The Foundation and Trust Built by Police Officers - Case Study Example

The foundation and trust built by police officers in order to acquire community support in their operations is based on legitimacy, and this usually arises from the police actions in following the United States laws, in specific the fourth amendment. The main roles of the police officers are to maintain law and order and to be successful in their operations, they need public support and cooperation, and they cannot achieve this without the public accepting their actions. This voluntary support from the community arises from the police legitimacy. John Locke defines legitimacy as acceptance of the laws governing the state formulated by political institutions accepted by the people (Locke and Laslett, 1988). For police officers to acquire cooperation from the people, they have to follow laws set up by the United States Congress and Senate and its constitution, since this are the representatives of the people. Legitimacy in the police force is a matter of moral principles and people accept police actions on the basis that they use their authority in accordance to the law. Police operations in America are regulated by the fourth amendments. The fourth Amendment is part of the American Bill of Rights which protects against unwarranted searches and seizures by law enforcement agencies (Gaines and Victor, 2011). The amendments require law enforcement agencies to present search warrants which are obtained from the judiciary, when they want to conduct a search on a suspected criminal. This law was made because of the abuse of the writ of assistance by law enforcement agencies in America which was a general search warrant. According to the fourth amendments, the police can only effect the search warrants in limitation to the information provided by the police to the judicial officer issuing the search warrant. The department of homeland security has the responsibility of supervising all security operations in United States of America and currently (Gaines and Victor, 2012), America faces numerous threats from terrorist groups and other Islamic extremists who are grieved by the American foreign policies. The security of America is also threatened by numerous criminal gangs operating in the country, including drug and human traffickers. In response to these problems, the department of homeland security has developed investigative tactics to be used by all security organs in the state in conducting their duty of maintaining law and order. This paper seeks to analyze whether this changes are ethical, thus obtaining legitimacy from the American people. It seeks to analyze the impacts of these investigative changes in relation to community policing, criminal prosecution and the ability of law enforcement officers to investigate major criminal activities. This paper has a concluder which provides my reflection on this techniques and how to improve them for the benefit of the society and wider acceptance of the masses. Following the attack of America in September 11th 2001, the American Government introduced numerous changes in its security act and was known as The Homeland Security Act of 2002. This act changed the way The American Law enforcement agencies conducted their operations. The act created the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency which is the largest investigative organ in the United States of America (Gaines and Victor, 2011). With the creation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, it came up with an investigative technique known as controlled deliveries. This is an investigative technique aimed at arresting people who employ others as conduits for their illegal operations. This technique is successful if two or more states cooperate with each other. This technique, allows illicit goods to pass into the Territory of United States of America, under the supervision of American security agencies with the aim of identifying the main people involved in the offense, therefore it requires cooperation and support from the various communities in which this operation is being conducted. The impact on this technique on community-police relations is significant. In as much as the police will rely on the community to provide information regarding certain criminal elements in their area, this technique requires more of inter-police cooperation than civilian-police cooperation (Lushbaugh et al, 2009). This is because of the sensitivity of the investigation and the secrecy involved in it. In apprehending and prosecuting criminals, this technique has not been effective, this is because of various factors and chief among them is communication between the various security organs. For example, the conflicting positions taken by the Border Patrol Unit in America and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. The Border patrol unit believes its mission is to arrest and prosecute people who enter into United States illegally, while the ICE maintains that security operations goes beyond arresting and prosecuting offenders, but it involves tracking down their leaders by allowing them to conduct their illegal activities under the watchful eye of law enforcement officers. Due to this confusion and conflict of interest (Gaines and Victor, 2012), it has been difficult for law enforcement agencies to effectively arrest and prosecute leaders of criminal gangs. To succeed in this technique, the United States Government ought to train and impart knowledge to the community on this controlled delivery technique, by doing this, the Government will build relationship with the community and thus cooperation. The State should establish communication channels between its various security organs and thereafter establish confidence and integrity among members of the law enforcement agency as this will increase the chances of this technique being successful. Changes are also witnessed in the electronic investigative techniques; this is because of the difficulty in conducting criminal investigation due to the sophisticated nature of criminal activities and the challenge is for investigators to keep pace with these emergent methods of conducting crime by using sophisticated investigative techniques such as electronic surveillance. Video, silent, oral and wire interceptions have been effective in prosecution and punishing offenders since this technology captures offenders in the act and the jury has no options but to convict them (Lushbaugh et al, 2009). This technique was first disputed in 1928, under the Olmstead vs. The United States of America Case. The Supreme Court ruled that tapping a phone line from outside the residence of a person is not a search as advocated by the Fourth Amendment of The United States constitution. It therefore allowed the Law enforcement agencies in America to continue with this system of investigation. However, in 1968, the Congress modified these laws so that the police would need a warrant to allow them tap a person’s conversation and in 1986, the Omnimus Crimes Control and Safe Streets Act prohibited interception of electronic communication and therefore, officers must comply with the requirements of the Fourth Amendment for them to obtain a warrant allowing them to eves drop on peoples conversations (Gaines and Victor, 2011). This investigative technique has considerable impact with police-community relations, since the police require the assistance of the community for them to effectively use technology as a means of investigation. For example, the police are allowed to put surveillance cameras in public places, since this does not infringe on the privacy of people. In order to effectively manage surveillance camera in the public domain, the police need to train the community on the importance of such instruments and its effectiveness. The police will need information from the public on the best suitable places to put such cameras for effective nabbing of criminals (Lushbaugh et al, 2009). This technique enhances effective prosecution of criminals since one is caught while committing a criminal activity. In conclusion, the department of homeland security has initiated investigative measures that are acceptable to the American people and ethical. For example, the controlled deliverable investigative technique by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency is widely acceptable since it is being conducted by an institution formed by the law, The Homeland Security Act of 2002. The use of electronic techniques is also governed by United States Laws, such as The Communications Assistance Law Enforcement Act, of 1994. By definition of legitimacy, the operations of the police must comply with the law. These changes in police operations have complied with various statutes and laws operating in America and therefore the initiatives of the department of homeland security are ethical and acceptable by the community. References Gaines, Larry K., and Victor E. Kappeler. Policing in America. 7th ed. Newark, NJ: Lexis Nexis :, 2011. Print. Gaines, Larry K., and Victor E. Kappeler. Homeland security. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2012. Print. Locke, J., & Laslett, P. (1988). Two treatises of government (Student ed.). Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press. Lushbaugh, Charles, and Paul B. Weston. Criminal investigation: basic perspectives. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2009. Print. Read More