Police Authority vs Individual Rights

It is easy for police to get caught up in the idea that it is them against the rest of society (Barkan, 2012). Many citizens in today’s democratic society have a negative or fearful view of our law enforcement. Think back to grade school, who was that one kid in class that everyone was annoyed by or despised? Most people would answer the teacher’s pet or the tattletale. We have grown up from a young age to have a negative view towards those that get us into trouble when we think we can get away with something we know is wrong. In the adult world, the police force can equate to those tattletales.

The overall basis for a democratic society is freedom. We stress that freedom allows us to be individualistic. Herbert L. Packer, a law professor, charted out two ideas in our criminal justice system. The idea or crime control and due process are ideally two separate entities, but have been found in our criminal justice system to overlap (Barkan, 2012). Due to the fact that these two ideas overlap, causes tension within our democratic society. These ideas cause there to be a double edge sword. As stated in our textbook, “the more crime control we want, the less due process we have; the more due process we have, the less crime control we can expect.” (Barkan, 2012). Ideally, we would like to live in a society where everyone is treated equally regardless of race, gender, social class, etc. However, police have the difficult task of making sure arrests are made unbiased.

While on the job, police must put all their personal opinions aside. They must provide everyone with an equal and fair chance. It is important in a democratic society for police to not know too much about the community they are policing. It allows them to ...

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... a distinction between the two in a society where individual freedoms are so highly valued. Is that not what the framers of the Constitution based the future of our nation on? The real question is, how far are police allowed to go when the blurry line of individual freedoms and public safety is in question? Everyday our law enforcement is faced with the same task, to follow the law and enforce it, while allowing society to maintain their individual freedoms and liberties that this country is founded upon.

Works Cited

Barkan, Steven E. Criminology: A Sociological Understanding. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2012. Print.

Crew, B. Keith. “Sex differences in criminal sentencing: Chivalry or patriarchy?” Justice Quarterly (Mar. 1991): n. pag. Print.

Marx, Gary T. “Police & Democracy.” The Encyclopedia of Democracy. N.p., 1995. Web. 7 Dec. 2011.