Writing Assignment: Future Issues - Essay Example

? Writing Assignment: Future Issues Introduction Law enforcement organizations are those which are linked with the implementation of legal acts and possess common interest towards the good of the society (Pearsall, 2010). The tasks performed by law enforcement officers are quite risky and challenging as well, that requires full dedication and cognitive skills. For instance, law enforcement requires high standard of moral principles and commitment for integrity of the agents, i.e. the police officers to be effective. However, in the present day context this particular issue has become a debated topic within and outside the law enforcement agencies (Carter, 2004). Issues Faced By Law Enforcement In Future Effective enforcement of law has been debated on various grounds related to issues faced by the concerned organizations. For instance, the issues related to the racial profiling are found to be emerging throughout the nation. Racial profiling can be described as the practice of the police officer when he tends to barricade, question, arrest and investigate someone on the basis of person’s race or ethnicity. Racial profiling tends to take place at times when ethnicity is used as a factor to judge the legal offence that leads an officer to act with biasness. This can in future raise the possibility of racial discrimination that in turn shall hamper the integrity of the law enforcement agencies (Cleary, 2000). Particularly, the aspects coherently associated with the police department are to protect and serve the society from criminal activities and harmful consequences. It is often expected by the citizens of the country that the police officers will inculcate peace and enhance the safety of the citizens irrespective of the demographic features of their locality. For instance, the cities that are bigger has enough budget to keep up with the technology and therefore can provide the police officers with all the required updated and reliable equipments in order to maintain a keen eye on the criminal activities taking place in the society. On the contrary, the rural region law enforcement agencies face limitations in terms of technological and supervisory support from the government that in turn hampers their efficiency in rendering services (Newton, 2007). Furthermore, it has been identified in a survey of Department of Justice in the year 2004, that in over ninety percent of law enforcement organizations there are approximately less than fifty avowed officers. These officers were found to be serving 25,000 populations. The survey also revealed that the problems persist within the small jurisdictions. The various illegal and unethical activities such as robberies, thefts, murders as well as rapes were noticed to be increasingly depicting the inefficiency of these agencies. One of the significant reasons can be identified as the lack in supply of required equipments to the agencies due to restricted budget. Therefore, if the same condition persists in the near future, the law enforcement officers may not be able to serve their nation in a better way (Weisheit, Wells & Falcome, 2011). It has also been identified that the law enforcement agencies might face issues related to leadership. Thus, in future such agencies will have to be more creative which is one of the most significant challenges for the law enforcement agencies acting in the rural regions (Woods, n.d.) Most of the police officers may get involved in corruption for the purpose of their personal benefits which are not completely secured in the rural regions. The most common form of corruption has been identified in terms of bribery as well as theft of illegal imports. Notably, corruption in the law enforcement organizations can be a consequence of either internal or external issues. For instance, in the case of internal issues, the officers tend to commit crime for the sake of their own interest. On the other hand, in case of external issues the police officers show interest in receiving payments from outside agents as bribe in order to act according to the payers’ motive (Newton, 2007). According to the study of More (2008), most of the officers devote much time in resolving the conflicts and the disputes related to their personal interests rather than the ethical enforcement of legal acts. The law enforcement organizations are focusing on the identification of the ways through which such issues can be handled in a professional manner. However, the officers are skeptic and apprehensive of the fact that there is likelihood of such issues increasing in the near future. It has also been noticed that the police may confront with the issues related to domestic violence within its own rank. Therefore, attempt needs to be made in order to control such instances to confirm the modesty and integrity of police officers (More, 2008). The law enforcement agencies face multiple allegations regarding the acts performed by police officers that tend to infringe the public trust and the civil rights of the citizens to an extent. Furthermore, they were found engaging in criminal acts, use extreme force unnecessarily, and behave impolitely with the sufferers. All these allegations deteriorate the image of the officers towards the society and the department as well. It can be mentioned that maintaining a loyal and responsible image is quite significant for the law enforcement agents to regain the trust of the society. The police officers need to earn the trust by demonstrating high level of ethical and moral standard and professionalism towards their responsibilities as law enforcement agents. It is worth mentioning that due to the actions of a handful of corrupted and disloyal policemen, the reputation of the entire department is getting ruined (More, 2008). It is worthy of stating that most of the large law enforcement organizations are confronted with the issues related to dullness of the human conditions. When there are physical as well as psychological rise and fall faced by the police officers, they are likely to witness high level of stress. It is quite significant for the law enforcement agencies to deal with such traumas since it may lead to callousness and cynicism due to the stress. It has been identified by some of the criminal justice experts that there is close linkage among the ‘official corruption’, ‘stress’ and ‘cynicism’ as well as ‘arrogance’. It is significant for the police officers to identify the fact that they can earn respect from the society only if they practice fairness as well as honesty in their operations (Gentile, n.d.). Conclusion With due consideration to the above discussion, it can be mentioned that the issues may advance with due course of time if the law enforcement agencies do not recognize the harm of the unethical and legal offences carried on by police officers, such as bribery and theft of illegal imports. Training initiatives in terms of on-the-job training as well as in-service training need to be provided to the law enforcement agents so that they can learn effectively and develop their professionalism maintaining high degree of ethical standard in the society. With the help of scientific methodologies, corruption can be eliminated to a great extent as identified by internal affairs’ executives of the law enforcement agencies (Gentile, n.d.). References Carter, D. L., (2004). Law enforcement intelligence: a guide for state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies. Retrieved from http://www.intellprogram.msu.edu/Carter_Intelligence_Guide.pdf Cleary, J. (2000). Racial profiling studies in law enforcement: issues and methodology. Retrieved from http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/pubs/raceprof.pdf Gentile, J., (n.d.). Free donuts and more: a commentary on police misconduct and corruption. Retrieved from http://www.stevedavis.org/spiritofthelaw/sol1art1.html More, H. W., (2008). Current issues in American law enforcement: controversies and solutions. United States: Charles C Thomas Publisher Newton, M., (2007). The encyclopedia of American law enforcement. United States: Infobase Publishing. Perrsall, B., (2010). Predictive Policing: the future of law enforcement. National institute of justice. 266. Weisheit, R. A., Wells, L.E., & Falcone, D. N. (2011). Community policing in small town and rural America. Sage Journals online. 57(5). Woods, D. A., (n.d.). Downsizing: a leadership challenge for the future of law enforcement. Retrieved from http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/Content/getdoc/d9b2ae1e-5d4b-4dc3-8ba9-a01794b099ec/Woods.aspx Read More