Police & Society Ch 11 & 12 - Essay Example

05 Apr. 2008 Chapter11: Legal Issues There are certain set of rules outlined for the police specifying what they may and may not do while treating an individual through criminal justice system. In order to affect an arrest, the police must need a higher standard probable cause. But they have the permission to perceive individuals based upon any suspicious activities. These issues are dealt in the Fourth Amendment. If this amendment is violated, the police are subjected to the exclusionary rule.

According to the rule, evidence illegally obtained is not permitted in court. Then the evidence cannot be used against the opponent. Those followed up evidences which pertain to the illegal evidence are also rejected. In some special cases, there are some exceptions where a police can arrest a person or search a place without any warrant. In such cases, those convicted and the evidences obtained also come under the law. Police have permission to search and seize evidences if it is in a plain view.

But the real problem happens in the case of vehicle theft. Searching a vehicle without a warrant is lawful because of the mobility. Fifth Amendment specifies that when a person is arrested, he or she must be given advice of his or her Miranda rights. It is a must because every accused person has the right against self-incrimination. Still, there are exceptions in these cases too. The police can be held if they commit a wrong or misuse the law. In case of federal violations, the police may be able to defend himself.

Civil liability leads to disastrous effect known as de-policing. This occurs when police fail to interact with citizens due to the fear of liability lawsuit. Chapter 12: Cultural Diversity American society has become rapidly diverse that diversity in policing fails to follow the same pace. Policing still remains to be a male dominant profession. Minorities are still finding tough to join the police force. Even if they join, they have to face with unequal treatment. Promotions, other compensations are usually restricted to these minorities.

Black officers are still prevented from arresting a white accused. As a result, when the black officers were evaluated, it was found out that a black officer does act harder on black people. This is to indicate that they were not biased. This ‘double marginality’ as it is called is of less threat nowadays. Women in policing are also of no exception. The activity of a female in policing was restricted to certain minimum. They did not go for a patrol till 1968. Later, studies illustrated that a female officer is capable of doing work in par with men.

It also showed that they were less violent and pretty hesitant in using armor. They were also emotionally stable.Another problem which had to be dealt in policing is discrimination. Several plans and rules were proposed by the government to employ minorities and females in policing. These were put to immediate action. Despite all this growth, it is still hard to find female and minorities in supervisory positions. The other problem for female officers is sexual harassment. This seems to be inevitable with this profession as it is a male dominated work.

To solve this issue, any complaint of sexual harassment has to be taken seriously and should be solved with immediate effect and severe punishment. If the department fails to do it, then liability of policing is exposed to the public. Throughout the decades, progress has been made to diversify the department. Inclusion of minorities and female officers will help in a large way to diversify policing. Works citedRoberg,Roy, Novak,Kenneth, & Cordner,Gary.(2005)” Police and Society”. North Carolina: Roxbury Publishing Company