Analysis Of Policing The Police

Kirkwood police officers, who were white, would come into Meacham Park to “establish order” and often use racial profiling, surveillance and Stop and Frisk methods to target people of color and use unnecessary force when in contact with African American citizens (Boyles, 2015). It is evident that race and place can help understand citizen-police interactions because these police officers were not from Meacham Park, rather from Kirkwood which is a white affluent neighborhood. It seems that these officers targeted people of color under explicit bias that they are criminals regardless of the individual. When the use of force is used constantly, police-public tensions rise and undermines police legitimacy, which is something that can be improved when there is an increase in police accountability when interacting with people of color.

Many people know of the police officers of today’s world and that it is their job to enforce the laws set by their government, but not many people know the history of your typical everyday United States police officer or how they came about. The idea for neither your everyday police officer nor his or her department they work for or how a police department operates, originated in the United States. Over the years though America has made changes and adapted its system over the years to make it more suitable for its countries beliefs and practices.

In the PBS Frontline documentary, Policing the Police, the Newark Police Department are under investigation for violating citizens of their constitutional rights when being stopped and searched. Newark is one of the most dangerous cities in the United States, so the police feel as though they have to be aggressive and suspicious of certain people. Others like Jelani Cobb, a writer and historian, feel like there is another way to police the community without violating their rights. A lot of people want safe to have a safe community, but how can they feel safe if they can’t even trust their own police department. The mayor of Newark and his team are destined to make this change. So, Jelani Cobb decides to tag along with some of the Newark police to help investigate.

Policing today consists of three eras. These three eras have adapted and built off one another through history (Parr, 2014). The first era started around 1840 to 1930, and is known as the Political Era. The second Era is known as the Reform Era and lasted from 1930 to 1970. The last era is called the Community-Problem Solving Era and is still being adapted and used today. The Political Era emphasizes on meeting the needs of politicians. The police were given power through the local government and the community had very little say in what happened. The police and politicians worked together to control the city and neighborhoods (Palmiotto, 2000). This was often referred to as a ward. The ward politician controlled all the police in their neighborhood. The police officers tasks included not only crime prevention and order but a lot of social service activities that involved their neighborhoods. The officers resembled the ethnic backgrounds of the neighborhoods they lived and worked in and performed their patrols gaining trust from their community (Palmiotto, 2000). This allowed positive integration of police officers leading to more public service, and the trust of the officers to stop crime when is starts.

I spent my third and fourth session of my practicum with Constable Dwayne Harrison and Constable Paul Davis. Both members of the Lethbridge Regional Police Service (LRPS) are in the patrol unit; responding to calls and investigating. Patrol work is broad, responding to calls that mostly consist of theft, mischief, and domestic. It defines the police as a public service and making the public happy to have someone to solve their problems.

The United States Police model traces back to the British Model of Policing. Originating in the 1200s, British law enforcement started as organized posses. At the time if a man heard a victim cry out he joined the posse and helped track the criminal. Typically, leaders called shire reeve (county leaders) or comes stabuli (mounted officers) led the efforts. The world sheriff traces back to shire reeve and constable back to comes stabuli. Small numbers of mounted officers were employed which meant that there were not numerous enough to handle everything handled by today’s law enforcement. This system created many feuds among competing posses. Public executions, often including torture, were common, but trials were rare.

Each year citizens die in encounters with law enforcement officers. It is reported that “Americans are eight times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist” (Rucke, 2013). Although there is no official data base tracking these occurrences it is estimated that between 500 and a 1,000 people are killed by police officers each year. To put this in greater perspective this number equals approximately 5,000 since the 9/11 terror attack which is roughly the same number as U.S. soldiers who have been killed in the line of duty in Iraq (Rucke, 2013). This statistic is justifiably concerning. The cause of police related killings are multifold and cannot be attributed to only one factor. Many deaths may be unavoidable and perhaps, dependent on the situation, necessary. I contend, however, that many of these deaths may very well be preventable.

In every small town there is a police district we depend on. We depend on them to protect us , and serve in the most positive way for the people. The importance of this topic in my eyes is that the Police get-away with things that they shouldn’t. What inspired me the most is the Trayvon Martin case, and the Eric Garner case that really opened my eyes to see that the black community is so broken and we as a unit cannot seem to fix it.

Can sociological theories be applied to everyday life? Well, Randall Collins discusses the four sociological traditions which are: The conflict tradition, The Rational/ Utilitarian Tradition, The Durkheimian Tradition and The Microinteractionist. Each of this traditions and it’s different perspectives can not only be applied to everyday life, but could also be applied to the documentary “policing the police” publish by PBS.

This is a book full of moral outrage, indignant at the exposed police practices during Simon Holdaway’s covert participant observation. Most of the events are centred around the “Hilton” branch which is an area that cultivated social deprivation and formed the “ground on which many police officers spent their working lives” (Holdaway, 1983, P.1). At the time of writing his then doctoral thesis, Holdaway was serving as a sergeant in the London Metropolitan police, making this book a unique piece of literature, filling the gaps of knowledge previous studies couldn’t penetrate because of the researcher-researched dynamic. Holdaway was not just researching the police, he was researching the very people he worked with, and at the time, before the PACE act of 1984 which outlined various strict rules and codes of conduct for police that continue today. (Loftus, 2016)

The dictionary definition of the police is “the organized civil force of a state, concerned with maintenance of law and order, the detection and prevention of crime, etc,” (Collins English Dictionary, 2002). This definition states the minimum of what the police actually do. Providing support for families, protecting society from criminals and responding to calls 24 hours a day 7 days a week are just some of the other roles that police have to deal with. In this essay the evolution of the police will be discussed as well as how the police are facing challenges.

At council meetings citizens line up claiming they have been targets of HATE CRIMES committed by the police department. Some saying they’ve been physically robbed and assaulted others state there’s been retaliation against them by the police for reporting them. This leads to a major lack of trust within the COMMUNITY. Especially with that of working class citizens saying they shouldn’t suffer as well. So, the community is in some form actually asking for DIFFERENTAL JUSTICE. Hoping that good citizens will not be controlled the same way criminals are. There is little SOCIAL INEQUALITY as it seems everyone in Newark is treated as a criminal regardless of their status. Even those who want better for their community. Well others say socioeconomics do make a difference. Regardless, citizens are very upset and believe that the Newark Police Department needs to have more accountability for their actions. The OBSERVATIONS made by the film maker leads him to believe the police actions overall not just in Newark is gage of race relationships in the country, which is a bold statement considering how there are many minority and African American officers. There seems to be a STIGMA in this community on both the African American (men mostly) community and

Monday, October 02, 2017 at 14:42, city units were dispatched to assist the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC), DOC1 at the Jefferson County Fair Grounds, space #16. Officer Isett was out with two subjects, a male and female for violations of status. He was requesting city unit to assist with the male.

Approaches of both community policing and traditional policing models differ in a variety of ways. The characteristics of the policing models are quite different from each other, and community based policing was considered laughable when suggested for the new approach in the early 1970s. Due to community policing’s new operating beliefs, new and unfamiliar expected officer behaviors, and that officers were being held legally responsible for their actions and inactions; the idea and implementation wasn’t widely accepted until 1980’s. Traditional policing was primarily dominated by rampant corruption and lawlessness that affected all levels of the police administration; therefore citizens had little trust if any, in the police officers of the time.

Policing is a vital and visible component of our criminal justice system. To protect and serve is a basic responsibility of every police department, specifically in Canada. In Canada, citizens have a lot of faith in the police, as they look forward to police for any kind of safety concerns they may have, yet people are also very quick to judge the police. The police play an important role in minimizing threats and maximizing safety of their citizens. The role of the police in our society is shaped by social, economic and political factors.