Controlling Police Brutality The police have served an integral part in society as out protectors. Throughout the years, however, scholars as well as we citizens have begun to question the use of force, racism and internal corruption as well as other forms of misconduct by our officers of the law. The excessive use of force by police officers persists because of overwhelming barriers to their accountability. For instance, when police do get in trouble, it is normally a slap on the wrist, a lecture or loss of a vacation day as it stated in the article “Good Cop Bad Cop.” This fact makes it possible for officers who commit these violations to escape punishment and then often repeat their offenses. Every report of abuse is often met with denial or explanation of why the abuse was necessary instead of taking any real action like a suspension or removal of their badge in most cases.
Personal Side of Policing With the role of law enforcement in today’s world police officers take on more responsibilities, are put into stressful situations and force themselves to deal with some of the toughest decisions one can ever imagine. The environment in which a police officer works can determine how slight or severe these factors affect his or her daily policing duties. Every police officer has the ability to use judgment when responding to a situation. This judgment is could determine whether the offender will be warned, cited, arrested, or even have force used against him. All factors of the situation should be taken into consideration when using this discretion.
A police officer tends to be authoritive because of the constant danger he or she is in while on the job. Having this trait will help the officer handle all situations and help the officer pay close attention to what is going on around him or her. Suspicion is more or less a belief or opinion that is solely based on facts but does not require proof. Suspicion is also a feeling of doubt, uncertainty, or slight indication that something is up. An officer tends to be suspicious after working the job for awhile because of the criminal acts that go on.
We know that police officers use excessive force, and they also use their authority to verbally abuse people. So what causes police officers to abuse their authority, and (or) leads to brutality? One of the challenges with this is that not every citizen reports a police brutality, whether they see one happening, heard of one happening from their friends or family or if they themselves were a victim of one. Another challenging issue too is that we know some brutalities are not reported; therefore it makes it harder to measure those versus what is actually reported. Police brutality wouldn’t be an issue if we didn’t have to police our law enforcement officers.
Secondly, this group shares a common way of life. They share similar dangers, setbacks, and rewards that outsiders rarely see outside of the movies. Thirdly, these dangers foster an "us against them" mentality not just against criminals but politicians, bureaucrats and concerned citizens who are perceived as impediments to enforcing the law. Police administrators and the law specify the broad parameters within which officers operate, but the police subculture tells them how to go about their tasks, how hard to work, what kinds of relationships to have with their fellow officers and other categories of people with whom they interact, and how they should feel about police administrators, judges, laws, and the requirements and restrictions they impose. The effects of formal pressures and the pressures generated by the police subculture often lead police officers to experience a great deal of stress in their occupational, social, and family lives which can result in cynicism, burnout, and retirement, as well as other of physical and emotional ailments (Miller 45).
They have a few more rights than regular citizens, but they also have laws and rights they have to follow, there only job is to enforce laws in a well mannered civil way unless they feel harmed or in danger. (EHow Contributor, 2011). What is Police Brutality? Police Brutality is when officers use excessive force in their duties to comprehend suspects that is not necessary in some situations there in. A perfect example is in an Article “Police Hit a women directly in head for no reason,” A lady got serious head injuries after getting beaten in the head with a baton in the video.
Every police officer is aware of the possibility that while on duty they may have to use force to restrain and subdue a criminal. Many factors go into an officer’s decision of how to react when he is faced with a non-compliant or combative criminal. The amount of force can vary from simple verbal commands, all the way up to deadly force. This broad range of actions that an officer may use is often charted on a Confrontational Continuum Model. This paper while not cover the ethics behind lethal force, but will discuss the steps, and progressions leading up to that point.
General Strain Theory “Strain theories state that certain strains or stressors increase the likelihood of crime. These strains lead to negative emotions, such as frustration and anger.” (Agnew& Scheverman, 2010) This theory really focuses on who someone deals with certain stressors happening in their life. If someone is angry will they handle the situation in a calm/ prosocial way or a violent/criminal way? I find this theory interesting because stress plays a role in everyone’s daily life, and I am a strong believer in there being a reason for everyone’s actions. I think that a lot of criminals engage in criminal behavior because they are dealing with some pretty intense stuff and they use crime as a way to handle the situation they are in.
| Checkpoint | Issues in Policing | CJS/210 Prof. Beeler | Karen Spangler | 10/26/2012 | The issues that face law enforcement agencies today are ethics and corruption, profiling, and the use of force, within police departments. Police officers must adhere to a higher standard of ethics because of the amount of power that the uniform and badge that they wear holds. It is when an officer uses and abuses this power to their advantage or gain, that it becomes a problem. The saying, "a few bad apples spoils the bunch", is apropos when referring to police corruption. Profiling is when law enforcement inappropriately considers a person's race or ethnicity when deciding how and if they are going to interact with a person in an enforcement
Some would believe that this abusive force may sometimes be necessary for criminals that seriously need to be apprehended and are not complying with orders, but that force should only extend to a certain degree, which is just enough to subdue that criminal. In many cases, police officers continue to use gratuitous force on someone, often causing far greater damage then intended, or allowed, for that matter. Brutality by law enforcement dates as far back as to the Roman Empire, and are still quite prevalent in the world today….much more often than you would think, or could even imagine. Police brutality in the United States rose greatly in the 1920’s with the establishment of prohibition, and a few decades later brutality rates increased again during the African American Civil Rights Movement. Many civilians, including myself, believe that these police officers think they can do these things because they believe they are merely ‘’above the law.’’ This summer I was a victim of such crimes brought about by the New York Police Department.