In chapter 3, Delattre starts off by writing that the founding fathers of America knew that in order to maintain peace and liberty, they would have to frame the laws in a manner, requiring that there is inability for one person to rise to tyranny. At the same time, the framers, had framed the country in a way, where the government controls certain aspects, but let the individuals control the government themselves. The framers also knew that individuals can be motived by self-interest and justice depends on the motivation one has to keep justice. Delattre then writes about disorder and injustice, because the criminal justice system is failing the average citizens. Delattre uses examples of cops, if an officer arrested a person and dropped drug …show more content…
In a tyrannical system, when a suspect is found, they are presumed guilty and will punish even the innocent, so that the even the guilty will be served justice. The system also has no little to no deterrent effect on society, for almost anything can be considered crime, if they were doing something that might be considered against the nation or leader’s ideals. Delattre then writes of how the public sees and uses the police as a force to solve all their problems, thus leading to high expectations of an officer’s duties. The mission of an officer varies from city to city or state to state, for the public, officials, chain of command, and society, have a say in what they can or can’t do. The officer’s mission, to some, is to be a peace officer, or a deterrent, and or problem solver, for people rely on the police to be a show of force and mediate situations twenty-four hours a day. Delattre then states, officers should do their duty in a way that creates public confidence in them, but at the same time, realize that even if they do great, the public may resent them. The police have to do their job equally and well, even to those who resent police power the …show more content…
Then Delattre talks of how people in government are trusted by the public, but often the individuals, who the public entrusts, often will indulge in corruption. There are plenty officials who never succumbed to corruption and they constantly are being confronted with bribes, but despite the public not wanting to be in such a situation, the public still entrusts the officials. Delattre then says that competence is key to an officer’s duty, for an officer without competence can only temporarily solve a incident, while as an officer with competence and solve an incident efficiently, maybe not fully, but in a way that produces justice. Delattre then moves onto trustworthiness and writes that public officials must be able to do their duty without a thought of corruption. That in order to serve the public, the official needs to be considerate of others, and solve our weaknesses; though that depends entirely on the individuals. Ferguson is a great example characterizing these chapters, for the police there have failed the public trust and have shown the failure of the criminal justice system. They have done nothing to peacefully resolve the situation, nor have they been considerate of the public. They are being
Crank & Caldero (2004) discuss the notion of the noble cause that is widely used by police officers to justify their actions. Police officers feel that there are many obstacles that prevent them to do their job efficiently. They claim that courts only hinder the process of putting criminals behind bars. They also believe that they are true patriots with a noble cause of getting rid of bad guys. To further prove their point Crank & Caldero (2004) use works of many authors, who wrote about police ethics and corruption and about how the noble cause is interpreted by police officers. Each of the authors discusses a dilemma with which polices officers have to deal when deciding what action they need to take in order to deal with criminals. Cumulatively, it seems that police conduct themselves towards criminals and citizens with hostility and with actions that maybe constituted as unlawful and corruptive in nature. But to the police officers, who are seeking justice and are driven by a noble cause, all means are good to get the bad guys. There is also a philosophical twist that puts a poli...
“The truth is that the police reflect America in all of its will and fear, and whatever we might make of this country’s criminal justice policy, it cannot be said that it was imposed by a repressive minority. . . . And so to challenge the police is to challenge the American people who send them into the ghettos armed with the same self-generated fears that compelled the people who think they are white to flee the cities and into the Dream. The problem with the police is not that they are fascist pigs but that our country is ruled by majoritarian pigs.”
There are many different groups and societies throughout America. Some are looked at with high honors, while others may be scorned or treated badly. No matter what group someone is a part of, others may have different opinions about another group. After reading the “Untouchables”, by Jonathan Kozol, it is noticeable that not everyone gets along in the world. A group that is also scorned in today’s society is police officers because of racial tensions, hatred toward them, and how the news media has portrayed them.
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 ...
The criminal justice system has come under fire over the last couple years over the handling of many incidents involving police officers use of force and the lack of punishments being handed down to them. Police officers play a vital role in ensuring law and order is maintained in the communities they are protecting and serving against any crimes and to help during natural disasters. This paper will explore how the criminal justice system is viewed in the eyes of a police officers and the thoughts on everything that has been ongoing.
Use of Force Ambrose Bierce, a social critic known for his sarcasm and wit, once described the police as "an armed force for protection and participation." In this pithy statement, Bierce identifies three critical elements of the police role. First, by describing the police as "armed," their ability to coerce recalcitrant persons to comply with the law is emphasized. Because police carry weapons, it follows that the force they use may have lethal consequences. The capacity to use coercive, deadly force is so central to understanding police functions, one could say that it characterizes a key element of the police role. Second, the primary purpose of police is protection, and so force can be used only to promote the safety of the community. Police have a responsibility for safeguarding the domestic well-being of the public, and this obligation even extends in qualified ways to protecting those who violate the law, who are antagonistic or violent toward the police, or who are intent on hurting themselves. In dealing with such individuals, police may use force in reasonable and prudent ways to protect themselves and others. However, the amount of force used should be proportional to the threat and limited to the least amount required to accomplish legitimate police action. Third, the concept of participation emphasizes that police and community are closely interrelated. Police are drawn from the community, and as police they continue to operate as members o...
This era is where the shift from a centralized task force has gravitated to a decentralized task force, causing some friction from both the community and the officers that serve it. Police are told that they are needed to listen to the concerns for the community; however, law enforcement is still the primary goal. Police forces now have to defend the values for which the forces were built upon. The idea of problem solving has come into question with police discretion towards certain run-ins with the law. Williams and Murphy argue it is due to the lack of sensitivity from minorities and the concern on crime itself than the community. Kelling and Moore contradict Williams and Murphy, with Kelling/Moore suggesting the era is more about listening to concerns of the community and improving the citizen satisfaction. But both the article came to the conclusion of the silent underlying problems that are becoming more of a “quiet riot” with the police and the
In this essay, I will attempt to analyze law and crime through the lens of Marxist analysis. "Common sense" tells us that police officers are the "good guys" attempting to preserve society against the chaos and disorder that the criminals represent. Nobody will agree that this general rule is universally true, as the incidents in the Rampart Division of the LAPD illustrate. The Rampart division shot unarmed people point blank and then put guns in their hands. They behaved much like gang members, with their own hazing rituals of "beating people into the gang." Another telling example is the Louima incident, wherein a Haitian immigrant was anally raped by a NYPD police officer with a plunger. Obviously, all cops are not saints, and some are worse than some criminals.
Officers of today constantly cross the boundaries that they were sworn in to protect. Some officers have the feeling of superiority and project fears on to civilians. In recent light, we have seen that more officers are forgetting the part of their oath about betraying the public trust. There has been a drastic increase in police brutality especially towards African – Americans. Also, officers are now practicing the skill of illegal search and seizures. The constant acts of transgressions committed by our government officials makes it hard for civilians to trust. Our government was set up to protect and serve, and the system is constantly failing the
The definition of justice and the means by which it must be distributed differ depending on an individual’s background, culture, and own personal morals. As a country of many individualistic citizens, the United States has always tried its best to protect, but not coddle, its people in this area. Therefore, the criminal justice history of the United States is quite extensive and diverse; with each introduction of a new era, more modern technologies and ideals are incorporated into government, all with American citizens’ best interests in mind.
Researchers openly stress that in the police system, a police officer’s actions reflect the values that a department holds. (Id, p.1) Applying values into the police system allowed officers to confidently make decisions without disturbing the performance of the department. (Id,
Thus, the purpose of this essay is to examine the debate of the two surrounding arguments where some have contended that an efficient and practical criminal justice system relies on police discretion as it allows the police to be flexible during times of scarce resources. Whereas, many scholars have explored the encompassing limits to this discretion such as issues of accountability, the ability to abuse such powers and perhaps the most precarious consequence of police discretion;
A statement in Wolfes study recites, “Police officers…..are not only responsible for enforcing laws and protecting the public but also are entrusted to represent order and justice in society” (332). When police are involved in a sort of misconduct, this not only negatively affects the police, it also affects the community. The integrity of police and their department is important when trying to establish a positive relationship with civilians. When police officers commit crimes, the integrity of the whole department is questioned. Jackman reports that at least 1,100 officers are arrested a year for misconduct. Many cases of misconduct go unreported, and police involved are never reprimanded. An unspoken code known within police called the ‘code of silence’ is a main factor on why misconduct is never reported. The code of silence is, “...the informal prohibition of reporting misconduct by fellow police officers” (Sanja, 172). The code of silence degrades police integrity. In an article titled “Code of Silence”, the author states that the code of silence “..encourages a context of disregard for citizens’ rights..”. With police willingly lying and not reporting misconduct committed by their coworkers, trust from civilians will slowly deteriorate. In Sanjas’ study, he found that “In a nationwide study of police officers, one of six police officers adhered to the view that “the code of silence is an essential part” of good policing...” (173). If lying to a department head and hiding unacceptable behavior is quote-unquote ‘good policing’ what does this mean to civilians? In the Baltimore corruption case, a man who was harassed by an officer-involved stated, “I feel free,” he said, crying. “I feel safe. I don’t have to watch police cars coming and run fast, worrying that’s him” (Weiner). Reading this statement, how does this reflect the department. Civilians should feel safer when they see law
The focus is on the issues of police accountability in modern society, and in particular why their accountability is more important than other professions. This is not surprising considering the amount of power and discretion police officers have, and the level of trust that the public holds with these civil servants. Police officers accountability is the biggest thing in their profession which has been an issue of concern they have to be accountable to the police department who want the officer to be an effective and responsible person, to people in the community who have best expectation from an officer and being accountable to themselves for their acts. An ordinary citizen of a country cannot obtain the powers that police officer’s have.
In Intro to Criminal Justice class, I had the opportunity to learn about the Criminal Justice System more thoroughly. I learned that there are three components that make up the Criminal Justice System such as the courts, law enforcement, and corrections. Each component has its own role in making sure the the Criminal Justice System is functioning properly. If one of these components are not efficient the Criminal Justice system will not be as strong as it could be.