Should Police Murderers Receive Whole-Life Jail Sentences - Essay Example

Should Police Murderers Receive Whole-Life Jail Sentences? Should Police Murderers Receive Whole-Life Jail Sentences? Introduction Police represents the institution mandated to maintain public law and order in the society by apprehending criminals including murderers; hence, a situation whereby murderers get to take the life of police officers is a direct attack to the police federation (Caless 2011). The murder of a police officer is not just a normal crime considering that it is an impeachment of law enforcement institution.

A police murderer is a threat not only to the society but also to the government in place in a state. A police officer has no exceptional life as that of a regular citizen. However, the punishment that should be imposed to a police murderer should be of higher legislation levels following the impact the murder of a police officer has to the face of citizens. Consequently, it is genuine for judges to impose a whole-life jail sentence to police murderers to send a clear signal for the criminals determined to evade the laws set in a state.

Police officers have an important role in protecting citizens from criminals and law-breakers. Considerably, most of the police murder crimes happen because of the identity and role of the police officer in preventing criminal activities, which threatens the criminals’ life and their freedom to break law. The death of one police officer, especially by police murders, leaves a substantial number of citizens in the hands of criminals. This possess abundant problem to state security, which is protected by the police (Travis 2013).

One of the strategies to contain the number of criminals in comparison with the law enforcers is to sentence the police murderers to whole-life jail imprisonment. Sentencing police murderers to whole-life in jail ensures that criminals have no chance to evade the offences that the police officer would have presented to court. Police murderers pursue their criminal offence to evade the testimony or arrest from the police in consideration that their charges will be treated like a regular murder.

The move by the law federation to sentence murderers to whole-life imprisonment will ensure that criminals do not evade the required judgments simply because of eliminating a police officer with evidence and testimony on the crimes committed by the convict. According to Travis (2013), since the year 2000, twelve police officers have been murdered while on duty indicating that the police murders are laws I hate of the law and would do anything I their power to deprive the law enforces to pave way for their crimes in the society.

Whole-life imprisonment for such criminals reduce incidences that result from The confinement of police murders for whole-life in jail gives the citizens a sign of relief from what the murderer would do after serving a specific jail term rather than whole-life jail term (Parliament.nsw.gov.au 2011). How would citizens in a state feel secure in the presence of law enforcers’ murders? This is a question that every individual not in favor of the whole-life in jail judgment should ask herself/himself.

The presence of a police officer is always associated with security and order in any part of a state including blacklisted streets. A police murderer is not only after eliminating the office but also focused on pursuing crimes freely after prison (West 2013). Consequently, the whole-life jail terms serves to eliminate permanently criminal activities associated with such murders whereby everyone against the whole-life sentence should ask the question, if the criminal murders a police officer, what is the likelihood that the same will occur after serving a determined jail term?

The answer of a high likelihood would seem hypocritical, but it is the reality from the past occurrences of police murder cases. According to Johnston (2013), ECHR insists that the whole-life sentences are inhuman. A police officer is human and has a family to take care of both emotionally and family responsibilities; hence, the act of a criminal to take the officers life is inhuman in the first place. The whole-life jail sentence on police murders is not a question of valuing police officers life more than other citizens’ life; rather it is to maintain the fundamental basis of a society.

Further, the murder of an officer on duty is attacking the law that defends the citizens from violent criminals, which should be approached in a manner to ensure that a repeat does not occur by sentencing the police murders to whole-life imprisonment. In conclusion, police voluntarily risk confronting and stopping violent criminals endangering their life whereby it is high time that life meant life for individuals convicted of police murder. Justice to the fundamental basis of the society will never prevail with the presence of police murders in the society prompting every person to concur with the whole-life jail imprisonment of the persons convicted of killing a police officer.

References Caless, B. 2011. Policing at the top. Bristol, UK: Policy Press. Johnston, P. 2013. The ECHR says it's 'inhuman' for murderers to get whole-life sentences. This is a step too far. The Telegraph, [online] 9th, July. Available at: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/philipjohnston/100225558/strasbourg-decision-on-whole-life-killers-is-a-step-too-far/ [Accessed: 16th August 2013]. Parliament.nsw.gov.au. 2011. Crimes Amendment (Murder of Police Officers) Bill 2011 - NSW Parliament. [online] Available at: http://www.

parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/nswbills.nsf/0/8E6D73EF3AD93FEDCA25789A002345E2 [Accessed: 15 Aug 2013]. Travis, A. 2013. Theresa May: murderers of police to receive whole-life jail sentences. The guardian, [online] Wednesday 15 May. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/may/15/theresa-may-police-whole-life-sentence [Accessed: 16th August 2013]. West, R. 2013. Murderers given 'whole life terms'. Mail online, [online] Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-179838/Murderers-given-life-terms.

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