Police Harass Citizens While Surprising Social Protest - Essay Example

Introduction The government of any country is responsible for ensuring enough security and wellbeing of its citizens. Actually, the government must ensure that citizens live peacefully among each other and that they are protected from external threats. Police constitute the central pillar for citizen protection in any country (Sung 20). In order to execute their duties smoothly, police officers should build a good correlation with citizens. Unfortunately, police and citizens in most countries have had poor relations for many years, which hinder proper cooperation. Some cases have been reported where police harass citizens while surprising social protest. Citizens should record police brutality during social protests in order to hold them accountable for the injustices they commit. Citizens should make good use of the modern technology to ensure that police are accountable for their actions. Electronic gadgets such as digital cameras and video recorders can be used to record social evils committed by police to citizens during protests. Citizens should never allow the police to undermine the human rights. Police are only required to maintain law and order without threatening the citizens. When citizens work under the fear of being harassed or abused by the police, national output is negatively affected. As a result, tax remittance to the government reduces, leading to financial constraints. Reduction in tax collection may affect the salaries given to the police officers. In essence, motion pictures and photos serve as good sources of actual information. Video clips recorded during social protests can be used in the court of law to fight for justice. Citizens should always considered themselves as the employer of the police officers and therefore should never fear to present their grievances whenever oppressed. Social protest should be well organized to ensure that innocent citizens do not suffer from police ruthlessness. For instance human rights activist should ensure that the media covers all the injustices done to citizens during social protests. Sometimes the police use social protests as avenues for amassing public wealth. Just like the employees respect their employers, the police should do the same to citizens. Money spent by the government to remunerate the police is collected from the citizens through taxation. In this regard, the police should view citizens as their employer and not just minor elements in the economy. In fact, were it not for the citizens’ interest, the government could not have introduced the police institution. Thoreau (115) argues that police officers should carry out their duties without creating tension or fear to the citizens. Citizens are the bosses and should be treated with utmost respect and care. In essence, citizens should develop divergent mechanisms for ensuring accountability of police in their actions. Brutality should certainly not be used as a tool for conflicts resolution among the citizens. The police should have some sense of humanity when handling security matters. Citizens are sometimes punished for the wrongs that they never committed. In some instances, police conduct shallow investigations and end up arresting and punishing the wrong individuals. In order to avoid punishing or arresting the wrong persons, police should consider adopting non-violent approaches when carrying out their duties. The role of police in citizen protection can never be underestimated (Weisburd and Anthony 104). However, caution must be taken to avoid hurting innocent citizens in the process of providing protection. Threating of citizens and use of violence promote emergence of illegal activities such as corruption. Vices such as corruption reduce the money available for taxation. In fact, corruption results in accumulation of funds in the hands of few individuals thereby leaving little money for public consumption. Corruption is among the most hazardous enemies for economic development in any country. Several researches have shown that the police form the most corrupt department in many governments. The government should intervene and ensure that no money is paid to the police officers by the members of public for delivery of services. The police are supposed to serve all the citizens, regardless of color, race or place of origin. Discrimination in services delivery by the police might discourage investment and lower the tax collection. Sometimes the police threaten citizens in order to lure then into paying bribes. The bribes paid do not contribute to the economic development of the country since it is not accounted for. In this regard, police should never threaten the citizens to avoid diversion of incomes targeted for national development. The police should give the citizens a humble social-cultural environment to enhance peaceful coexistence among people from different origins (Phelps 189). Activities such as brutal killings and arrest of witnesses, by police, discourage social cohesion and national integration. Citizens require space to socialize without police interference and fear of arrest for no apparent reason. As the taxpayers, citizen should be granted the freedom to express their views and interact freely for business and social wellbeing. The police should only intervene when misuse of freedom is witnessed, for instance, when some citizens abuse others or disrupt meetings organized in the society (Brezina 25). However, violence should never be used as an intervention approach since it might lead to harming innocent citizens. Police should always portray professionalism and maturity when dealing with citizens. Heinous practices such as brutal killings of innocent people and harassment of citizens during investigation of criminal activities should never happen. Police should be disciplined and stick to serving public interest. Once people are enrolled in the police force, they become public property. That is, they are given the responsibility to guard the public property and people’s welfare. However, the police should be moderate when storming to citizens’ privacy, either in residential areas or at social gatherings. It is imperative to identify that some private details are very delicate to be exposed to the public. People dwellings should be respected and investigational regard an individual’s private life should be done with extreme care. The approach adopted by the law enforcement officers during interrogation is very crucial in digging out important information. In reference to this, police should learn to apply nonviolent approaches when conducting interrogations in order to facilitate timely response and avoid unnecessary public disturbance. Police officers should make an effort of understanding the concept of personality differences and people’s temperament (Phelps 100). People have different points of view and react differently to infliction of force. Some people like being against the set rules or principles. Others hate being punished by officers younger than them in terms of age or body complexion. Some people fear police officers and become nervous whenever a police officer is around. Therefore, police officers should take time to understand people’s behavior before taking an action. People cannot behave the same or respond to instructions in the same manner. No matter how difficult dealing with citizens could be, use of violence or threats by police officers should be discouraged. Essentially, all people should be treated fairly according to their personalities since they all pay tax. Research has shown that sympathize of police brutality argue that use of force enhances public discipline. The argument here is that being good to the citizens will complicate execution of duties. The sympathizers further argue that use of violence by police scares the citizens from engaging in criminal and unlawful activities. A critical analysis of this line of thinking demonstrates a number of fallacious reasoning. For instance, some police officers use violence to enrich themselves. Since the police are allowed to possess firearms by law, some use them to rob the citizens. Additionally, some officers use their positions to amass public wealth. Force is not the only option to reduce criminal activities in a county. In fact, use of violence leads to poor relations between police officers and the citizens. In addition, violence by police encourages people to develop defense mechanisms thereby fueling the increase of crimes. For instance, people might opt to own guns in order to reiterate once they are attacked by armed police officers. Violence should only be used where necessary. For instance, when gunmen attack a bank or a supermarket, it is understandable for police to use violence. In such a case, the police will be acting with the aim of protecting innocent citizens from the gunmen. However, use of violence in such a case should be controlled to avoid causing any physical harm to innocent people. Police should be friendly to the public in order to understand the challenges facing them. Citizens are the best sources of information regarding crimes, and therefore police officers should not create a wall in-between. Conclusion Citizens should be protected from any kind of harm by the police. Citizens pay tax to the government and therefore they should enjoy security and social wellbeing. Violence or threats should never be used as tools for protecting citizens by the police. Police officers should enhance good relationship with the citizens to promote cohesion and nation integration. All taxpayers should be protected since they enormously contribute to the economic development of a country. Police should serve citizens with some sense of humanity to promote cooperation in maintaining security. In summary, citizens are important assets in any country since they are the largest contributors to economic development. Works Cited: Phelps, Nicole. Sovereignty, Citizenship, and the New Liberal Order: Us-habsburg Relations and the Transformation of International Politics, 1880-1924. , 2008. Print. Weisburd, David, and Anthony A. Braga. Police Innovation: Contrasting Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Print. Sung, Hung-En. The Fragmentation of Policing in American Cities: Toward an Ecological Theory of Police-Citizen Relations. Westport, Conn. [u. a].: Praeger, 2002. Print. Brezina, Corona. Sojourner Truths "aint I a Woman?" Speech: A Primary Source Investigation. New York: RosenCentral Primary Source, 2005. Print. Thoreau, Henry. Civil Disobedience and Other Essays (The Collected Essays of Henry David Thoreau). New York. Digireads.com Publishing. 2010. Print. Read More