Beneifts of Early Intervention Systems for Police Officers - Essay Example

Police officials who have been working with the EIS for many years indicate that this type of intervention practices have a positive effect on officer performance. Principles for promoting police integrity, a report published by the US Department of Justice in 2001, says that EI systems are one of the best practices to promote police officers’ accountability; and the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement also recommends the practice of EI systems to meet the institution’s values and mission statement.

When there is an effective EI system in operation, police officers are less likely to engage in corrupt practices due to the fear of disciplinary actions. Furthermore, since EI system continuously monitors police officers’ practices, officers may be motivated to improve their performance standards. One of the major benefits of EIS is that they control misconducts in police departments and thereby keep the dignity of police officers. Studies found that though only a small percent of officers are corrupt, they destroy the reputation of the whole police department.

Hence, EI systems are the best mechanism to attain people’s confidence in policing. . In addition to police managers’ monitoring activities, a well designed EI system receives complaints from common people. Since police officers interact more with local people in their day to day dealings, the citizen complaint system would be more effective to identify the corrupt policing practices. According to the US Department of Justice, the EI system is a potential mechanism to identify racial discrimination practices of police officers in traffic stops.

“EI systems are consistent with the goals of Community Policing and can help improve police-community relation problems” (Walker, 2003). In other words, this mechanism has the ability to build strong policy-community relations, which in turn will reduce crime rates in the community. Studies reflect that since EI systems make police officers responsible for their actions, these systems can improve police integrity as well. According to a study conducted by the National Institute of Injustice, the three EI systems including Miami-Dade, Minneapolis, and New Orleans are found effective in reducing the use of force incidents and people complaints.

To illustrate, the average rate of citizen complaints in Minneapolis declined by 67 percent after the introduction of the EI system (as cited in OPI research paper). As Walker (2003) opines, the MI systems not only prevent corrupt policing practices but also improve the behavior of subject officers. Another major advantage of EI systems is that they have the potential to distinguish top performing police officers from underperforming officers and problem making officers. Hence, the system can be used for the purpose of police officer promotions or provision of remedial assistance for officers