Police Misconduct: New Orleans & the Blue Shield of Silence - Essay Sample

Introduction

In a plethora of police departments across all states, cases of police misconduct have been reported by the civilians and rarely by other police officers who do not condone such misconduct. In New Orleans, the justice department was in legal trouble for Hurricane Katrina killings and police covering up; the blue shield of silence. The law enforcement agency department being involved in a series of problems they had caused the civilians, they get placed in a federal consent decree in 2012. It is the responsibility of the police to protect and make the civilians feel comfortable in their environment but not to cause them trouble (Ivkovic et al., 2019). On the contrary, cases are reported of killings and brutality, police corruption, planting evidence, among other misconduct in the police department. To get themselves out of trouble, the New Orleans police department look for a way out. They have established a training program for officers: Ethical Policing Is Courageous (EPIC). I think that is the best approach to solving the prevailing issues around the globe, not just in New Orleans. With EPIC, the people of New Orleans expect the police misconduct will fall, and the people will start to feel comfortable with them; they will trust them enough to report those who go against the policy.

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There is the need to remove the police officers who are breaking the codes of conduct established by the federal law. The state laws of New Orleans are in place to protect the civilians from the corrupt officers. New Orleans is listed as one of the department that tolerates the blue code of silence where the police officers overlook the misconduct of their colleagues. Those upholding the blue wall of silence should be minimized, and that is what New Orleans is doing. They are training the police officers to stand up for what is right and protect the citizens, especially those who are unarmed or are brutally undermined for no good reason (Kutnjak, Haberfeld, & Peacock, 2018). Ultimately, they preserve the career of the police and the safety of the civilian.

It is expected that the police department should be fair and execute justice at all times without questioning to who or why as it is their duty. The police department does have codes of conduct, ethics that they should uphold at all times established by in the federal laws. The EPIC is a policy that has been created by the New Orleans police department to curtail misconduct among police officers. Allowing the police officers to behave as they want and giving them a free pass when they do something wrong beats the logic of convicting other civilians for various misconduct (Kutnjak et al., 2018). To uphold the "remove the blue code of silence," the police department should go further to do a thorough background check on the police officers, have them do polygraph tests especially those who have been reported of misconduct. The psychological evaluation should be done to evaluate the officers' mental states. If the department only selects individuals who are less likely to condone misconduct in higher positions and help in EPIC training.

The EPIC in New Orleans has had a significant impact on the people themselves and the surrounding states. The EPIC program emphasizes on active bystandership and peer intervention whereby a police officer should step in when he/she see misbehaviour from a fellow officer like lying, assaulting a citizen, and planting evidence among others to stop immoral acts or misdemeanours from happening. Getting rid of the old culture will help in upholding the new EPIC program to eradicate the blue shield of silence. When one police officer sees the other is not comfortable with his or her wrongdoing, he or she will be forced to do what is right as it is contagious. On the other hand, other cities copying what New Orleans police department is doing shows that they are on the right track. In the future, the police department will have very minimal cases reported of police misconduct as the police will want to do what is right and keep their jobs.

The EPIC program has dramatically changed how citizens think. The number of complaint from the citizens have dropped. Besides, other cities have been influenced by what they are practising, which is excellent. It is the responsibility of each individual to report those who are not following the codes of conduct (Van Brunt et al., 2016). Still, if the system is broken, the citizens seeking justice will have a nightmare of events. The police department has again started to gain the public's trust, which is essential as they had lost it following the killings and police misdemeanors.

It is good that the EPIC program is advancing in helping the sanity of the police officers themselves. Overlooking specific problems that could be the sole reason as to the behaviours exhibited by the police is wrong. The wellbeing of the officers is key to having a safe environment. The training should equip the officers with the skills to identify their fellow who has signs of suicide, depression and mental illness (Van Brunt et al., 2016). The program has undoubtedly changed how the public views the police again by gaining their trust and reduction of complaints.

Conclusion

In summary, it is each and everyone's responsibility to ensure that their neighbour is safe. The role of the police department is to provide the citizens with the surety that they are safe and not to induct the fear into them. EPIC is the first stepping stone to achieving the goals of New Orleans' justice department. When citizens do not trust the police who are supposed to protect them, they are susceptible to seeking other options to protect themselves, which is not okay. Citizens taking it upon themselves leaves the population vulnerable, especially if for instance, they do have guns with them.

References

Ivkovic, S. K., Haberfeld, M., Kang, W., Peacock, R. P., Porter, L. E., Prenzler, T., & Sauerman, A. (2019). A comparative study of the police code of silence. Policing: An International Journal.

Kutnjak Ivkovic, S., Haberfeld, M., & Peacock, R. (2018). Decoding the code of silence. Criminal justice policy review, 29(2), 172-189.

Van Brunt, A. A., Bedi, S. A., Bowman, L. E., & Futterman, C. B. (2016). Complaint Submitted to the United States Department of Justice Documenting the Role of the Independent Police Review Authority in Perpetuating a Code of Silence and Culture of Violence in the Chicago Police Department.