My experience began when I walked into the Carlsbad Police Station. I filled out a waver to get permission to have a ride along with a police officer. The officer that I rode along with was Officer Jonathan Boyce. Officer Boyce brought me to the back of the police state and showed me all the veteran polices that have served for 20 years and more. Then he showed me where the police station receives its mail. Afterward he brought me to his appointed police car. He told me that earlier in the day he arrested a drunken man for disturbing the peace at the Carlsbad Westfield Mall. I sat down in the passenger seat of the car. He sat at the drivers seat and we drove off. He showed me all the police vehicles including the motorcycles, suv’s, and carts. …show more content…
A man was reported to not leave a Starbucks in the Carlsbad village and was carrying a knife. So then Officer Boyce and I drove toward the Starbucks, but by the time we reached the Starbucks the man was gone. Officer Boyce proceeded to ask the Starbucks cashier questions about what happened. Then Officer Boyce and I went back into his police car. For the next 1 hour, Officer Boyce wrote police reports off all the calls he responded to that day. Officer Boyce then got a call of vandalism in Carlsbad. Officer Boyce then drove to the location where the vandalism occurred. A car with many gun bullets was parked on the side of the road. Officer Boyce spoke to the owner of the car and get the entire story of what occurred. Officer Boyce then said that he would bring me to my house. Officer Boyce drove me to my house and dropped me off. This experience really changed my view on Carlsbad. I didn’t expect Carlsbad to have much crime and violates. It is an unfortunate aspect of Carlsbad and what goes on in the city. This Ride Along gave me a broader picture of what the police officers actually do on a daily or nightly basis. For once I actually viewed the police as normal individuals instead of an
In the article, “St. Louis police chief defends fatal shooting by officers”, Jim Suhr and Jim Salter argue that although police brutality has been a common theme since Michael Brown’s death, the police must be given the opportunity to do their jobs without the constant accusations and racist conclusions. Police officers have been under rapid fire and can no longer make a move without the harsh criticism of citizens nationwide. Salter and Suhr use a quote from the St. Louis Police Chief, Sam Dotson, to explain that people need to let the facts speak for themselves rather than filling up with biased opinions through social media. The fact is that the towns that refuse the help of police, are conventionally the ones that need them the most.
This particular incident caused very intense riots against the police all over the city of Ferguson. There were shootings, vandalism, and massive destruction. The event happened in Ferguson, Missouri back in August 2014. Publisher Brent Wilkes says, “minority communities were left wondering how to work with a criminal justice system that continues to protect its officers over the welfare of citizens.” (1) Since the death of Micheal Brown, a large amount of people, nationwide, began to ask who they could trust. Police are supposed to be there to help you and protect you when needed, but the fact that they were killing innocent people was very
Lack of training and policing standards are closely linked to the myriad problems bedeviling police work, especially in small departments (Brodeur, 2010). All over the country, police departments report cases of officers being caught in uncompromising and unprofessional situations, resulting in disciplinary actions such as redeployment, suspension or sacking. These cases of unprofessionalism have led to questions being asked about policing, occasioned by recurring series of questionable and controversial encounters with police officers (Brodeur, 2010). The consequence of such encounters is increasing public distrust in law enforcement agencies.
When one thinks of police misconduct many not too distant stories might go through our heads. Most adults will remember how they felt when they saw the brutal beating of Rodney King on their local news station; or the outrage they experienced when they heard that the evidence in the OJ Simpson trial had been tampered with. But thanks to new guidelines, procedures and even civilian groups who now “police” the police, instances of police misconduct may soon start seeing a decline.
Police officers today face many challenges. Some concerns include dangers or safety concerns related to being a police officer, questions of the use of force and the public’s perception of officers being corrupt. Additionally, with cases of deaths and accusations that have come to the forefront about police throughout the United Stated, questions about police racial profiling have also come to light. Today’s police are considered to be corrupt and prejudice against minorities. Their image has been tarnished and police are now seen as the enemy. Many compare today’s law enforcement officers to the police officers that were prejudice and brutalized blacks during the civil rights
Furthermore, there has been allegations that some command staff in several police departments have officers filled logs to make it appear that they are working when in fact officers are out sick or in vacation. This is damaging for the reputation of the Los Angeles Police because not only are they endangering their citizen’s lives but also it is an officer safety risk. Despite the department’s fault in these allegation, there has not be any person responsible for this lack of police presence. In the case of use of force incidents, the lack of discipline is through the use of litigation. For example, a police officer fatally shot an autistic man who was sleeping in front of an apartment complex. The officer claim that the “suspect” threaten his life. However, his partner claim contracted his statement. As a result, the victim’s family received compensation for the wrongful death. This establishes that settling claims through the court is the solution for
In the last half century with our highly technological and multicultural society, police officers’ actions have been highly scrutinized and publicized, weakening society’s belief in the justice system. The paradox of law enforcement is that officers are charged with enforcing the law and preventing crime,
While law enforcement plays a large role in the everyday lives of American citizens, many people distrust and fear the police officers that have promised to “serve and protect” them. Although some people may view the dejection and anger aimed at police as illogical or even ungrateful, these feelings are not unfounded. Trust between the police and their communities has been eroded by controversial shootings, including Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Alton Sterling, and Philando Castile. The deaths of these men and other cases of police misconduct have led to cries of outrage and demands for police accountability from American communities (Brooks). And while the police undoubted have one of the most important and dangerous jobs in the country, their work should be held up to the highest possible standards due to the life or death circumstances and consequences that their work involves.
In the past few months it has been discovered that San Francisco police officers have sent many racist and homophobic text messages between each other. They were discovered during the investigation of a different group of officers were caught for the same thing. It’s said that the messages contain disparaging remarks about transgender, gays, African Americans, and Asian people. The investigation also shows that the same officers are known to act in a racially biased way when dealing with cases. They have been accused of using unnecessary deadly brutal force and focuses mainly on black neighborhoods for minor crimes while ignoring the same problems in other places. It’s ironic they would find these kind of people here serving to protect the people when San Francisco is one of the nation’s most diverse cities. The district attorney said these text messages were a sign that the whole department had an issue bigger than the investigators anticipated. The new officers in the new case were sending offensive texts while the city was checking out 14 of their co-workers for the same thing. The attorney already knows that many of their cases will have to be looked over due to the contamination of a strong biased opinion to certain people. This investigation started due to a sexual
The police department affirmative action caused them to focus on diversity management. The police department and the citizens need to come up with a solution that would be beneficial for both the citizens and the police officers. I like that the giraffe and elephant story points out that it’s the responsibility for both sides or top to bottom to contribute to the conflict resolution. The citizens and the police department need to stop pointing fingers and start accepting responsibility to create a climate that embodies the support of
The article I chose is about Tacoma Police and the methods they feel were successful in improving community safety. As a side note the article also mentions an increase in police reports and express that is not a reflection of increasing crime. In "The Uses of Sidewalks: Safety", Jane Jacobs discusses the importance of community's eyes on the sidewalks as being more effective than policing when it comes to community safety. In this article the writer emphasizes the presence of the police as being the largest contributing factor in the safety of the sidewalks. In contrast, Jane Jacobs would argue that the number of police reports is reflective of the community’s “eyes on the street” and that the increase in community participation has a far
After receiving a degree from WLC I am not too sure what I want to do with my life, however i have currently been thinking about the field of law enforcement. For this project I interviewed a member of the Houston police department, Officer Brian Williams. Officer Brian is an old family friend which I have known for about 4 years. . After speaking with him, he offered to take me on a go on a ride along during one of his shifts this coming up January. During the ride along I am hoping to get first hand experience and find out about what the daily life of a police officer really is
Murder is something that no one wants to hear about. Unfortunately, this is something that is becoming an everyday occurrences. In 2009 this is something that hit home for a L.A. family. Oscar J. Grant III was shoot and killed in the early morning of January 1, 2009. Transit officer Johannes Mehserle and three other white officer were called to a scene of a fight on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in the town of Fruitvale. Oscar and five of his friends were pulled off the train and place against the wall to be searched and questioned about what happened on the train when things took a bad turn. While sitting and waiting for officers to do what they were going to do, Oscar received a phone call from his girlfriend because he hadn’t made it out of the station. Officers
Ferguson, Missouri is a city approximately 20 miles north of St Louis, MO. Part of St. Louis County, MO, Ferguson’s police department is composed of only two percent black officers despite the city’s demographic at 65 percent black (The Washington Post, 2014). With an overwhelming statistic such as this, civilian-officer tensions are, unfortunately, unavoidable. Worse still, it would seem that these tensions are a result of racial conflicts. For at least the past decade, incidents of racial tensions have surfaced between the civilian and law enforcement communities (Ross as cited in Lowery, Leonnig, & Berman, 2014). Residents of the Ferguson area describe a long standing issue regarding profiling and targeting, in particular when it comes to traffic stops, even noting the rarity of any civil communication at all between the two parties (Crawford as cited in Lowery, Leonnig, & Berman, 2014). For years, the issue of race has gone unacknowledged and a lack of trust in regard to law enforcement officials has prevailed (Lowery, Leonnig, & Berman, 2014). “It 's never easy to move past the sins of our country 's history. Especially when some of that history is only hours old” (The Washington Post, 2014). We see this in the case of Michael Brown.
My own experience with police officers is pretty limited. I have talked and interacted with campus police as well as police officers that are related to my friends. I have also been a witness or connected to three incidents that have had a police presence. Two involving my mother and sister and the other incident involving my