The Comparison of The United States and Africas Police Forces - Research Paper Example

The United States and South Africa's Police Forces and Correctional System The role of any police department is to protect lives and property. On the broad spectrum, law enforcers’ duties and roles on normal circumstances depend on the size, type, and diversity of their respective organizations. In comparing the United States police force with that of South Africa, both have the mandate and obligation to pursue and apprehend any person who violates the set laws. They also serve to issue warnings and citations. Most of these two forces’ time is spent writing comprehendible, documented reports and also in maintaining various records of the diverse incidents, they encounter. They also patrol their respective areas of jurisdiction, investigating any suspicious, or irregular and inconsistent activity they may notice on line of duty. Both forces have the obligation to respond to calls from individuals at any time of the day in times of need. The various detectives are the one delegated the important duties of gathering facts and collecting evidence. The daily duties of police officer vary over a wide range and are largely determined by their specialty. These specialties could be of police officer, game warden, or detective. In the United States, police officers could either be working for a local, state, or federal agency while the South African police forces work exclusively for the country. (Marais, 2001) The United States police officers could be put into various categories. State and local law enforcers of whom are in most cases uniformed, have been delegated the roles of general day-to-day law enforcement duties. They are the ones responsible for regular patrols in various areas especially of human settlement, they also respond to calls for service when situations arise that requires their services. In reality, most of their time is spent responding to various calls of duty and doing paperwork. Some of their duties include directing traffic in sophisticated urban areas and scenes of accidents, investigating burglary and robbery incidents or in offering human aid to victims of an accident. In the US, many urban police officers are involved in community policing, whereby the specific officers are required to establish a healthy mutual relationship with people living in the given community setting. The relationship established is crucial in that the officers are required to mobilize the public in the fight against crime. The agencies are on normal occasion organized into physical geographical areas, with specific areas being patrolled by uniformed police officers, with officers in large departments patrolling with an assigned partner. They familiarize and accustom themselves with their area of jurisdiction and are supposed to monitor the area, catering to any unusual happenings, arresting lawbreakers. These officers work in shifts. Some like college and university police forces have jurisdiction and enforcement responsibilities (Siegal, 2009). Some of the United States’ police forces are organized into highly trained specialized forces; they could be specialized in chemical and microscopic analysis, firearms training, and instructions among many other fields. Other departments have been set up that have been allocated duties, these require high specialization and skills, they could employ other devices and technological advancement, these include the special weapons and tactics (SWAT), canine corps, emergency response teams or those that use horses, motorcycles, or even bicycles. At the county level, there are the sheriffs and deputy sheriffs who are the main law enforcers in this category. Sheriffs are put in place after elections and their mandate are designed to resemble those of county police chief. The sheriffs’ departments are considerably smaller than other police departments with fewer than fifty officers. Deputy Sheriffs whose role is similar to that of officers in urban areas assist sheriffs. Apart from the sheriffs, there are the state police officers. The mandate of state police officers is arresting criminals in a given state and patrolling various regions of the state to ensure the law is observed. They also patrol the various highways to enforce the motor vehicle laws and regulations. These officers are the ones who are directly involved in ensuring state laws are adhered to without some individuals breaking them. The state police officers who comprise of highly trained individuals handle many incidents like accidents and burglary, they also direct traffic incase of an accident (Panek, 2003). All states in the US have state police officers whose roles are mainly directed and stipulated by each individual state’s laws and regulation. They are thus answerable to the state and thus their roles and duties are not uniform in the whole country as what is legal in one state could be illegal in another state. Most of the state police officers wear uniforms and operate in every state with Hawaii being the exception. Detectives are also part of the United States police department of which they are plainclothes clad, they are assigned the task of gathering and verifying various leading information. Their main role is to uncover certain mysteries that could have happened in the society, or detect potential danger and thus averting it. Since there are many forms of criminal activities, which are broad and detailed, detectives usually specializes in one field like homicide. In addition to the discussed forces, there is the fish and game wardens, responsible for enforcing fishing, hunting and boating laws (Panek, 2003). The Federal Bureau of investigation is the department whose agents are the principal government’s investigators. The bureau is charged with the duty of investigating violations of more than two hundred categories of Federal laws. The FBI investigators are highly regarded, as they are very efficient in their duties employing sophisticated technology in their investigations. They deal with almost all forms of crimes and work together with other police departments in maintaining peace and order The South African Police Service was created in 1913. The service is under one body unlike the US system. In South Africa, the police department is divided into various police stations that are located in the various provinces. In each province, there is a provincial commissioner of police, of which they are nine in numbers. The nine report directly to the national commissioner. The placing of the police force under one unit makes the South African Police force complex, difficult to handle and manage. Unlike in the US where various police units are established each independent of the other and having its own chief, the whole of South African Police Service is under one body and thus there is no independence of departments. The job specifications on the side of the South African police are not clearly stated and thus there is a tendency of inefficiency as each department expects the other to handle the case. Over the years, the South African police had been heavily militarized and was responsible for committing atrocities during the apartheid era. The police officers were accused of committing crimes against humanity. They would rape women, releasing dogs on protesters and shooting at protesters without being held accountable for their crimes. Many protesters died at the hand of the police officers. The police were the main force behind the apartheid regime, with themselves practicing the apartheid segregation politics. In the post apartheid era, the police department has been radically reformed but the pertinent issues of using excesses force; extrajudicial killing and corruption persist. The US police force is highly efficient and widely regarded and trusted; the South African people have no confidence in their police force. Many of the high profile cases in South Africa remain unsolved while the American police department is credited for arresting high profile criminals and solving complex case. The South African police department continues being accused of corruption, inefficiency and their slow emergency responses. Cases of extrajudicial killing continue to be reported in South Africa with the criminals still at large. The hierarchy of The South African system makes it hard to dispatch information with efficiency. Community police in South Africa is still lagging behind as the relationship between the officers and the public is still far apart. However, both the US police department and the South African police department are charged with similar responsibilities of preventing, combating, and investigating crime. They are also supposed to maintain public order at the same time ensuring the established laws are respected and the rule of law prevails. They are also charged with the responsibility of safeguarding people’s property (Siegal, 2009). The South African correctional facilities are generally constructed to host all sorts of criminals. Prisons are owned and run by the republic. Within one correctional facility, it is possible to find all categories of offenders with the various offenders being kept in different wings depending on their crimes. In contrast with the South Africa’s system, the US correctional facilities are divided into various categories with low maximum correctional facilities being used to host white collar and blue-collar criminals while the maximum-security correctional facilities being used to host offenders perceived as dangerous or high profile. The South African criminal law and procedure is not peculiar or unique from many other African systems, which draws heavily from the former colonizers (Marais, 2001). The South African criminal law was essentially designed by the colonialists to try Africans, and thus had heavy penalties and harsh conditions for offenders. In the contemporary modern South African, the criminal laws are fashioned like those of the British and the Americans. However, traditional laws have been incorporated into the system and have become part and puzzle of the South African judicial system. Some of the recognized traditional laws and customs include traditional marriages and inheritance. In South Africa, custom laws are accepted. For example, the South African president, Jacob Zuma has defended his practice of polygamy citing that his Zulu traditional customs allow it. In the US, the people who have no past criminal records and not perceived as dangerous, are put in minimum-security federal prisons or low security Federal Correctional Institution. However, criminals like Noriega were also put in a low security facility yet he was considered a dangerous criminal. This is because according to the Geneva Convention, he was not regarded as a criminal but a prisoner of war. The low security federal prisons like Alderson federal prisons have no barbed wire on the fence surrounding the camp. Inmates are given time to roam and play volleyball. These prisons are for people convicted of non-violent or white-collar crime. Offenders who are perceived as very highly dangerous are put in super maximum-security prison like ADX Florence. These are tight security prisons for prisoners deemed too dangerous or high profile .There is no communication with the outside world, the furniture is made of pure concrete material and prisoners are kept in confinement for long hours. The windows are small and are designed to prevent the prisoners from knowing their whereabouts. There are also high razor wire fences, laser beams and attack dogs are common. One warder of such prisons described them as a cleaner version of Hell. In South Africa, correctional facilities do not meet the required standards and have been deemed by the international observers, as having inhumane conditions for holding human beings. Many of the existing correctional facilities were constructed during the colonial and apartheid period. They were designed to contain Africans, who as the reasoning of the colonizers were lesser human beings closer to monkeys than human beings. The South African correctional facilities thus do not provide the required environment for rehabilitating inmates and thus does not serve the purpose designated for a correctional facility. However, even some of the US correctional facilities like the discussed ADX Florence maximum-security prison have been criticized of the harsh conditions that offenders have to undergo through, and have been described as causing psychic breakdown to the offenders. References Marais, H. (2001). South Africa: limits to change, the political economy of transition. Johannesburg: UCT Press Panek, L. (2003). The American police novel: a history. Jefferson: McFarland & Company Siegal, L. (2009). Criminology. Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth Read More