Police Force: Essential for Law Enforcement and Order in a Country - Essay Sample

Introduction

The police force is an integral department as far as law enforcement of a country's system of governing is concerned. They are tasked with the work of ensuring that the public and the general people in a country follow and obey the rules and laws that govern a country. They are therefore expected to be keen and always ready to enforce the law whenever duty calls. Different states have different ways and methods of running their police departments, which bests suits their jurisdictions. In their daily endeavors, as they go on with their work, police face several challenges that may affect them directly or affect the way they deliver their services. Some of the problems that face the police include funding of officers' safety gear, their salaries, and places of living. Police forces are also faced with the challenge of dealing with rogue lawbreakers and others who do it from the state of mental illness and so on.

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Nevertheless, there are challenges that not necessarily affect the police force directly but their delivery of service. From this, the most glaring one is the constant use of force to administer their duties as far as law enforcement is concerned. There are complaints from the public who cry and report of police force using a lot of unnecessary energy when they are doing their job (Police Executive Research Forum, 2015). The public claims include the use of force in arresting suspects even when the suspects have surrendered before the police officers. Some police officers go ahead and harm unarmed civilians unprovoked when the law clearly states that a suspect is innocent until proven guilty. The paragraphs below explain further on the issue of the use of force by the police unit on duty, the effects of their actions, and how to curb the menace.

The use of force by police officers was witnessed and continues to be seen in police officers in the United States of America. The police department has been accused of using force when handling African Americans who are suspected of robbery or theft. The suspects are not given opportunities to defend themselves in such instances because of their skin color. The police officers treat them with contempt and hate and see them as non-citizens. The same applies to those who are in the country because of educational purposes. The police handle them as suspects anytime they are seen roaming the streets, and they are fast to use force on them whenever a security issue occurs. The habit goes on despite the constant calls by agencies to stop the racism acts as they lead to no good (Worden, 2015).

Other cases that are closely related to the racism issue and the use of excessive force by the police include an instance of street shootings at black people. Some rogue police officers proceed to aim and shoot at people who appear peaceful just because they are near the scene of the crime. They automatically assume that the group of people is guilty and should be dealt with roughly. There are also instances where police were used to settle political scores with other people. For instance, when police are deployed to curb a demonstrating group of people who are fighting for their rights or for their voices to be heard. Police troupes have been seen to use excessive force, which has led to the death of many people. The number of death from such instances are always a public outcry as the effects appear not to care.

Consequently, from the excessive use of force by the police on the minority groups in the U.S., like the African Americans, there have been worldwide concerns over the same. World agencies have risen to condemn the actions of the police using excessive force on the minority like that and that they need to change (Ariel, et al., 2016). The acts also create tension between people of different races who can no longer continue leaving harmoniously with each other as they fear for their lives. The minority groups end up being stigmatized and living in constant fear that they might face the wrath of the law enforcers anytime. The students become so affected that their academics may be changed in the process. For some of them who face the brutality from the police end up going back home without accomplishing their dreams.

In the case of demonstrations, the affected people lose their faith in their leaders and their systems too. The reason behind that is because of that through the use of force, the authorities demonstrate their unwillingness and inability to deal with their problems and providing the solutions. The hate and the mistrust grow eventually, and the police cannot control the crowds anymore. The distrust and the growth of the suspicion make it hard for the authority to implement something as they will not get the support they need from the masses. It is from the concerns discussed above the police force decided to come up with policies and measures to curb the menace in the face of police use of excessive use of force.

Firstly, police forces decided to implement the policy use-of-force policies by observing the sanctity that comes with life. Police forces adopted the mantra that "the department respects the value of every human life and the application of deadly force is a measure to be employed in the extreme of circumstances." Through using this approach, the police force will be able to minimize its use of force to its citizens and be able to preserve the sanctity of life (Smith, et al., 2009). The police should thus maintain their calm and perform their arrests or actions in the required manner, which is free from force that might cause harm to the suspects. A suspect should be treated as innocent unless proven guilty by the law.

Police departments should also employ the de-escalation principle. The de-escalation principle is where the police officers control an otherwise high tension situation into a regular issue, which can be resolved more quickly. Situations that need and warrant the use of the de-escalation principle and behavior involve when dealing with the mentally challenged people or those with related conditions that cause them not to think straight, think erratically, dangerously, or unpredictably. The above mentioned may lack the ability to perceive and react to the orders given by the police officer. It is thus important that the officers learn this important technique and invoke them whenever the situation arises (Walker, et al., 2006). The principle also emphasizes the use of the least amount of force to resolve a conflict and affect law enforcement action.

There are other policies that have been implemented by the court which determine the reasonability of the officer at the scene. The department of police has hence come up with ways to determine if the officer at sight reacted and used a lot of force in the situation. They evaluate the severity of the case, whether the suspect posed an immediate threat to the safety of the officer and others and whether the suspect was actively resisting arrest or tried to evade the capture by running away. There is also a question of the acts by asking whether the police had to use absolute force in the encounter or could have employed other means to effect the arrest. The departments also have affected the evaluation of the actions of the officer from the first encounter with the suspect to the point where the deadly force was applied. The above are measures to ensure that the officer used deadly force when it was reasonable enough and that they did not act prematurely.

The above policies are a good step towards ensuring that the police force minimizes the use of force in their activities of law enforcement. The implementation of the above policies would ensure that the public is treated right and get the chance to a fair trial process. They would also reduce the number of deaths that result from police arrests globally if the entire police departments implement them. Due justice will be served and those who are free will get to walk away instead of losing their lives in cases where police overreact and use unnecessary force. Other policies that would help in dealing with the brutality of the police from using force include using fast cars in pursuit to avoid hitting the public, show of reportable force, and use of policy requirements.

References

Ariel, B., Sutherland, A., Henstock, D., Young, J., Drover, P., Sykes, J., ... & Henderson, R. (2016). Report: Increases in police use of force in the presence of body-worn cameras are driven by officer discretion: A protocol-based subgroup analysis of ten randomized experiments. Journal of experimental criminology, 12(3), 453-463.

Police Executive Research Forum, 2015. "A Statement by Police Executives, Police Labor Leaders, and Elected Officials on Principles for Building Trust and Collaboration." Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington D.C

Samuel Walker, Stacy Osnick Milligan, Anna Berke, 2006. "Strategies for Intervening with Officers through Early Intervention Systems: A Guide for Front-Line Supervisors." Police Executive Research Forum and the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, Washington D.C

Smith, Michael R., Robert J. Kaminski, Geoffrey P. Alpert, Lorie A. Fridell, John MacDonald, and Bruce Kubu, 2009. "A multi-method evaluation of police use of force outcomes: final report to the National Institute of Justice." U.S. Department of Justice, Washington D.C.

Worden, R. E. (2015). The 'causes' of police brutality: theory and evidence on police use of force. Criminal justice theory: Explaining the nature and behavior of criminal justice, 149-204.