Essay Example on Police-Citizen Conflict: Causes and Solutions

Introduction

There is no assurance that the consequences and challenges of the use of force by police will be solved. The executives are also trying to discover new weapons, tactics, and strategies to conclude any violent encounter in peace (Evans, 2015). Any law enforcement agencies that deals with such challenges that engage the communities need specific strategies that will ensure that both the police and the community are at peace

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Conditions or Factors that Create Conflict between Citizens and Law Enforcement Officers

In many communities, there is a lack of respect and trust between the minority communities and law enforcers. Most allegations state that there is a police perception, misconduct of racial profiling. Some also claim that police use excessive force that compromises divisive developments and public safety, thus causing adverse effects in societies (Evans, 2015). Building nurturing and trust legitimacy on both sides is vital to strengthen the bond between law enforcers and citizens.

The reason behind this is that every time a citizen hears of police officers, all that comes into their mind is the beat cop, yet they should be the backbone of security. Smilingly, generative police activities are vital in the complicated daily decisions like the discretionary use of authority to prevent crime and not to harass citizens (Evans, 2015). The bond created between citizens and police will assist in obtaining vital information when solving criminal activities or when trying to calm neighbors and maintain order to forestall the potential civil disturbance.

The Perceptions of Power and how it contributes to Law Enforcers and Citizen Conflicts

Very few instances show that the citizen-police conflict is caused by the use of force by the authorities to control the community (Mccarthy, 2015). The truth about this matter is that using power gently is impossible, and in the act, a few people die. It's the role of the state authority to ensure that the police use other decision instead of using force if the given situation has other alternatives.

When given power is given to police, they end up using excessive or inappropriate force that impediment the police-community bond. A suitable example is the New York shootings, which took place 13 years ago while police were trying to enforce a particular law. Since then, the community has sparked fear, for they feel that the police are never accountable for their actions (Mccarthy, 2015). Even though the cases develop extreme outcomes of conflicts, the requirements are that the police should be the source of security to the communities.

The Use of Relations Theory of Power to Solve the Community-Police Conflict

The relation theory of power describes one's status with interpersonal relationships. Many authors have claimed that the approach does not characterize the power status of any situation, but rather the quality of a person. In short, power is not owned by an individual but something that develops in a relationship between two people. According to Nyborg (2019), power is a product used in any communication relationship. Power is contributed to qualities like economic resource, affection, love, and network skills to give one party enough ability to engage in conflicts.

For instance, given that the nature of one character has the power dynamics to change anything, then it means there must be a conflict between the individual and others. The same case is seen in the relationship between the law enforcers and the community. Many at times, the police are given a lot of power to change things, and in return, they end up forcing the public to do something out of their own will (Nyborg, 2019). Therefore power relies on one's dependence on currencies or resources that allows one party to have control over.

Strategies Effective in Reducing Conflicts Between Communities and Police

The trust issues between the community and the police have become a critical concern. As know, trust varies within the jurisdiction across all cities. Trust is also imperative because, in any breach, there is a practical consequence. Most concerns are felt by the patrol officers and sometimes the whole agency. A research conducted by Aremu & Stanislas (2019), showed that when citizens don't trust the law enforcers, then the work of the police becomes difficult and this is why they end up using force. Individuals that have trust issues with the police also don't report criminal matters, and this makes it hard for the police to gather information and, at the same time, solve community issues.

Likewise, when police lack legitimacy, then citizens tend to resist them. Any lack of cooperation on the streets reduces the effectiveness of security officers. When there are conflicts between the law enforcer and citizens, solving case matters become hard because no one wants to come out as witnesses (Aremu & Stanislas, 2019). Conflicts also form civil litigation, and this later develops to lack of financial and political support. Several ways must be embraced to curb these situations.

• Building trust in communities concerning issues of force particularly the management of high-profile issues
• Ensuring that there is a management plan to curb the issue of using force by the police when dealing with citizens to emphasize approaches such as training
• By using the less-lethal technology on the future and current devices by advising the police how technology relates to the less use of force (Aremu & Stanislas, 2019).
• Developing a glossary of laws on proposed national guidelines, energy devices, and their use

One strategy and the Outcome

One strategy that can bear fruits is building community trust concerning the issues of using force by the police. When the community develops confidence in the police department, then peace is attained. The use of force by the police affects the public. Therefore, the dialogue, collaboration, and interaction between the community and law enforcers concerning the issues will be the beginning of defining community confidence and trust (Horowitz, 2007). The initiate "promising practice should be applied to reduce the tension that forms when the law has to be used.The benefits of building strong trust between the community and the policy are significant.

When people have trust with each other, the function of the law enforcers becomes easy. Likewise, citizens will start participating in providing information, reporting crimes, and serving as witnesses. Trust also curbs down the conflict between police and community because both parties cooperate while solving issues (Horowitz, 2007). It is also believed that when there is trust, the level of using force by the police reduces. Both police and the citizens also work together to address criminal issues, thus improving the quality of life of societies. When there are law and order, criminal cases also reduce because citizens also work together to ensure that their streets are safe from criminals (Horowitz, 2007). At the end of it all, the use of force by police stops, and the rate of criminal activities reduce.

References

Aremu, A. O., & Stanislas, P. (2019). Police Strategies for Dealing with Tribal Conflicts in Nigeria. Policing and Minority Communities, 267-282. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-19182-5_16

Evans, S. (2015). Law Enforcement and Delphi: An Exercise in Strategic Intelligence Research. Low-Intensity Conflict & Law Enforcement, 13(1), 70-79. doi: 10.1080/09662840500223648

Horowitz, J. (2007). Making Every Encounter Count: Building Trust and Confidence in the Police. PsycEXTRA Dataset, 92-105. doi: 10.1037/e592672007-002

Mccarthy, L. A. (2015). Law Enforcement's Institutional Machinery and the Criminal Process. Trafficking Justice, 83-114. doi: 10.7591/cornell/9780801453892.003.0004

Nyborg, I. (2019). Emerging Perspectives on Post-Conflict Police-Community Relations. Journal of Human Security, 15(2), 55-89. doi: 10.12924/johs2019.15020001