(Source 2) This includes backup, along with the show of unity among the officers. The first tactical response is the soft squad approach. This involves officers equipped with proper response gear for dispersing a non-violent group that could become violent. This includes basic protective gear and equipment. A soft squad is best used when the crowd is gathering, mounting in numbers, blocking designated areas, being verbally resistant, and using bodies or hands to resist and/or combat officers. (Source 2) In my opinion, before a crowd becomes rowdy and start to get out of control law enforcement should talk to whoever is in charge of the gathering and let them know that you are there for safety precautions only. Often times when situations get out of hand arresting the people in charge of the protest is a good tactic to use. When a crowd becomes violent, officers need more than just their voice and handcuffs to suppress the disturbance. This is when some members of the crowd are using conventional or unconventional weapons such as Molotov cocktails or sling shots to assault officers. (Source 2) This is where the hard squad comes into play. These are the officers that carry all of the gear and equipment of the soft squad plus additional protective gear and weapons. This includes riot shields, tear gas, and rubber bullets. If necessary, police officers have access to military weapons.
The first amendment is being abused by more people now than ever before. People like to shout, “First Amendment” when they find themselves in a controversial situation because of certain things they wrote or spoke about. People are being less responsible for their actions and are blaming the constitution for their slip-ups. In “Free-Speech Follies” by Stanley Fish, Fish addresses the First Amendment issue. Fish claims that people use the First Amendment to try to get themselves out of trouble or criticism and that they need to start being responsible for their actions and need to start having a sense of judgment.
Most law enforcement agencies have policies that determine the use of force needed. The policies describe the escalating series of actions an officer can take to resolve a situation, first level is officer presence which means no force is used, and just the mere presence can reduce
The First Amendment of the United States gives citizens the five main rights to freedom. Freedom of speech is one of the rights. If people did not have the freedom of speech there would be no way of expressing one’s self and no way to show individuality between beliefs. This Amendment becomes one of the issues in the Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District Supreme Court case that happened in December of 1969. In the case of Tinker v. Des Moines there were five students that got suspended for wearing armbands to protest the Government’s policy in Vietnam. Wearing these armbands was letting the students express their beliefs peacefully. Many people would consider that the school did not have the authority to suspend these petitioners because of the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution.
Even though many of the protesters were severely beaten, they still stood their stance and got the message out. What is a Riot? According to Encyclopedia.gov a riot “is a social occasion involving relatively spontaneous collective violence directed at property, persons, or authority.” There are five main
The 15th Amendment was written by George Washington Julian. This amendment was passed on February 26, 1869 and was ratified February 3, 1870. The 15th Amendment was very significant to many Americans of different races because it changed their lives forever by allowing them to vote. “The present difficulty, in bringing all parts of the United States to a happy unity and love of country grows out of the prejudice to color. The prejudice is a senseless one, but it exists,” said U.S. Grant, 1869.
On December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights was ratified effective by Congress. These first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America promised the states certain rights and freedoms which could not be infringed by the government. After all, the founding fathers knew from experience that men in their weakness were often tempted by power. They had become all too familiar with this when under the control of King George in England. Therefore, in order to protect the future people of their beautiful country, they promised certain liberties which could not be taken away. Every single one of these freedoms is important for the United States of America. However, the second amendment is especially important to our nation because it allows the people to protect their freedom and defend themselves and the common good against an overreaching government.
who can speak and what they can say, the first Amendment rights of all of us are
The use of excessive force may or may not be a large predicament, but should be viewed by both the police and the community. Police brutality is hypocrisy as the police are meant to protect society from harm, not cause further damage and stress. Police should be trained properly so they do not resort to violence and abuse of power. Many cases of police brutality are not sanctioned and are undertaken by a group of police as a form of "mob mentality". Police are placed on a pedestal of authority and respect by the rest of society.
The First Amendment protects many citizens basic rights and freedoms. People all across America use the First Amendment everyday, or it effects them in some type of way. Like I said many people that live in the United States like the First Amendment, and the things it protects and allows, and some people don't like it. Either way I don't think that the First Amendment's rights will change anytime soon. The First Amendment covers many topics that help United States citizens in many
Students’ rights in schools are limited or just taken away. Kids are forced to do whatever the officials at their school, either the principal or the teachers, tell the students to do. One of the main right that gets taken away or limited is students’ first amendment rights, which is the freedom of expression. Students can gets suspended by just doing things the staff at the school does not like, including saying things that they don 't like or supporting a religion that the school does not support. Also, if something is said about the school or the people attending the school is said on social media that student can also get in a lot of trouble. Students should be able to have more first amendment
At the same time, Los Angeles police units were experiencing difficulties in handling situations in which riots and snipers were terrorizing basic police units. In response to these difficulties, LAPD officer John Nelson presented the concept of a squad which was specially trained to handle such situations to Inspector Darryl F. Gates. Gates approved the concept of a "highly disciplined" ...
The first amendment is the cornerstone of our American society founded years ago by our forefathers. Without the first amendment many ideas, beliefs, and groups could not exist today. The first amendment guaranteed the people of the United States the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and freedom of petition. Although the first amendment guarantees us, Americans the freedom of speech, we cannot use it to cause others harm. This amendment has helped shaped Americans into what we are today, because of our right to assemble, speak freely, and worship as we please.
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
What happens when officers forget their role and responsibilities? They abuse their power and go beyond their duties crossing lines that should not be crossed for instance in Saratoga New York a police officer tries to conduct and illegal vehicle search, when the civilian refuses, the officer slaps him and takes the keys. This type of conduct should not be tolerated and officers should constantly be reminded of the consequences of such actions. One thing in particular that can be observed is that in most videos the officers are not alone yet the other officers knowing their partner are wrong do not intervene, this pattern shows that the officers are not being trained properly. Proper training can easily avoid such conflicts for example in the case of Saratoga New York another officer could have deescalated the situation by letting his partner know that what he is doing is illegal, this simple action could had avoided a lot of problems. The majority of police officers do an excellent job but is the few that do not do a good job the ones ruining the image and reputation of the force, reminding officers of their duties and paying attention to their actions can make a difference in job performance while helping keep good community
Edward Escobar commented, “Before the mass of people had a chance to leave the park, and, indeed, well before most people knew that police had ordered them to disperse, sheriff’s deputies charged the crowd, shooting tear gas and beating fleeing demonstrators with nightsticks” (Escobar 1483). Much like in the case of the 1970 riots, the use of violence is often misconstrued as a valid use for one side and an act of terror on the other. The use of violence by the police to subdue protestors and break up protests faces no opposition by the common tax payer. It’s only when the protestors are pushed past their breaking point and turn violent as well that the violence used is put into