Police Misconduct and Harm Reduction - Essay Example

April 2 2006 Police misconduct There are numerous instances of police misconduct reported on the Internet. For this discussion I have chosen three instances to look at. The first instance happened in Texas in 1997. The person in question is a University student at the University of Texas. He was jaywalking late Saturday night on empty streets. The police car followed him very slowly and then finally stopped him. They said to him that they could "legally detain and even arrest him" (http://michaelbluejay.com/police/#jaywalking ) for jaywalking. The person in question however reports that there were no crosswalks at the places where he was crossing the streets. The officer then asked for his ID and called in to the station. However there were no warrants for his arrest or tickets that came up from the station. Another officer then appeared, and started feeling and searching the person in question. He also said to him: "I could be a real jerk..some officers would arrest you for not liking the way you look"(ibid). Another incident happened recently in San Diego and raised a storm in the media. This was the case where several women were arrested by El Cajon police officer named William Robert Taylor who allegedly made them perform sexual acts in return for their freedom. One case was thus described: "In one instance detailed in a Feb. 3 arrest warrant, a woman Taylor detained for petty theft in September 2005 at an El Cajon department store told police that Taylor forced her to disrobe and perform a sex act in the back seat of his patrol car while he stood outside and watched" (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060329-9999-2m29taylor.html ). The victim thought she had no options but to comply. Later Taylor claimed that the woman was not prompted to perform sexual act but that she willingly did it. There was yet another incident of the similar nature involving this same officer. This was when he arrested a woman for possession of marijuana plant and petty theft and told her that if she had sex with him he would not arrest her. These last two cases involve a questionable unethical behavior on the part of the police officer. The last case is somewhat more complex. It happened in Vancouver, BC, at the drug-ridden Downtown East Side. Apparently, the number of HIV infected drug users in this area has been alarming since the 1990's, and at the time when the said incident happened, in 2002, 40% of the residents of that area were HIV infected. This is higher than anywhere in Canada. This alarming fact prompted the health officials to start a safe injection needle exchange clinic, which was to be held outside, at the corner of Main and Hastings Street, which is where the greatest number of drug users can be found usually. The police had no right or warrant to close down the clinic. However, this is precisely what they did, as they alleged that there was illegal activity happening close by. This was a blow in the face of the drug addicts using heroin as well as the health officials who were concerned about more and more people getting infected with HIV virus due to the unsafe use of contaminated needles, which is apparently the quickest way for the HIV virus to enter one's bloodstream, quicker than sex for example. As in 2003 there was a new city major elected, he started a so-called 4-pillar approach to drug use in the city, which involved harm reduction, safe needle exchange sites and methadone program, as well as counseling. The police department asked the City council for permission to place more officers in the Downtown East Side, which was refused by the City council. However, the police still went ahead and, in addition to the 20 officers that were already there, they positioned another 40 officers from other areas of the city in the Downtown East Side. This made it almost impossible for the drug users to access the safe needle exchange clinic, as they had to bypass the police to get there. As the police were arresting people for drug possession, which consisted of possessing a syringe with a residue of drug in it, many of the infected or at-risk drug users decided not to use the clinic. The number of people who used the clinic thus fell from around 1400 a day to only 700. The drug addicts did not feel comfortable using the clinic with police standing next to it. The conclusion of this is that, despite of the prohibition by the City council to position more officers in this area of the city, the police went ahead and did it. Then they closed the safe needle exchange clinic but it was unlawful to do so, and one of the top officers at the Police department later apologized. The health officials were watching the police conduct during this whole operation that was called "Operation Torpedo", and had as a goal "cleaning the city from drug dealers". The health officials witnessed numerous beatings by the police of the drug addicts or suspected dealers. Also, numerous arrests were made, but out of over 50 arrests, only 8 of them were charged in the end. The last example is quite complex, but involves the police's attitude towards the poorest of the poor in the whole of Canada-they mistreat them, beat them, and unlawfully use force against those citizens. I believe that a lot of these police misconduct examples are due to the attitude of many of the officers, who feel "high and mighty" being in the role of law enforcers. The case of the person arrested for jaywalking also involves the unlawful use of force against a citizen, as well as unwarranted attempt of arrest. The case with several women in San Diego area involves misuse of the position on the part of the police officer, unlawful conduct and harassment of the victims. I believe that the authorities should impose stricter laws upon the officers who abuse their position, and that the investigations should be promptly conducted in such cases. In the case of Vancouver Downtown East Side, an organization called Human Rights Watch has given several propositions to deal with this situation. The point of the Human Rights Watch report (http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/canada/canada0503.pdf ), is that the persons at high risk-the HIV infected users, are a priority situation in Olympic-hosting Vancouver for the City council and officials. Thus the police, who unlawfully closed the safe injection site, are to be severely penalized for such activities. After all, I believe that those officers should receive back what they give to others-harsh treatment. Works Cited Jaywalking Menace. http://michaelbluejay.com/police/#jaywalking . Retrieved April 01, 2006. Women's allegations against police officer outlined. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060329-9999-2m29taylor.html . Retrieved April 01, 2006. Abusing the User: pOLICE mISCONDUCT, HARM REDUCTIO, AND HIV/AIDS IN VANCOUVER. http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/canada/canada0503.pdf . rETRIEVED APRIL 01, 2006. Read More