Ethnicity and the Police By CJA344 The police department is leaving a bad impression in many minority communities, because of the corruption and brutality that comes from the police patrolling the areas. The police should leave a positive impression with the communities that they serve, this way the police will be able to ask the community for help when needed. There are a few people in the community that speak highly of the police because they have good experiences with the police and have positive opinions of the police and are more freely to cooperate with the police department. Lack of community support to the police force can lead to more crimes in the communities, as a result of the community the police can be less likely to work up to their full potential. “When crime rate goes up there is a further dip in the public perception of the police resulting in a greater antagonism towards the police on the part of the public “(1985).
Police Personnel Job Stress is the complexity of their role, the need to exercise Prudent discretion, the threat of using violence and having violence used against the. When you stress as a police officer it can lead to negative attitudes, loss of enthusiasm and commitment to their job. It can even take a toll on their personal life such as health problems, divorces, or even substance abuse problems. When becoming a police officer it can come with good or bad decisions. The good is helping your community stay safe, than there is the bad which is maintaining a social and family relationship.
Mobile data that was used was PDA and cell phones for text messaging; however, mobile data started to disappeared. Instead, organizations started to offer better packages like mobile data that could be used nationwide. PDA’s, cell phones, and laptops are a big source for the criminal justice system. They have effectively broadened the communication system for law enforcement overall. For example, cell phones and laptops can be used to retrieve and send information to anywhere at any time of the day.
As mentioned before, this may only be one negative effect yet this can open the door to many other negative effects in other aspects aside from the database. Another type of specialized database I find interesting is the Mobile Data Terminals; this type of device is convenient for many of those that are part of the force (police or firemen). This helps them research different types of information for when they’re on the road or not in a direct office type of building. Many times when someone gets pulled over by the police and the police asks for you credentials it’s to look up your information on this device that’s located in their
Police are said to have a “we-they or us-them” worldview. This in-group, we (police) v. they (civilians). Solidarity is associated with the idea of police subculture, but in practice the more general term culture is commonly used to describe everything police share in common. Not many have an accurate understanding of what police officers go through while working in high stress and dangerous environments. Police officers are taken for granted and people rarely think of the personal, mental, and physical sacrifices that police make in order to protect our community.
Authoritarianism is something very common and very well used in police forces all over out nation, and even with in the police force itself. Each department wants to think they have more authority than others. Just like big cities like to think they know more, and are more experienced than smaller city police forces. In the way I see this affecting the officers of a force, is the way they think, and how far there ego can. This can sometimes lead to police brutality, and conflicts within police officers in each department.
Traditional policing does not focus on prevention but ‘fire fights’ or is reactive in nature, they deal mainly with the results of crime rather than the causes. The focus on major crime tends to ignore the smaller far more prevalent crimes engaged in within a community which impact on far more of the community. In areas with high levels of unemployment, social and material deprivation a community can often feel detached from the decision-making processes with the Gardai. This view is endorsed by O’Mahony (2002) p.427 “In certain especially disadvantaged areas, there are mutually hostile and suspicious attitudes
“A formal justice system is one in which laws are set and enforced and punishments are administered by state institutions such as courts, police, judges and prisons” (Ask.) A justice system can possibly encourage deviance and crime because there are some people who do not like to follow the law. An example of this behavior can simply be driving under the influence of alcohol. In our society everyone knows that it is against the law to operate a motor vehicle in this condition but yet there are so many people still doing it. Crime will always be committed as police are not always looking over people’s shoulders to ensure people will not break the law.
If the responsibilities were limited in the community it would result in more chaos and more crime, and people would no longer seek police assistance. Agencies at the local level represent the largest number of police officers and include municipal police, county sheriff’s department, county police, coroner and a medical examiner, special district police (Walker & Katz, 2011). City police departments are the most complex division of law enforcement because the functions that officers perform vary. The primary responsibility of city police officers is protecting and serving the people. City police officers are responsible for maintaining order, responding to emergency calls, and dealing with violence, and serious crime.
Much behaviour that was seen as deviant in the past has today become a criminal offence, as with crime behaviour seen as criminal is now seen as deviant. Deviance can be criminal or non-criminal, but crime is always criminal in nature. Deviance is not considered as severe as a crime. The punishment of being deviant is not as harsh as an act of crime. Deviance is not breaking the law like crime; it is moving away from a set of standards established by society the social norms.