Police Misconduct: East Haven - Term Paper Example

Introduction: This paper is a review of the East Haven Police Department. The mission of this police department is toenforce law, for purposes of protecting property and the life of an individual, through the establishment of proactive methods of solving problems with the citizens of East Haven. This will help in the reduction of crime, social disorder, and creating an environment responsible for the promotion of a better quality of life, for any body found in East Haven. However, the East Haven police department has failed to implement this mission statement, mainly because it has been accused of carrying out racial profiling methods, and this is against the Latinos (Altimari, Buffa and Owens, 2012). Latinos are a minority language and ethnic group in United States, whose genealogical origins is in Spain and Latin America. These groups of people have suffered from racialism and discrimination, mainly because of their ethnic origins, and immigrant status in the United States. The civil rights act of 1964 prohibits the discrimination of an individual based on his gender, religion, ethnicity and sexual orientation. The Investigations: From the investigation carried out in the year 2009, a special investigation into the activities of the East Haven Police department denoted that the police force was responsible for discriminating the Latinos, in their administration of justice. Furthermore, this investigation on the East Haven Police Department was conducted through the provisions contained in the 1994 violent crime control and law enforcement act, and the 1968 Safe Streets and Omnibus Crime Control Act. The officers under consideration were charged with violence against the minority groups, and hence the need of appealing to the violent act of 1994. This is because most instances, these officers were inappropriately beating Latino people, and using violence against them, which was not warranted. The 1964 civil rights act was a law passed, which had the intention of protecting the minority groups in the United States. On most instances, by unfairly targeting the Latinos, the police officers in this department were breaching this law. As a way of protecting the reputation of its justice system, the town of East Haven was able to sign an agreement with the department of justice, for purposes of instituting a broad range of changes, in its police department. Furthermore, this move was propagated by the decision of the Latino group, and other civil rights group to institute litigation against the East Haven Police Department (Altimari, Buffa and Owens, 2012). The intention of the town mayor was to find a solution and resolve the cases that were against its police officers. In a report by the Justice department, police officers from the East Haven department, deliberately pursued a discrimination policy against the Latinos, and this is through traffic enforcement, treatment of Latino drivers in a more harsher manner when compared to non-Latino drivers, and woefully and intentionally failing to implement and design an internal system of control that has the capability of tracking, preventing and identifying such kind of a misconduct. Furthermore, the police officers were deliberately breaching the constitution by engaging in unconstitutional seizures and searches, the use of excessive force, and retaliation against people who were witnessing the excesses and the misconduct of the police officers (Altimari, Buffa and Owens, 2012). Further, in this report by the Justice department, discrimination in the East Haven police department was greatly rooted, and it was part of the culture of this department. This report gave statistics, of these discriminatory practices by the East Haven Police department, which identified and explained that 40.5% of all traffic stops were targeted at the Latino drivers. This was intentional and a deeply rooted culture of the department of East Haven. Furthermore, police officers were able to target businesses belonging to Latinos, by targeting the customers who were leaving these premises (Altimari, Buffa and Owens, 2012). This is highly offensive, and it limits the capability of the Latinos to efficiently and effectively conduct business in the town of East Haven. MacVean and Neyroud (2012) further explains that police officers at the EHPD carried out a series of authorized immigration investigations against the Latino people. This is because they contacted the customs and immigration enforcement for purposes of checking on the status of a detained Latino person. The intention of these tactics was to intimidate and harass the Latino people, as opposed to pursuing a legitimate course of law enforcement. The leadership of this department was also responsible for the miscarriage of justice against the Latino people (Altimari, Buffa and Owens, 2012). This is because the leadership of the department turned a blind eye, the serious constitutional and human right breaches by its junior staff. Furthermore, during the period of investigation, this department was responsible for creating an intimidating and hostile environment for the investigators, or for anybody willing to cooperate with the investigators. This is a very unethical practice that emanated from the leaders of the police department. This is because as a leader, it is essential that they should ensure that the people they lead are able to carry out their activities in an efficient manner, and within the law (Applebome, 2012). Leaders of a police department must also ensure that the people they lead should be responsible for their actions. Based on this fact, a police leader, who wants to cover up for the crimes of their subordinates, is failing in his or her duty. Furthermore, as a police leader, the observance and protection of the constitution and the law, is mandatory (Altimari, Buffa and Owens, 2012). It is important to explain that the problem of racial profiling against the Latinos and other minority groups is rampant in the United States. Most Latinos are always associated with crime, and this is because of the high rates of crime that occurs in their neighborhood and the high rates of poverty that they normally face or experience. However, the police department of East Haven was not justified in their profiling of these people. This is because their actions and activities was a miscarriage of justice, against the minority group, that is the Latinos. This was a clear violation of the fourteenth amendment of the American constitution (Altimari, Buffa and Owens, 2012). This amendment is responsible for addressing the various citizenship rights, and it advocates for the equality under the laws of the country. It was created, in response to the slaves that were released after the American Civil War. Furthermore, this amendment provides a limit to all the actions of the state, and the representatives of the state (Hay, 2009). This includes law enforcement officers such as police and judicial officers. The Town of East Haven: East Haven is a town that is found at the coast of Connecticut. This location is approximately 68 miles, on the North Eastern side of New York City. In a census carried out in the year 2010, the town of East Haven had a population of about 29,257 people. 85.5% of these people belonged to the white racial group. Furthermore, 2.9% of these people were African Americans, or the black people, and 10.3% of these people, were identified as the Latin American. That is people, of Spanish origin. Through this analysis, it is possible to denote that the Latin Americans and the African Americans were the minority groups, and hence they were vulnerable to an abuse. Unfortunately, the East Haven police department was unable to protect these people. Instead, the police department pursued a policy of discrimination against the minority groups, in the provision of services dealing with security matters. This was a clear violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, which advocated for equality in the treatment of all citizens, irrespective of their ethnicity, age, race, religion, etc. However, it is important to explain that the violations were mainly directed on the Latinos, as opposed to the other minority groups, the Blacks, or the African Americans (Altimari, Buffa and Owens, 2012). There is no explanation given on why the police department did not direct their policies against the blacks, despite the perception that this group is also violent in nature, and high rates of crime are found in the regions where they live. The Police Department of East Haven: The department of East Haven comprises of approximately 50 uniformed police officers. However, amongst these 50 uniformed police officers, only one officer was able to speak Spanish in a fluent manner. This is an indication that this department was not friendly to the Hispanics or the Latinos, and this is the reason it failed to hire more people who could speak the Spanish language. This was one of the major weaknesses of this department (Green and Lynch, 2013). The failure to have a diverse workforce, made the workers of this department, not to appreciate the other races that existed, especially the Latinos, or the Hispanics. This in turn resulted to a culture of discrimination in the provision of security services, against the Latinos, or the Hispanics. The United States is a diverse country that comprises of virtually all races. It is this diversity that has made the country to be powerful, and very prosperous (Ollhoff, 2013). This is a lesson that the police department of East Haven did not learn, and this resulted to their failure in effectively and efficiently serving the people of East Haven (Green and Lynch, 2013). The department is headed by the chief of police. During the time which these investigations were carried out, the chief of police was Leonard Gallo, and this is a position that he occupied for more than a decade (Hayes, 2015). This is unacceptable, mainly because there is always a need of changing the leadership of a public body or institution, for purposes of ensuring efficiency and accountability in the manner which the institution is managed or its affairs are carried out. Leonard Gallo was a conservative leader, and it is mainly because of his leadership style, that this culture of discrimination and lack of accountability existed in this department. Mr. Gallo was widely accused of intimidating witnesses, who came to report on the excesses of his police officers. This is better exemplified when he made numerous calls to the Catholic parish, so that they could transfer Rev James Manship from their parish (Applebome, 2012). This is mainly because Rev Manship was responsible for investigating the discriminative tendencies of the police officers at the East Haven police department. Based on this fact therefore, the department began failing in its responsibility by maintaining its leader to hold office for more than one decade. Furthermore, the chief of police had the protection of the mayor, who was Mr. Joseph Maturo. It is important to explain that before Maturo took office, Mr. Gallo was under suspension, for alleged police misconduct. However, because of the friendship between him and Mr. Maturo, he was able to be reinstated to his position (MacVean and Neyroud, 2012). This is nepotism, and it played a role in limiting the ability of the department to efficiently carry out its mandate. It is important to understand that the mayor has considerable influence on the activities of the police officers, and this is mainly because he is the appointing authority. He is responsible for appointing the chief of police, and also the board of police commissioners, who have the responsibility of overseeing the activities of the police department. Bayley and Perito (2011) explain that it is this committee that failed to implement policies that could hold its officers accountable, for the various breaches of the constitution, and the civil rights act of 1964. Apart from its supervisory powers, this board had the authority of removing any officer who failed to carry out their duties. This means that it had the capability of taking punitive actions, against the officers who are in breach of the police codes and ethical standards (Ollhoff, 2013). According to the report by the department of justice, one of the reasons why the East Haven Police officers continuously harassed and intimidated the Latinos, was based on the fact that there wasn’t any punitive policies developed, that could punish the police officers who were responsible for these acts (Ollhoff, 2013). Therefore the problem at this department was of leadership. Its leaders failed to provide a standard of operation, and enforce these laid down standards. For instance, the East Haven department was faced with the following problems (Green and Lynch, 2013), Outdated procedures and policies. Flaws in the review and reporting on how to use force. Inadequate internal investigation and citizen complaint process. Lack of an early warning or identification system. A fragmented engagement with the community. Limited training. By looking at these weaknesses of the department, it is possible to denote that there was lack of leadership. For example, the department had outdated policies and procedures (Ollhoff, 2013). These procedures and policies did not reflect on the current trends in the security sector, and the needs of the people. For example, the employment of a police chief, for more than a decade is an outdated practice, which does not reflect the current trends in management and the security sector. For purposes of encouraging a diverse leadership, most government institutions normally have a term limit that its leaders should stay in office (Ollhoff, 2013). The major reason for these limits is for purposes of giving other people an opportunity to lead, and come up with their own ideas, which may be beneficial to the community or the organization that they are leading. Failure to have these term limits is the reason why the chief of police was able to stay in office for more than a decade (MacVean and Neyroud, 2012). Furthermore, the appointment of members of the police board without approval from the council of the town is another outdated practice. This is because there is a need of having checks on the kind of people the mayor appoints to manage to security of the town. Failures to have these checks, chances are high that the mayor may appoint officers who are unethical, and who do not qualify for the position under consideration. A good example is the appointment of Leonard Gallo, by Mayor Maturo. Bayley and Perito (2011) therefore explains that the management of the police in the East Haven department was led by incompetent fellows. There were also flaws in the manner which police officers were allowed to use force and report on how they used the force under consideration. Because of these flaws, police officers were able to get away with illegal use of force (Green and Lynch, 2013). These further motivated these police officers to continue using unwarranted force against the members of the Latino community. As part of their managerial duty, the board had the responsibility of creating a mechanism, where it would review how its officers used force, and hold them accountable in circumstances where they used force in a manner that was not appropriate (Bayley and Perito, 2011). Furthermore, the internal investigation system of the department was flawed, and members of the public were highly discouraged from making complaints against the officers of the department. This is because of the culture of intimidation and harassment that the officers would place upon an individual, who tried to make any such complaints. This is the case of the Rev. Manship. Bayley and Perito (2011) explains that in any police department, there must be a process that would hold the police officers accountable for their actions. This is only possible through the creation of an internal investigation process that is not intimidative in nature. Through this process, chances are high that the citizens will come and participate in it, thus legitimizing this process. Without the participation of the citizens, chances are high that the process would fail in promoting accountability within the police department. Furthermore, the board also failed to develop an efficient curriculum that could be used to train its police officers on the current trends in the security sector (MacVean and Neyroud, 2012). The security sector is an industry that constantly changes, and this is because of the emergence of new crimes, new laws, and the requirement of new skills to the officers under consideration. For instance, because of the emergence of technological innovations in the social media, and the internet, criminals are now using these channels for purposes of carrying out their attacks. Equipping police officers in such kind of knowledge and skills would help in fighting the emergence of these new criminal activities (Ollhoff, 2013). The police board failed to adequately train its officers on the need to avoid racial discrimination, while carrying out their duties. Furthermore, the board failed to adequately train its officers on the various laws that prohibit discrimination, and which seek to promote equality and equity in the provision and access of services in United States (Altimari, Buffa and Owens, 2012). Specifically, the fourteenth amendment and the civil rights act of 1964. Knowledge of laws and criminal procedures is a very important characteristic of a police officer. This type of knowledge will help them to avoid carrying out illegal activities that are in breach of the constitution, and the various acts established by congress. Community policing is also an important activity that ant department of police needs to engage in. However, the East Haven department was very poor at engaging the community, in participating in the policing of the region. This is because the police officers were very hostile to citizens, and they did not want to adequately interact with these citizens (Altimari, Buffa and Owens, 2012). This therefore limited the capability of the board of commissioners to come up with measures that could encourage the community to collaborate with the police officers, while policing the region. To achieve this objective, the board of governors, should have sought to remove the intimidating culture, against the citizens, which was very rampant at the East Haven police department. Furthermore, the board should have initiated a series of programs or measures aimed at encouraging the citizens to come up with complaints against police officers. This is by ensuri9ng to them, that they would not be intimidated in any manner, and the board will protect them against any rogue officer (Bayley and Perito, 2011). Furthermore, to promote efficiency and accountability, there was a need of creating a civilian police oversight institution that would be responsible for investigating crimes against police officers. This institution should be independent, and led by civilians. This is mainly because; police officers cannot be trusted to investigate themselves (Bayley and Perito, 2011). Furthermore, the results that are led by a transparent institution will be highly trusted, when compared to the results that emanates from an investigation or inquiry led by the police officers themselves. Despite these weaknesses from the police department of East Haven, there are a number of strengths that the department has. One such strength is the increased patrols that police officers normally conduct. The department has initiated three patrols at any given day. The first patrol starts work between 12.00AM to 8.30 AM. The second patrol starts work between 8.00 AM to 4.30 PM. The third and the final patrol start work between 4.00PM to 12.30 AM. By carefully analyzing these patrols, it is prudent to denote that they cover the 24 hours period that is always found within a day (Green and Lynch, 2013). Furthermore, each patrol squad comprises of 10 officers, who are led by a lieutenant. In the census report conducted in the year 2010, the reports indicated that the rates of crime had significantly dropped in East Haven. It is possible to attribute these drops, to these patrols conducted by the East Haven police department. Police patrols are one of the traditional methods that police officers normally use to maintain law and order within their regions. However, because of the sophisticated nature of crimes, in the current century, police patrols are not enough, and hence there is a need of collaborating with the community, for purposes of maintaining law and order (Green and Lynch, 2013). Another major strength of the department is that the powers of its board of commissioners are derived from its town charter. This means that there is a clear guidance and procedure that identifies how the board of commissioners should carry out their duties, while managing the police department. Conclusion: In conclusion, the East Haven police department failed to efficiently implement the law, because of poor leadership. Poor leadership emanated from the head of the police force, Mr. Leonard Gallo, and the board of commissioners that was responsible for helping the police chief to manage the police department. For instance, the board failed to come up with a proper training guideline that could be used in continuously training its police officers, on the current trends of crime, and on social responsibility. Furthermore, the inability of the department to develop a good rapport with the citizens of East Haven, limited its ability to develop a community policing program, that would involve the community in the fight of crime. Community policing is a modern approach of crime prevention, and it is highly efficient, mainly because the citizens of a community are staying with the criminals, and they know them. It is therefore easy to use these people for purposes of identifying the criminals, and hence reducing the rates of crime within the region. Furthermore, the policy of intimidation and discrimination is an outdated practice. This is because of the emergence laws and statutes which aim at protecting the rights of citizens, and promoting equality in the administration of justice, and an access of services. Bibliography: Altimari, D., Buffa, D., & Owens, D. (2012, January 25). FBI Arrests 4 East Haven Police Officers. Retrieved January 20, 2015, from http://articles.courant.com/2012-01-25/news/hc-east-haven-police-fbi-arrests- 0125-20120124_1_david-cari-jason-zullo-east-haven Top of Form Bottom of Form Applebome, P. (2012, January 24). Police Gang Tyrannized Latinos, Indictment Says. Retrieved January 20, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/nyregion/connecticut-police-officers- accused-of-mistreating-latinos.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Top of Form Bottom of Form Bayley, D., & Perito, R. (2011). Police corruption what past scandals teach about current challenges. Washington, DC: U.S. Institute of Peace. Top of Form Bottom of Form Green, E., & Lynch, R. (2013). The police manager (7th ed.). Waltham, MA: Anderson ;. Top of Form Bottom of Form Hay, J. (2009). Amendment XIV: Citizenship for all. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, Gale, Cengage Learning. Top of Form Bottom of Form Hayes, A. (n.d.). Mayor: East Haven, Connecticut, police chief to retire amid controversy - CNN.com. Retrieved January 20, 2015, from http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/30/justice/connecticut-east-haven-police/ Top of Form Bottom of Form MacVean, A., & Neyroud, P. (2012). Police ethics and values. Exeter: Learning Matters. Top of Form Bottom of Form Ollhoff, J. (2013). Police. Minneapolis, MN: ABDO Pub. Read More