Essay Sample on Issues Facing Law Enforcers Today

Introduction

Law enforcement officers are professionals who are trained and given the responsibility of enforcing the laws of the country to ensure that there are law and order in that country. Depending on the country, law enforcement officers have different names. For instance, some countries refer to them as police; others call them cops while others call them sheriffs. Even as they execute their duties and responsibilities to the state, the police face challenges that negatively affect their performance. "Our UN Police colleagues are operating under difficult security and political conditions. Increasingly, our blue berets are serving in contexts where there is no negotiated political settlement in place," (PoliceOne, 2019). These challenges hinder them from providing the services expected from them.

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Firstly, there is a growing trend inducing criminal prosecution against enforcement officers whose actions lead to the injury or death of victims. The action of prosecuting the police officers on criminal grounds is a blow to the law enforcers. They are forced to perform their functions with moderation even when there is a need to apply a considerable amount of force. At times, some deaths or injuries caused by the law enforcement officers are not by design or deliberate but accidents arising from confrontations with armed criminals. It is therefore difficult to establish if there is a need to advance such prosecutions against the police.

Secondly, most countries have shortages of law enforcement officers. For instance, "there are nearly one million law enforcement officers in the United States serving a population of 320 million adults and children" (Warnken, 1997) The implication is that one police handle 320 civilians. Though the USA meet the UN recommendation of 1 police to 450 civilians, the police still overstretched and overstrained. More workforce is needed. The difference should considerably be brought down because the USA is a first world country. Another challenge is recruiting and retaining of the police in the service. The agencies responsibility of recruiting the police officers should constantly replace those who retire from service or other causes of attrition. The task of recruiting and maintaining the police is a challenge. Law enforcement agencies constantly need to replace officers due to retirement and other causes of attrition, and in many places need to grow their ranks. Recruiting and retaining is always a challenge. Many police officers are quitting service for well-paying jobs in other because of fewer benefits in the police force. The causes for their quit include understaffing and fewer retirement benefits for them.

Nonetheless, the media is awash with trying police cases based on public opinion. The behavior hinders police work as they try to gather substantial evidence for the prosecution. For instance, it is common to read a headline of a newspaper reading "officer caught on video" (PoliceOne, 2019) which in essence means that a police officer was doing something contrary to the law enforcement profession. Equally, the advocates representing the plaintiffs use social media to highly publicized cases as a way to influence the judges to unfair judgments verdicts against police prosecution. However, the police officers, in some cases, have also taken to the media to cover up some of their mischievous deeds in awake to clear their names from scrutiny.

One of the greatest challenges facing most enforcement forces is terrorism. The traditional methods used by police to gather information to fight terrorists and their terrorism are no match for the sophisticated methods used by the current terrorists who utilize high-powered weapons, rocket-propelled explosives, and crude guerilla warfare tactics. Another challenge that arises from this is balancing between whether militarizing the police with military weapons and those of the terrorists without inviting public scrutiny.

Another great challenge facing the police is public mistrust against law enforcers. In the USA, the police viewed with skepticism. The relationship between the police and the civilians marred with mutual distrust. The civilians don't feel safe in the hands of the police officers. Police executing extrajudicial killings lowered public confidence about their professionalism. "The media is doing a disservice to the public; breeding mistrust that is causing people to die unnecessarily" (Quora.com, 2019)

In most countries, law enforcement agencies are political organizations. Thus organized in such a way that those that are best at investigation are made detectives while those lead well are absorbed into the management "promotions and transfers to specialized assignments are made mostly through alliances and popularity contests." (tacticalmactical, 2019) That is to say; if you don't have a friend or a relative in an influential position in the police force, then it is hard for you to rise through the ranks into the management positions. The act denies the best deserving officers their rightful chances of serving their country and therefore is a great challenge in the service.

Nowadays, the police are scrutinized a lot when doing their work from all people. Ironically, when the law enforcers are apprehending a resisting suspect at the face of the civilians, the civilians come in support of the suspect. Some even go ahead and take videos while the police are carrying out the apprehension. Others shout to cheer the suspect which expose the sad state of affairs in police work. Even when a police officer uses a considerable amount of force it is seen as excessive use of force.

There is also a lack of closure of cases the law enforcing officers deal with them. For instance, an officer who works as a patrol take crime reports, carry out investigations on the cases and arrest the suspects, but the prosecution fails to file the cases in the court. Therefore, it is from the context that we can conclude that the communication between the different agencies of the criminal justice system is very poor and hence renders the efforts done by the detectives futile.

Furthermore, the police officers face an unclear career path which is not clearly defined. Unlike other professions which have well laid down paths for professional growth and development, the police force lacks clear paths. In the police force sector, the career path of an officer is determined more politically than in a professional way. For instance, you may not get surprised to find out that some people in the service with low academic qualifications occupy the bigger offices while those with better qualifications are under their command. It is because such promotions into the big offices are political. Again, there are poor plans for seniority and retirement benefits. For instance, in the USA, most of the law enforcing officers' packages are based at the state level while some are at the employer level.

Last but not least, the law enforcing officers face a great challenge in Drug Trafficking. Drug traffickers are wealthy and often renders the criminal justice system inefficient in carrying out their mandate. The detectives who work with the Interpol an in international police organization often find their work too rendered inefficient because the judges accept bribes to protect the Drug Traffickers. At times the police organize raids to a certain place with drugs, but they are ordered by the courts to stop the raids. The interference by the Drug Traffickers on Criminal Justice System frustrates the work of the police in the fight against Drug trafficking in the world. Top officials also protect most of the Drug dealers in the government and the top rank of the police force.

Conclusion

In my conclusion, the law enforcing officers go through a lot of challenges as they strive to bring law and order in states. The frustrations arising from these challenges in the service have even gone ahead to quit from service. It is therefore prudent for every state to look for ways of mitigating these problems the police are facing. The states must develop worked out plans and resources for the wellbeing of the police officers. Top officials also protect most of the Drug dealers in the government and the top rank of the police force.

Works Cited

Warnken, B. (1997). Due Process in Police Disciplinary Hearings: The Need for a National Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights. SSRN Electronic Journal.

PoliceOne. (2019). 7 of the biggest issues facing law enforcement in 2016. [online] Available at: https://www.policeone.com/patrol-issues/articles/60959006-7-of-the-biggest-issues-facing-law-enforcement-in-2016/ [Accessed 4 Apr. 2019].

Quora.com. (2019). How do police feel about the general public's mistrust against the police? - Quora. [online] Available at: https://www.quora.com/How-do-police-feel-about-the-general-publics-mistrust-against-the-police [Accessed 5 Apr. 2019].

tacticalmactical. (2019). What are the most common struggles in a life of a cop? - tacticalmactical. [online] Available at: http://tacticalmactical.com/index.php/2017/10/19/hello-world/ [Accessed 4 Apr. 2019].