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What is the history of policing in america
A essay on law enforcement history in the united states
History of the police in the us
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Law Enforcement use of force is becoming a serious issue in American society in this generation. In Ferguson, Mo the shooting of Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson caused a uproar across the nation and got worse when a grand jury decided not to indict Wilson. Tamir Rice, a 12 year old boy was shot by police in Cleveland, Ohio for playing with a toy gun. Walter Scott was shot by Officer Michael T. Slager after a traffic stop in North Charleston, SC and was charged with murder based on a cellphone video from a bystander. The same month Freddie Gray died in police custody in Baltimore, Maryland causing riots and protests across the city. Police officers are some the best trained professionals in the world, but how they are trained may be the …show more content…
The early policing system known as the watch system was composed of community volunteers whose duty was to warn of incoming danger. Slave patrols emerged in South Carolina in the early 1700s; Samuel Walker identified slave patrols as the first publicity funded police agencies in the South. Slave patrols or “paddyrollers” were created to manage maintain control over slave populations and they later extended their responsibilities to include control over white indentured servants (Archbold). Slave patrols were known for their high level of brutality and ruthlessness. In the early mid-1800s the development of modern policing began in the United States. These newly created police agencies adopted three distinct characteristics from the English: (1) limited police authority—the powers of the police are defined by law; (2) local control—local governments bear the responsibility for providing police service; and (3) fragmented law enforcement authority—several agencies within a defined area share the responsibility for providing police services, which ultimately leads to problems with communication, cooperation, and control among these agencies (Archbold). A distinct characteristic of policing in the United States during the 1800s is the direct and powerful involvement of politics. Police chiefs had little control over the decision making that would impact their officers and agencies. …show more content…
Officers are taught that their main goal every day should be is to return home at the end of their shift. Rookie officers are taught that complacency kills so every encounter and every individual is a potential threat. While in the academy, officers are shown dash-c am footage of officers being beaten, disarmed, or gunned down after a moment of inattention or hesitation (Lawrence). Hesitation can be fatal, one common scenario taught is that a suspect leaning into a car can pull out a gun and shoot at officers before they can react. In most police shootings officers don’t shoot out of frustration or anger, they shoot because they are afraid. They are constantly taught that they should be afraid because their survival depends on it. In the case of Timothy Thomas, a Cincinnati officer followed Thomas down a dark alley and opened fire because he thought he had a gun. The officer fired a single bullet to his heart and no gun was ever found on Thomas. Could Timothy Thomas still be alive today if the officer wasn’t taught to hesitate? Or was it because the officer was trained to think that all suspects have weapons? Alliston T. Chappell from Old Dominion University proposed the question to compare the academy performance of rookie officers trained under traditional academy curriculum and rookie officers trained based on community policing. The difference between academy policing and community policing is
There has been controversy in the world about police brutality and whether police have used excessive force to apprehend a subject is increasing. Police brutality has been around for a long time, but it just now televised. In the late 19th century, the issue of police brutality was often tied to business owners’ efforts to break up strikes by workers attempting to organize and form labor unions, also on a day known as Bloody Sunday where a group of peaceful protesters were literally beaten to the ground, sprayed with tear gas, and water hose by the police (“Police Brutality”). Even in 2015 in Baltimore Freddie Gray, 25-year-old African-American male, died while in police custody due to injuries in the spine and in some parts of Baltimore the
Police officers must be trained to shoot with precision; correspondingly, they must not solely be trained to shoot to kill, but also to shoot to simply harm. Once they are taught both ways, they must learn to assess their situation to conclude whether it requires the former or the latter. This is highly important for the reason that it can spare a life, and it easier to prosecute officers who failed to use proper protocol for shooting. Furthermore, this training helps to prevent discrimination against minority groups. Many officers target male minorities; however, when officers do sensitivity training and assess their situation, the officer can keep his fear at bay and civilians will be treated
Slave patrols began in South Carolina, during the year 1704. Slave patrols were enacted by colonials who warranted the use and regulation of slavery through laws which limited enslaved individuals attempts and or ability to escape, establishing and requiring rules which required all settlers to assist in the enforcement of these new slave codes. Those who participated in slave patrols where noted as patrollers, patty rollers, or paddy rollers by slaves. A slave patrol consisted of groups of three to upwards of six white men who imposed discipline against black slaves who were found to have traversed away from their plantation with either the intention of escaping or simply intermingling amongst other slaves on other plantations. These groups
On August 9th, 2014, 18 year old Michael Brown was shot by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, sparking protests, riots, and widespread debate on police use of force. Numerous questions arose as to whether Michael Brown was armed or unarmed, if he had his hands in the air or was attacking Officer Wilson, and whether Officer Wilson was justified in firing his weapon that resulted in the death of Michael Brown (Itkowitz). Twenty-two years have passed since the riots in Los Angeles after the officers involved in the beating of Rodney King were acquitted on charges of excessive force, and it left many to wonder, including myself, as to why this happened again. Why were there so many questions surrounding the incident and how this could
When hearing the phrase “police brutality,” many people imagine batons cracking skulls, tasers electrocuting bodies and bullets penetrating innocent teens. While police officers have been known to use violence, police brutality does not occur as often as many believe. In many situations, officers have to act on impulse and curiosity, despite the backlash the media may create.
Police misconduct is as rampant as ever in America, and it has become a fixture of the news cycle. Police brutality is the use of any force exceeding that reasonably necessary to accomplish a lawful police purpose. The media is inevitably drawn toward tales of conflict, hence why there are so many crime and police stories on the news. Despite the increasing frequency of misbehaving cops, many Americans still maintain a high respect for the man in uniform. Still, police misconduct is a systemic problem, not just an anecdotal one. Here are some reasons why it is a problem. First, many departments don’t provide adequate training in nonviolent solutions. With this, police are unfamiliar with what to do in a non-violent situation, often resorting
By teaching police officers alternatives to shooting to kill, they experience higher risks with their lives. Police Commissioner, Ray Kelly, said, “It would be "very difficult" to train officers to shoot to wound” (Jacobo, 2016). Police officers are viewed as “predators” and “an occupying army” rather than allies (Valey, 2016). This is a perception that needs to change because it counteracts the mission of police officers
Research Paper Slave Resistance Through Culture When slaves were brought from Africa to the United States, they were stripped of their human rights and forced into a life of oppression. The conditions of harsh labor led them to resort to different forms of resistance to help them cope with the reality of the situation. One of the ways the slaves found resistance was through their culture. Culture helped the slaves stay resilient because it was all they managed to hold on to after they had been removed from their home in Africa and were forced to develop in their new home.
The negative views of everyday people often make work hard for officers, adding more stress to their careers. The general public regularly criticizes officers for using excessive force and brutality, especially when a police officer ends up killing a suspect or criminal. Oftentimes, especially when a white police officer shoots a citizen of a minority race, the general public is quick to find faults in the officer, blaming the officer for being racist. However, cold, hard statistics show that the majority of police officers are, in fact, white, and the neighborhoods in which these officers are placed in tend to be high-crime areas with many minority citizens living there (Miller “When Cops Kill”). In addition, people might say that a citizen who was shot was not armed; however, almost anything close to the shot individual could have been turned into a deadly weapon that he or she could have used to wound or kill the officer involved. Whenever officers are in this position, the natural reaction is to defend themselves. Everyday, police officers confront the most aggressive, immoral, and sick-minded individuals of society. Officers jeopardize their own lives every time they report for work. Officers witness things that no person should ever have to encounter. They see the most horrific and gruesome scenes that the general public turns away from and
Police misconduct is as rampant as ever in America, and it has become a fixture of the news cycle. Police brutality is the use of any force exceeding that reasonably necessary to accomplish a lawful police purpose. The media is inevitably drawn toward tales of conflict, hence why there are so many crime and police stories on the news. Despite the increasing frequency of misbehaving cops, many Americans still maintain a high respect for the man in uniform. Still, police misconduct is a systemic problem, not just an anecdotal one. Here are some reasons why it is a problem. First, many departments do not provide adequate training in nonviolent solutions. With this, police are unfamiliar with what to
Police shootings occur all over the world but are a huge problem within the United States. We continue to hear more and more about them. These shootings are making headlines. Front page news it seems almost weekly. All the shootings go one of two ways. Either a Police Officer has been shot or a Police Officer has shot a citizen, but either way the final result is death. Whether an Officer has been shot or an Officer has shot someone these cases seem to be related to one thing, fear. People in today’s society feel as though they can’t trust Police Officers as they are there to hurt and kill them. And Police Officers feel as though they are in danger of doing their everyday duties because people see them as the “bad guys” and want to hurt or kill them. Yes, police brutality and racism still exist, but not all cops are bad. Yes there are still bad citizens in this world that want to kill and harm others, but not all citizens are bad. People seem to react to these shootings by rioting quickly after a police officer has shot and killed someone without
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave is about a slave named Frederick who for a good portion of his life serving his master to the best of his ability. Now Frederick wasn’t your average slave, un like the rest he knew how to read and write. He was very smart to have grown up in his situation. In this book frederick talks about the hardships of being a slave, and also makes an argument of how being a slaveholder can actually have a negative effect on someone and that the authority that comes along with the title is being abused.
Over the years, this country has witnessed many cases of police brutality. It has become a controversial topic among communities that have seen police brutality take place in front of their homes. Officers are faced with many threatening situations everyday forcing them to make split second decisions and to expect the worst and hope for the best. Police officers are given the power to take any citizens rights away and even their lives. With that kind of power comes responsibility, that’s one major concern with the amount of discretion officers have is when to use force or when to use lethal force. The use of excessive force may or not be a large predicament but should be viewed by both the police and the community.
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 brutality is an act that often goes unnoticed by the vast majority of white Americans. This is the intentional use of “excessive force by an authority figure, which oftentimes ends with bruises, broken bones, bloodshed, and sometimes even death” (Harmon). While law-abiding citizens worry about protecting themselves from criminals, it has now been revealed that they must also keep an eye on those who are supposed to protect and serve. According to the National Police Academy, in the past year, there have been over 7,000 reports of police misconduct; fatalities have been linked to more than 400 of these cases (Gul). Police brutality is often triggered by disrespect towards the police officer.