Introduction
Enforcing the law is a complex and a continuously evolving challenge. Likewise, managing the enforcers can be equally if not more challenging. Gone are the days of “We gave you a gun and a badge, go forth, and do the right thing!” At every turn, the modern law enforcement agency should be cautious about exposing itself to situations that create high or unnecessary risk. By utilizing thorough risk assessment techniques, continuous forecasting combined with continuous training; we can bolster and mitigate the agencies defense against liability. In essence, we need to be offensive thinkers in order to build a strong defense. This process should be continuous as our policies and procedures are living documents and customs.
Recent studies show the most troubling legal problems facing law enforcement agencies today is the impact of criminal and civil liability. The amount of police litigation appears to be increasing with a movement towards larger monetary damage awards. Today’s reality is law enforcement agencies are increasingly being litigated. It appears the shift has moved from the slip and fall, mom and pop type business, to governmental agencies with deep pockets. This trend combined with the increasing violence in our schools, malls, churches, and movie theaters, make for a treacherous environment for modern policing.
In Law Enforcement, liability is created in many ways; Vicarious Liability, Failure to Train, Failure to direct, Failure to supervise; violations of USC 1983. These are just a few examples in an ocean of potential pitfalls we face in our chosen careers. This research paper will attempt to address some limited areas of liability, specifically training or failure to train, which agencies, supervisors, ...
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...ssues that each officer must abide by, therefore it would make the police profession more streamlined and professional possibly lending credit to our profession and reducing litigation.
In closing, I would ask that you look at all your personnel and ask, is he or she ready to testify at the next Rodney King trial. If not, how can we better protect the agency, yourself, and that hard working law enforcement officer become prepared for a similar life altering event.
References
Grossman, R. (2003). Law enforcement liability risk. In Florida Partnership for Safety and Health (Ed.), Loss control best practices (1-10). Tampa, FL: Public Entity Risk Institute
Kappeler, V. E. (1992). Police liability. Police Liability Review, 4(Fall)
Conn v. City of Reno 572 F.3d 1047 (2009)
City of Canton, Ohio v. Harris 489 U.S. 378 (1989)
Graham v. Connor 490 U.S. 386 (1989)
Stohr, M. K, & P. Collins. (2009). Criminal Justice Management. Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc.
For years police corruption has been a major problem in American society but where is the line between moral and unethical police corruption, many modern movies address this vary issue. Some films portray how types of police corruption can have a positive influence on society, while others show the dark side of police corruption. Many law enforcement agents join the criminal justice with the basic idea of “justice for all,” however, most of them do not realize that the nice guy doesn’t always win. Even though there are vast amounts of movies which specifically address police corruption we will use three main movies for our argument today, mostly LA Confidential, however, also Training Day.
Society impacts ethical behavior of law enforcement by holding them to a higher standard of expectation. Police officers act as protectors and liaisons in highly stressful situations with the power to make decisions over society. Holding this position requires trust and the ability to lead by example. Police officers may have to be able to recognize the ethical dilemmas, decide the
Skolnick, J., Fyfe, J. (1993) Above the law: Police and the Excessive use of force. United States: The Free Press
Police corruption, misconduct, and brutality in the United States have been issues since the creation of watch system in the United States (Grant& Terry, 2012). New policy and training is now in place and the corruption, misconduct, and brutality has gone down since the beginning of policing. This is a huge issue that impacts all police organizations in the United States. The extent of police corruption, misconduct, and brutality is hard to track in the United States. A lot of these crimes go unreported, tossed aside, or the officer responsible gets little or no punishment. This is huge issue in the United States criminal justice system.
Within our police system in America, there are gaps and loopholes that give leeway to police officials who either abuse the authority given to them or do not represent the ethical standards that they are expected to live up to by society. Because of the nature of police work, there is a potential for deterioration of these ethical and moral standards through deviance, misconduct, corruption, and favoritism. Although these standards are set in place, many police officers are not held accountable for their actions and can easily get by with the mistreatment of others because of their career title. While not every police abuses his or her power, the increasingly large percentage that do present a problem that must be recognized by the public as well as those in charge of police departments throughout our country. Police officials are abusing their power and authority through three types of misconduct known as malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance and these types are being overlooked by management personnel who rarely intervene even though they know what is happening. Misconduct is wrong because it violates rights and causes people to be wrongly accused of crimes or be found not guilty and set free when they are still an endangerment to other people. The public needs to be educated on what is happening in the police system in hopes that someone will speak out to protect citizens from being violated by police officers.
The job of a law enforcement officer sometimes can be tough. Officer are sometimes plagued with situation that test their ability to enforce the law and maintain order. Police officers today face a constant battle to maintain higher ethical standards. This mission becomes tougher each day when one considers the importance of fighting terrorism, drugs, human trafficking,
As taught in the lectures, it is impossible for police officers to win the war against crime without bending the rules, however when the rules are bent so much that it starts to violate t...
Walker, Jeffery T., Ronald G. Burns, Jeffrey Bumgarner, and Michele P. Bratina. "Federal Law Enforcement Careers: Laying the Groundwork." Journal of Criminal Justice 19.1 (2008): 110-135. Web. 20 Apr 2011.
Time may pass and personal morals may change, but one of the strengths of the United States of America is its unwavering dedication to justice. Throughout time, this country’s methods and laws have grown and adapted, but the basis of the law enforcement’s work has remained the same: the safety and interest of the people.
American policing originated from early English law and is profoundly influenced by its history. Early law enforcement in England took on two forms of policing, one of which heavily influenced modern policing and it is known as the watch (Potter, 2013). The watch consisted, at first, of volunteers which had to patrol the streets for any kind of disorder including crime and fire. After men attempted to get out of volunteering by paying others, it became a paid professional position (Walker & Katz, 2012). The three eras of policing in America are shaped by these early ideas and practices of law enforcement. Throughout time, sufficient improvements and advancements have been made from the political era to the professional era and finally the community era which attempts to eliminate corruption, hire qualified officers and create an overall effective law enforcement system.
Police accountability is an effective way to regulate police officer’s behavior. Police accountability is applied in different ways and with different approaches. Some of these approaches include routine supervision, regular performance evaluations and early intervention systems. Police accountability is implemented by using external and internal controls. External controls include citizen complains reports and internal controls consist of early intervention systems. On the other hand, early intervention systems enhance a police officer’s accountability and overall performance. Police accountability refers to holding each police officer individually, as well as the agency as a whole, accountable for effectively enforcing
Cordner, G. W., & Scarborough, K. E. (2010). Police administration (7th ed.). Albany, N.Y.: LexisNexis/Anderson Pub.
...ll help to weed out the bad candidates from future police officer positions. The fight against corruption will be a long battle as the problems of yesterday, still remain today, with little to none improvement.
...d procedures that help regulate an officer’s conduct. While these are a good base point for how an officer should act, a lot of times these regulations can be very detailed or too general. This is where ethical training comes in to