Impact of Terrorism on the Police Mission, Police Ethics - Assignment Example

Impact Of Terrorism On the Police Mission The police mission in the US, like any other state, is to safeguard the rights of its citizens and maintain the required law and order of a nation while adhering to the basic human rights. In recent years, the United States Police Department has come under scanner with the state being accused, either falsely or rightfully, of harboring terrorists and targeting certain ethnic groups to suit their personal requirements (Delattre, 1989). Terrorism, as we all understand, is a deliberate use of force to oppress innocent citizens into submitting to certain specified demands. Numerous world leaders and university professors have stated that America has been the center of world terrorism for years and has used state terrorism to execute its foreign policies in various third world countries, with special regards to Nicaragua, Chile, Guatemala, Japan, Cuba, Chile, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Philippines and Syria. Terrorism implies extreme fear and terrorists use one or many means to scare civilians and even governments to succumb to their demands. The impact of 9/11 bomb blasts and numerous other terror acts have put the US police department in a jiffy. Numerous changes have been made with special regards to the planning and implementation of policies and intelligence agencies have been advised to stay on a high alert at all times. Yet, the fear of not being able to live up to the expectation of the state has never failed to plague the US police force. (Millie & Das, 2008) Law Enforcement Behavior V/S Police Ethics-Disagreements While the United States Police is supposedly the best equipped, if not the best trained police in the world, there are allegations which state that this law enforcement agencies does not follow its duties like it ideally should. This allegation is in regards to the basic human rights of the US citizens and while most agree that the duties are carried out without any bias attached, certain groups allege that the role of the police while tackling terrorism needs to be altered to suit the needs of the ordinary citizens. The biggest argument, which has yet to be resolved till date, is the need for a suitable police force that is equipped to handle adverse situations, including suicide terror attacks without inflicting any physical or mental injury on innocent bystanders. (Banks, 2004) Another allegation, which may or may not hold true for all, is the callous attitude of the police force towards a particular ethnic group. Some allege that while the policies of the police force are liberal towards a particular section of the society, the other sections, which are equally important, are mostly left aside or sidelined or given lesser importance while implementing law and enforcement policies. (Banks, 2004) Appropriate law enforcement behavior includes the use of force, with special regards to the prescribed guidelines laid down by the law ministry on terror groups that have been identified as problematic to the state and its citizens. Well, it has been noted that the police department has failed to curb the on going violence and has in turn inflicted physical as well as mental injuries on petty criminals including certain ordinary harmless citizens while conveniently allowing the main culprits to walk away. (Millie & Das, 2008) Social Stigma And Police Ethics Police has always been under a scanner as men and women are no angels and there is bound to be a level of corruption attached to their behavior and in the execution of a specified task. If we talk of social stigma, then it would not be incorrect to state that while hiring police officials, there is always a shadow of doubt which hovers around the minds of individuals who wish to be a part of the law enforcement agencies but are hesitant in doing so. Their belief is that a minority group like theirs does not stand a chance against the rulers in the game. (Delattre, Character and Cops: Ethics in Policing, 2002)Bias, based on race, color, sex, influence, power, money and support, often leads to a social stigma which lingers on as an overdose of alcohol and consumes all who fall in the above category. It has been noted in the US alone that the native Red Indians have always been subjected to a secondary status and when we compare their role in the state governance system with special regards to the US police department, we would note that despite overshadowing numerous candidates in terms of ability and talent, most often find themselves at the receiving end and fail to make it to the selection board. Likewise, those who have had a history of related abuses such as drug, alcohol, drunken driving and culpable homicide, are often regarded as a liability and blatantly denied the chance to improve for the better. When such individuals express their desire to take up a police job, more often than not, they are shown the back door. The social stigma of being a liability to the society often lingers on as an unforgettable dream and stalls all opportunities of an enhanced status. (Delattre, Character and Cops: Ethics in Policing, 2002) Social Stigma And Police Corruption-An Example I would now like to cite an example which is based on a real life incident. It foretells the impact of social stigma in furthering the police corruption. The incident which sparked a racial riot of sorts, took place in the year 1991. On the third of March, a couple of police officers belonging to the Los Angeles Police Department, pulled over a black man named Rodney King and started beating him for a minor offence of speed driving. The entire incident was captured on tape by a local civilian named George Holliday, who happened to be in the balcony of his apartment. The tape clearly showed four police officers namely, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseno and Sergeant Stacy Koon repeatedly striking the grounded individuals with assault batons. After the video was broadcasted internationally, the guilty officers were arrested and tried. Three were acquitted while the fourth was not proven guilty, in what was referred to as a biased judgment. This triggered the racial riots of 1992, which left over 53 people dead, over a thousand injured and a financial loss of over a billion dollars. This Los Angeles tragedy led to another trial wherein two of the officers, namely Laurence Powell and Sergeant Stacy Koon, were found guilty and sentenced to a two an a half year prison term, while the other two were acquitted due to lack of substantial evidence. This incident was regarded as a serious social stigma which showcased the atrocities of the US police force based on race and color. (Meagher, 2008) Ethical Forces And Police Corruption-A Similarity It is interesting to note that the ethical forces behind police corruption are the same when compared to the use of brute force. There are numerous instances wherein police has been shown to use oppressive force to curtail an incident which in reality, required minimal or no force at all. With times, it has also been noted that citizens are putting increasing amounts of pressure on the police department to not only contain the crime but to treat each and every citizen in a fair and square manner. The need of the hour in such a scenario is a transparent system of authority wherein, ordinary citizens have the privilege to oversee the actions of the police department with special regards to the use of ethical judgment while making an arrest, while interrogating a criminal and the use of force which could either be lethal or non lethal in nature. It has been noted in recent times that in a typical democratic set up, the police department is left untouched and allowed to act in accordance to its wishes unless and until their arises a crises which needs immediate action. Taking cue from the above statement, the Rodney King incident, wherein an African-American construction worker was mercilessly beaten with batons by a group of irate Los Angeles police officers, sparked a communal riot of sorts. This eventually led to a series of reforms in the police department. Had this incident not been captured on tape and displayed globally through various television channels, the US police would have continued to assault minority groups on a random basis. (Banks, 2004) Taking cue from the Rodney King incident, it would not be incorrect to state that it is indeed the ethical practices which allow the police department to continue their abusive tactics in trying to run the law and order of the city or a country. Had the citizens been an aware lot, with the desire to have an insight into the functionality of the law enforcement systems, such incidents would never have been allowed to take place. People, who are also known to form ethical habits, often tend to forget an incident after it has crossed a certain time limit. This lack of perseverance that can be attributed to a lackadaisical attitude and it often leads to the repetition of crimes with special regards to the ongoing police atrocities. A similar incident in Brazil, with special regards to the increase in the number of custodial deaths in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, resulted in the formation of the Police Ombudsman offices in as many as nine Brazilian states. Ethics play an important role in deciding the behavioral patterns in a human being and hence they need to be incorporated in the police training academy. While on one hand, ethical practices save a nation from a certain doom, the same practices, if not implemented or executed in the correct fashion, can result in a catastrophe of sorts. Hence, while using the word ethics, it is very important that we first understand its true meaning before applying or implementing it in any sense. (Banks, 2004) Individual Conscience And Police Assignments The past few years have been rather traumatic for the US Police Department and after the incidents involving Rodney King, Waco and Ruby Ridge, the need for evoking the police conscience has become a necessity of sorts. If we take the example of Rodney King, who was pulled over for a speeding charge and then knocked senseless by a group of four Los Angeles Police Department officers who used their batons without any remorse, the question of humanity is predominantly the most important of all and needs to be addressed by a panel of seasoned experts. Did the policemen have no heart or did they lack formal training? What about the other officers who had surrounded the poor African American speedster? Why were they standing quietly and behaving like typical bystanders? Well, the questions are valid and they are bound to question the conscience of individual officers. The Ruby Ridge incident is also about a fellow Federal Agent and his confrontation with other fellow officers of the law. The result was catastrophic and for a mere property dispute, numerous innocent lives were lost for ever. It is interesting to note that neither of the two parties, with special regards to the victim and the police, is ready to accept their fault and blame each other for the unwanted massacre, an unnecessary bloodshed that could easily have been avoided with a simple yet effective dialogue. The Waco Incident wherein seventy nine people including twenty one children died, is considered a black day for the police in America. The 1993 incident was the result of a fifty one day siege to arrest a probable criminal who was holed up in Waco Texas. (Meagher, 2008) Police Training For Ethical Dilemmas Police training includes teaching officers to face situations that would help them tackle the dilemmas of an ethical misconduct. It is important to note that such classes are only held in the light of an embarrassing situation, wherein the media has highlighted an issue which calls for an immediate action. The biggest problems faced by the teachers while formulating the teaching manual is to prepare the study material in a generalized fashion. More often than not, police officers come from varying backgrounds, hence it is not easy to prepare a tailor made program which can suit the needs of all trainees. Besides, the police officers working in various states face unique problems which affect their psychology in a different manner. Therefore, an ideal training module, which is equal for all, is fairly difficult to incorporate. Nonetheless, officers can be taught the basics through a standard module which aims at developing their ethical skills and allows them to behave in a citizen friendly manner. The ethical training needs to be incorporate before the officers are sent for practical duty and not when an embarrassing situation has put the police department in jeopardy. A team of trained psychologists need to preside over the training cessions and improve their course material through group interactions with the trainees. This would enable upcoming batches to benefit through the experiences of their seniors. (Millie & Das, 2008) (Meagher, 2008) Works Cited Banks, C. (2004). Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and Practice. SAGE. Delattre, E. J. (1989). Character and Cops: Ethics in Policing. Los Angeles: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Delattre, E. J. (2002). Character and Cops: Ethics in Policing. Los Angeles: American Enterprise Institute. Meagher, S. M. (2008). Philosophy and the City: Classic to Contemporary Writings. SUNY Press. Millie, A., & Das, D. K. (2008). Contemporary Issues in Law Enforcement and Policing. CRC Press. Read More