Democratic Policing in Reference to Sacramento Police Force - Coursework Example

Democratic policing in reference to Sacramento Police Force Name Course Name and Code Instructor’s Name Date Introduction The theory of 'Democratic Policing' is emerging as a successor to reliance upon traditional Peelian principles of policing set in 18291. The final principle, which is the most, quoted states that “the police are public and the public is the police. Political, social and technological changes that have rocked the world in the recent past have prompted more interest to be directed toward the role of the police as an institution in a democratic society2. In democratic communities the mission of the police is to serve and protect citizens; and responding to crime, official corruption and abuse in order to build safe and stable societies3. The purpose of this paper is to discuss Sacramento Police Force in relation to principles of democratic policing. Sacramento Police Force This is the police department for Sacramento city, California4. The department dates back to 1849. It was created to create order during chaotic gold rush which was descending on the Sacramento valley. During this time many gold seekers thronged Sacramento to wrest the precious metal from the muck which held it first. Some people used force such as employment of guns and knives to gain wealth. Thus lawlessness fostered a need for instilling order where chaos had reigned. This resulted in evolution of Sacramento police department5. The department is made up of the office of the chief, office of operations; problem oriented policing teams, office of investigations, office public safety information technology and office of emergency services and homeland security6. Sacramento Police Force Culture Culture refers to overall socially transmitted behavioural patterns, beliefs, arts, institutions and all forms of human work and thought that is typical of a community or population at a specified time. a police force culture is defined by the quality of individuals working for it7. The culture that exists at Sacramento is said to surpass any that prevails in typical law enforcement institution8. In most cases people are attracted to join a firm for several reasons such as good salary, job stability, benefits and serving their people. However, people join Sacramento for reasons just more than these9. The attributes entwined in Sacramento’s police department culture are enshrined in its mission statement. Its mission statement is to work in partnership with the community, in protecting life and property, solve neighbourhood problems and enhancing the quality of life in Sacramento city. From democratic point of view the mission of the police is to serve and protect citizens; and responding to crime, official corruption and abuse in order to build safe and stable societies. This shows that Sacramento police force mission statement conforms to democratic policing requirements for police mission10. In order to attain this mission, people joining the Sacramento police force are expected to have good communication skills, be self motivated, have sound judgment, be courageous, be a team player, have leadership skills, be able to show empathy and compassion, posses working knowledge of the dynamic laws and judicial process, have an open mind and have a sense of humour. These attributes enables the persons joining the Sacramento police force to partner with local communities in enforcing law and order within the city of Sacramento11. This initiative is an indication of the Sacramento Police Force commitment to enforcing its mission statement12. By recruiting individuals with attributes as the ones described above, such individuals may be willing to enforce democratic policing enshrined in the mission statement of Sacramento Police Force. Sacramento Police Force also has a culture which confers competitive benefits to its workforce. This seems to motivate the police force to enhance the mission of the force. As such it can be said that culture adopted by Sacramento Police Force is in line with democratic policing principles13. From former and current employees’ reviews, Sacramento Police Force embraces diversity and multi-ethnic culture which makes it a great place for working, living and raising a family14. This implies that unlike extreme dimension of democratic policing where policing is carried out by specialized elite on behalf of the community, Sacramento embraces diversity to deliver acceptable democratic policing. Thus, unlike a scenario where Plato entrusted leadership to a minority people who had superior knowledge and virtue, Sacramento Police force tends to offer equal opportunity to all to serve the community15. However, it might be argued that some aspects of extremity are found in Sacramento police force since not every one posse the requirements outlined above to join the force. From this perspective it could be argued that the Sacramento police force looks out for certain elite in the community with special characteristics16. Sacramento Police Force Ethics Ethics refers to a system of moral principles. It can also be defined as the rules of conduct which are recognized in respect to certain class of human actions or a specified group or culture. In Sacramento regional Policing Institute law enforcers are trained among others about ethics and integrity. This has improved the training curricula of law enforcers from the traditional training curricula. This has enabled Sacramento Police Force administers its policies while observing high integrity and ethics17. This has seen the police force partner with local community in combating crime and promoting order in the city18. The Sacramento Police Force emphasizes the need to be trustworthy to the local community in order to attain its policing objectives. The department has emphasized that the force should work together with local communities to address excessive use of force and racial profiling in addition to addressing the notion of minority groups that they are treated unfairly by law enforcers. According to democratic policing principles, participation in the information exchange between the police and the community increase awareness about the advantages and disadvantages of different policy options. This may also help in broadening the citizen outlook and enhancing mindedness of an individual about the community. This could be the basis of Sacramento Police Force on putting emphasis on the need to partner with local community to combat crime and promote order in the region19. Some principles developed nationally have been tailored to favour the needs of Sacramento Police Force in order to ensure it acts ethically and with high integrity. For instance, the force has adopted the policy that each law enforcer needs to recognize the value and dignity of every person20. This ensures that law enforcers ought to restraint from excessive use of force but the same time can do so if that is in the public interest21. Even though the department has insisted the need to act with high integrity and ethically, some law enforcers violate this principle. However, the department ensures that such people face the law for their unlawful or unethical actions. For instance, in May 2011 a former Sacramento Police Officer was arrested for lying about arrests. This is an indication that Sacramento Police Force is committed to acting ethically. Democratic policing requires that the law govern the actions of the police. Under this, the police are obliged to act without being authorized by political representatives. Democratic policing also requires that the actions of the police must not go against international principles of human rights. This implies that the law governing the actions of the police must respect human rights recognized internationally22. Furthermore, democratic policing requires that police be subjected to external supervision in relation to effectiveness of corporate law enforcement and performance of duties by individual officers. Moreover, democratic policing requires that police officers must be responsive to individual citizens’ needs. Thus, their actions must be directed by both the consent of the public and the articulated needs of public individually. From the arrest of the former police officer for violating the police force ethics, it is apparent that Sacramento Police Force is committed to ensuring that its force acts within the precincts of law23. Sacramento Police Force Accountability It is argued that a democratic police force ought not to be insular, self-contained or be different from the communities from which their power is derived. Thus, the police forces in democratic policing need to be accountable. In this sense, democratic policing requires that police be accountable to the society being policed, to taxpayers and to the legal order which governs their authority. Accountability also requires that police force be accountable for the means they employ to attain crime control. Sacramento Police Force is committed to being accountable to the community. As such, the force has an office of public safety accountability complaint. This allows member of Sacramento community to file a complaint against any employee of the Sacramento Police department or fire department24. The force allows the complaint to be made by the person involved, friend, family member or a third party who has knowledge of the incident. This allows investigations to carry out about the officer involved. This process has enhanced accountability in Sacramento Police Force especially the fire department which initially was independent from the police force and was rocked with various scandals prior to being integrated into Sacramento Police Force in 2004. Sacramento Police Force Governance The Sacramento Police Force has a functional structure of governance which includes the office of the chief, office of operations; problem oriented policing teams, office of investigations, office public safety information technology and office of emergency services and homeland security. Each of these departments has specified function. For instance, the office of investigation conducts all regional investigations. Sacramento Police Force collaborates with the County’s Integrated Justice Information System (IJIS) in improving public safety through timely and accurate information sharing of critical criminal justice information25. The IJIS has several other criminal justice agencies operating in Sacramento and thus the Sacramento Police Force has access to a wide range of reliable information that enables it to enforce law and order in the region. This is in line with the democratic policing principles which encourage information sharing among stakeholders to enhance law enforcement26. Thus, the Sacramento Police Force encourages participation in the information exchange between the police and the community through IJIS. This enhances awareness about the advantages and disadvantages of different policy options. This also helps in broadening the citizen outlook and enhancing mindedness of an individual about the community27. Through IJIS, Sacramento Police Force encourages citizen involvement in the process of government which is in line with democratic policing. This has helped to instil competency and efficacy among members of the public28. As a consequence, Sacramento region has been experiencing a drop in crime rate possibly as of development of higher moral and ethical standards among the communities due to information sharing initiatives29. This implies that Sacramento Police Force has been able to enhance citizenship and governance in the region. The information sharing has allowed individuals to be more knowledgeable, tolerant, sensitive to other peoples interest and more introspective in Sacramento. It is apparent that adoption of information sharing principles as heralded in democratic policing has enabled Sacramento Police Force to increase compliance among communities because it is perceived as legitimate as opposed to a system of policing imposed from above. Sacramento Police Force Prevailing Operational Strategies The strategies employed by Sacramento Police Force can be said to be an integrated kind of democratic policing30. This is because it has some sort of extreme dimension of democratic policing where elites work on behave of the community, participatory democracy policing and where the public acts as the eye of the police force. Specialized elite policing is where leadership is entrusted to a minority people who have superior knowledge and virtue. It also involves on professional judgment to determine security needs of the public31. This is being witnessed in the collaboration between Sacramento Police Force and other IJIS stakeholders in ensuring that justice prevails within the region. Through IJIS Sacramento Police Force is able to share vital information with major stakeholders involved in criminal justice and obtaining essential information need to enforce law and order in Sacramento region. The Sacramento Police Force uses information from these stakeholders in devising policies that aid their operations in addition to participatory policing32. Under participatory policing the public have the opportunity to review police misconduct. It also requires mechanisms for consulting community in matters related to policing. Such mechanisms need to identify public preferences and their reconciliation with community security needs and their translation into public policy33. Participatory policing is seen in Sacramento Police Force via the recruitment of the police force where individuals are recruited from the community and who have to posses attributes that will enable them to partner with local communities in sharing essential information that can aid in enforcing law and order in Sacramento34. In addition, the Force has information centres where the public can report or share essential information that can enhance safety of the community. Sacramento community also has a centre where they can report any misconduct of any of Sacramento Police Force police officers35. Therefore it can be said that the force upholds principles of democratic policing in its operations. Acting as police eyes and ears is a democratic policing where the community provide some degree of crime surveillance and intelligence data but have no say in how the policing resources are utilized36. The Sacramento communities are involved in surveillance for crime and provision of intelligence data that is utilised by Sacramento Police Force to enforce law and order in the region. Sacramento Police Force Use of Force In the past police force was mainly authoritarian especially in the communist countries. Police force was mainly concerned with preservation of the dominance political regime instead of detection and prevention of crime37. The police were expected to intimidate and suppress opposition while protecting the dominant regime by use of brutal force. In the democratic policing instead, authoritarian policing is no longer tenable. In democratic communities the mission of the police is to serve and protect citizens; and responding to crime, official corruption and abuse in order to build safe and stable societies38. Thus the actions of police force are expected to be guided by the law. Under this, the police are obliged to act without being authorized by political representatives. The police force is expected to respect international principles of human rights. This implies that the law governing the actions of the police must respect human rights recognized internationally including use of force39. Moreover, democratic policing requires that police officers must be responsive to individual citizens’ needs. Thus, their actions must be directed by both the consent of the public and the articulated needs of public individually. Based on this argument the police use of force ought to be limited to public interest protection. The use of force in Sacramento Police Force has been on decline in recent past. In addition, most of instances involving use of force have been lawful as enshrined in the policies guiding use of force. Any time a Sacramento Police officer uses force in the course of his/her duty a review of the use of force is done. This includes a detailed analysis of the incident and critique through the department’s chain of command in addition to a review conducted by the office of professional standards. The Sacramento Police Force allows the use of Tasers when a police officer perceives the situation as potentially harmful. Such situations may include instances where the subject engages in assaultive behaviour that creates risk of physical injury to another40. The department also allows use of impact weapons such as night sticks and batons in instances where the subject attacks or threatens to attack an officer by fighting and kicking41. All officers at Sacramento Police Force undergo training on instances where they are allowed to use force. They are allowed to go through the policy guiding use of force before being trained on how to employ force in various circumstances. As a consequence cases of force utilization have dropped drastically at the department and those witnessed involve criminal gangs who fight back when being arrested. It is thus apparent that Sacramento Police Force upholds principles of democratic policing in as far as force deployment is concerned. Conclusion It can be concluded that Sacramento Police Force upholds principles of democratic policing in its culture, ethics, accountability, governance, operations and use of force. This is largely influenced by its mission statement which has democratic principles enshrined in it. This enables the firm to recruit and carry out its operations with the public safety in mind. The mission statement of the Sacramento Police Force allows the local communities to air their views and participate in policing procedures in the region. As a consequence the firm has been able to reduce the crime rates in the region. Thus, this is an example of what democratic policing can do in terms of law and order enforcement. Reference Beck, Adrian, and Robertson Annette. (2009). The challenges to developing democratic policing in post-Soviet societies: the Russian experience. Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 285-293. Covin, David. (2009). Black politics after the civil rights movement: activity and beliefs in Sacramento, 1970-2000. California: McFarland. Ellison, Graham. (2007). A Blueprint for Democratic Policing Anywhere in the World? Police Reform, Political Transition, and Conflict Resolution in Northern Ireland. Police Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 243-269 Frederick Roth. (2007). Traditional Society and Urban Democratic Policing in Botswana. Police Practice and Research, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 63-78 Innes, Martin. Policing Uncertainty: Countering Terror through Community Intelligence and Democratic Policing. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 605, no. 1, pp. 222-241 Koski Connie. (2009). Afghanistan at a crossroads: the quest for democratic policing in a post-9/11 era. Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 317-332. Marks Monique, and Fleming Jenny. (2006). The Right to Unionize, the Right to Bargain, and the Right to Democratic Policing. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 605 no. 1, pp. 178-199 Monique Marks, and Jenny Fleming. (2008). Having a voice: the quest for democratic policing in Southern Africa. Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 21, no. 4, pp.451 – 459 Pruitt, William. (2010). The Progress of Democratic Policing in Post-Apartheid South Africa. African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies, vol. 4, no. 1 Sacramento Police Department. (2011). Home. Available at: http://www.sacpd.org/ Sanja Kutnjak. (2009). The Croatian police, police integrity, and transition toward democratic policing. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 32, no. 3, pp.459 – 488 Sklansky.D.A. (2008) Democracy and the police. Stanford University Press. Stanford. Read More