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The role & function of the police
Role of police
Role of the police force
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As expected, the police force is the main arm entrusted with the powers to ensure peace, order, and justice in society. For this very reason, the police need to maintain a high sense of respect and hesitation of law and policies that defend the wellbeing of the citizens and a country in general. However, when the police misbehave in a way that makes the normal citizen realize that the police broke the law, the citizens are most likely to reduce their cooperative behaviors towards the police (Harris, 2009, p.26). Because of this, the conflict between citizens and police officers hinders the officers’ ability to do their job to their full potential. In the United States, one of the most prominent police misconducts is the use of excessive force in handling citizens (Micucci & Gomme, 2005, p. 488). The trend has been around in the U.S. for decades now, and …show more content…
p. 50) observe that the lack of proper national statistic on the police use of excessive force is a hindering factor to the war against vice. Because so, it is critical for civilians to report all cases of police brutality and excessive force to the relevant authorities that include human rights groups for the sake of action. If we continue to keep quiet on the issue, the lack of information and the limited availability will lead to a wake of even extreme cases on the same. Gender also plays a role in the excessive use of force, according to the available statistics. From the observation of the officers on duty, a great percentage of offices that use excessive force on civilians are mostly males. (Harris, 2009, p. 39) Besides, most of the officers are also young, falling within the age bracket of twenty to thirty-five years and usually, inexperienced (Harris, 2009, p. 39). Here, it is clear that police offices should have specialized duties, and inexperienced officers should take care of other roles that do not include making arrests, until they are fully trained and ready to encounter
Crank & Caldero (2004) discuss the notion of the noble cause that is widely used by police officers to justify their actions. Police officers feel that there are many obstacles that prevent them to do their job efficiently. They claim that courts only hinder the process of putting criminals behind bars. They also believe that they are true patriots with a noble cause of getting rid of bad guys. To further prove their point Crank & Caldero (2004) use works of many authors, who wrote about police ethics and corruption and about how the noble cause is interpreted by police officers. Each of the authors discusses a dilemma with which polices officers have to deal when deciding what action they need to take in order to deal with criminals. Cumulatively, it seems that police conduct themselves towards criminals and citizens with hostility and with actions that maybe constituted as unlawful and corruptive in nature. But to the police officers, who are seeking justice and are driven by a noble cause, all means are good to get the bad guys. There is also a philosophical twist that puts a poli...
Organizational culture is a set of beliefs, values, and behavioral guides shared by an organization's members (Giblin, 2014). Police culture is a highly bureaucratic, rule bound culture. The job is highly stressful with a varying degree of personalities. According to the video and in my experience, police culture generally haws two parts. The first is how police interact while doing their jobs on the street and the second in the way officers interact on a organizational level. Often, police get more frustrated and outspoken at an organizational level. However, these two parts can have an effect of one another.
Firstly, even after government advancement, the integration of a democratic society, and a greatly improved justice system, individuals still feel threatened by police officers. When police training was created, and guidelines/ penalties were and laid out, they were expected to have a large impact on minimizing incidences of excessive police force. Yet, this is not the case. It is often said that prevention is better than cure, this statement can be applied to police brutality by preventing it befor...
8 hours. It is the recommended numbers of hours one should sleep. However, between those 8 hours, something disturbing is happening. Every 8 hours, a police officer kills an American citizen. Only 1% of these police are indicted in killing compared to 90% of American that are hauled off to jail immediately (Cop Crisis). Whether it 's a police officer or an American citizen that commits the crime, there will always be an organization that supports the offender. The International Union of Police Associations is an organization that lobbies for the police department and its affairs. On the other end of the spectrum is the Communities for Police Reform. This organization fights to protects the rights of the average American citizen. Both organizations share the common ground to protect the rights of their members and can work together to reach a point of a compromise.
Over the years, this country has witnessed many cases of police brutality. It has become a controversial topic among communities that have seen police brutality take place in front of their homes. Officers are faced with many threatening situations everyday forcing them to make split second decisions and to expect the worst and hope for the best. Police officers are given the power to take any citizens rights away and even their lives. With that kind of power comes responsibility, that’s one major concern with the amount of discretion officers have is when to use force or when to use lethal force. The use of excessive force may or not be a large predicament but should be viewed by both the police and the community.
A police officer is a warranted law employee of a police force. In the United States, "officer" usually is the formal name of the lowest police rank. What do police officers do? Duties of Police officers are generally to apprehend criminals,prevent and detect crime, protect and assist the general public, and the maintenance of public order. In order to become a police officer one may need to go through some of the application process requirements. Some of them are to be at least 20 years of age,be a US citizen, be mentally and physically sound, no history of criminal or improper conduct, and a High school Diploma or equivalency. Given all the information, Police officers have a lot of power. Police officers can end lives,arrest or detain
Police brutality is a very real problem that many Americans face today. The police carry an enormous burden each day. Police work is very stressful and involves many violent and dangerous situations. In many confrontations the police are put in a position in which they may have to use force to control the situation. There are different levels of force and the situation dictates the level use most of the time. The police have very strict rules about police use force and the manner in which they use it. In this paper I will try to explain the many different reason the police cross the line, and the many different people that this type of behavior effects. There are thousands of reports each year of assaults and ill treatment against officers who use excessive force and violate the human rights of their victims. In some cases the police have injured and even killed people through the use of excessive force and brutal treatment. The use of excessive force is a criminal act and I will try and explore the many different factors involved in these situations.
Skolnick, J., Fyfe, J. (1993) Above the law: Police and the Excessive use of force. United States: The Free Press
Police misconduct is as rampant as ever in America, and it has become a fixture of the news cycle. Police brutality is the use of any force exceeding that reasonably necessary to accomplish a lawful police purpose. The media is inevitably drawn toward tales of conflict, hence why there are so many crime and police stories on the news. Despite the increasing frequency of misbehaving cops, many Americans still maintain a high respect for the man in uniform. Still, police misconduct is a systemic problem, not just an anecdotal one. Here are some reasons why it is a problem. First, many departments do not provide adequate training in nonviolent solutions. With this, police are unfamiliar with what to
Background and Audience Relevance: According to the Human Rights Watch 2012 report on Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States; police brutality has become one the most serious human rights violation. As citizens of the United States it is our duty to make sure that those with authority don 't take advantage of their power.
Recently in the United States there has been in increase in deaths that have come from police officers using deadly force. The use of force is inevitable as a police officer, many times their own lives or the life’s civilians are at risk when it comes to determine what type of force a officer should use. There are many incidents where police officer have to react in a matter of seconds and has to choose between his own life or that of the individual causing the disturbance. When a Police Officer uses deadly force has caused outraged with the public, stirring up protests and creating a scandal for the police officer and the Police Department. Many do not know when it is right for an officer to use deadly force and what constitutes it, or what happens when the officer does not use the appropriate amount of force that is required to control the situation. There has been many changes in Police Departments around the country to try to reduce the use of deadly force in response to the issues that have occurred because of it.
Crime is a part of society encompases the news and the public. A variety of studies of media content have estimated that as much as 25 percent of the daily news is devoted to crime (Surette 1992) and that crime is the largest major category of stories in the print and electronic media (Chermak 1994, 103). (Lawrence 18). With crime at an all time high, police are constantly having to deal with more and more issues. This can lead to stressed out and fed up officers, which can lead to poor decisions by an officer. The use of force by police is a highly controversial topic as it raises questions about a government’s ability to use force against its citizens (Lawrence 19). Today’s society is caught up on the ideals of civility and equality before the law, making police use of force a touchy
Police shootings occur all over the world but are a huge problem within the United States. We continue to hear more and more about them. These shootings are making headlines. Front page news it seems almost weekly. All the shootings go one of two ways. Either a Police Officer has been shot or a Police Officer has shot a citizen, but either way the final result is death. Whether an Officer has been shot or an Officer has shot someone these cases seem to be related to one thing, fear. People in today’s society feel as though they can’t trust Police Officers as they are there to hurt and kill them. And Police Officers feel as though they are in danger of doing their everyday duties because people see them as the “bad guys” and want to hurt or kill them. Yes, police brutality and racism still exist, but not all cops are bad. Yes there are still bad citizens in this world that want to kill and harm others, but not all citizens are bad. People seem to react to these shootings by rioting quickly after a police officer has shot and killed someone without
Young people and the police have, for many years, experienced a tense and confrontational relationship (Borgquist & Johnson et al., 1995). This has led to a great wealth of literature based upon the notion of police-youth interaction. Much of this literature has tended to focus upon juvenile criminality and the reasons why young people commit such seemingly high levels of crime. Whilst the relationship between young people and the police force has been widely theorised and explained, there is very little literature on juvenile attiudes towards the police. Research that concerns societies attitudes towards the police force tends to focus upon the views and opinions of adults (Hurst and Frank, 2000). In this first section of my literature review I am going to focus upon work that allows us to gain a deeper understanding of why young people are so important when looking at crime. This section will allow us to comprehend the ways in which, literature suggests, young people view the police. This knowledge will provide a basis for my research in which I look more specifically at youth attitudes towards PCSO’s.
Police brutality is an act that often goes unnoticed by the vast majority of white Americans. This is the intentional use of “excessive force by an authority figure, which oftentimes ends with bruises, broken bones, bloodshed, and sometimes even death” (Harmon). While law-abiding citizens worry about protecting themselves from criminals, it has now been revealed that they must also keep an eye on those who are supposed to protect and serve. According to the National Police Academy, in the past year, there have been over 7,000 reports of police misconduct; fatalities have been linked to more than 400 of these cases (Gul). Police brutality is often triggered by disrespect towards the police officer.