This paper just needs to be revised….the draft has been critiqued by the professor and he has commented in the right column what changes need to be made and where. You can revise this paper by tomorrow and send a mark-up page of what was changed if you can as well. Thanks
publication_revisions.doc
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Running head: POLICE-CITIZEN CONTACTS
Police-Citizen Contacts
By:
Saint Leo University
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POLICE-CITIZEN CONTACTS
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Police-Citizen Contacts
Since the dawn of civilization, society has always maintained a group of preselected
individuals to preserve its integrity and security. The police service is modern civilization’s
iteration of this organization. The increasing spread of information in today’s world has proven
instrumental in informing society of the operations of police units, which has resulted in an
increased focus on the way these groups conduct their activities. For instance, the grounds that
police units use for establishing suspicion and following up with investigations are of primary
concern due to their implications on the public. Although countless legal statutes attempt to
protect citizens from undue attention from the police, the possibility of unfair treatment still
exists in police-citizen contacts. The issue becomes even more worrying when considering that
the powers vested in the police grant them a status that supersedes that of the citizens, thus
increasing the possibility of negative contacts in their interactions with these security agents. The
police have to examine these contacts as well as the ways in which they can balance out their
interactions to ensure that their elevated status does not negatively affect citizens’ perceptions of
and support for their activities.
Police work is a mainly reactive profession since it requires officers to work towards
countering criminal elements that have already taken root in their jurisdictions. To achieve their
goals, officers enjoy privileges that citizens do not, such as the ability to examine cases based on
suspicion of involvement. In many instances, they can investigate individuals linked to the crime
in question, which helps in unraveling complex but relevant connections to the crimes under
investigation (Dunham & Alpert, 2015). One of the contentious issues facing this privilege is that
police have the ability to misuse their power and harass persons that they believe have
connections to the crimes or the suspected perpetrators. In fact, incidences involving
POLICE-CITIZEN CONTACTS
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unwarranted harassment from police officers are common occurrence in modern society and
news reports are replete with such cases even in the wake of increased public awareness
(Mazerolle, Bennett, Antrobus, & Eggins, 2012). If left untended to, these behaviors threaten to
harm the public’s perceptions of the police irreparably, and can lead to a reduction in citizens’
confidence in security agencies’ operations. Consequently, it is vital for police officers to pay
due attention to the rights of the individuals that they investigate, and thus reduce the adverse
effects that wrongful suspicion and harassment have on the way the citizens perceive them.
Even though many cases have direct solutions because they already have suspects
attributed to the crimes, some require further investigations to establish the guilt of the alleged
perpetrators. The issue of probable cause is instrumental in assisting in detective work since it
utilizes a verifiable approach to investigations, which the officers can present as evidence at the
perpetrator’s trial (Dunham & Alpert, 2015). However, the processes that officers utilize in
establishing probable cause can result in the failure of their cases if police officers implement or
create them in ways that contravene the legal guidelines. For instance, officers face an uphill task
when determining the guilt of offenders who leave no traces of evidence to link them to the
crime. In comparable situations, the police can put aside the legal investigative methods for their
form of self-justifiable vigilantism to bring the perpetrator to justice. Although this approach
does get the perpetrator to justice, it risks having the cases withdrawn from court due to the
illegality of the investigative process that closed the case in the first place (Mazerolle et al.,
2012). Officers should thus pay due attention to the legal guidelines surrounding the issue of
probable cause to increase the efficacy of their investigative processes as well as the success of
the cases that they build against criminal elements.
POLICE-CITIZEN CONTACTS
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The modern society’s culturally and socioeconomically disparate nature makes police
work more difficult as officers have to apply the same practices across diverse demographics.
The situation raises issues because officers are prone to utilizing the biases that they developed
during their upbringing when approaching their cases. Racial profiling is among the key
contentious issues because it creates undue conflict between police officers and individuals from
particular ethnic backgrounds (Mazerolle et al., 2012). For example, there is a disconnect
between the police and African American societies as a result of the history of negative
encounters that this group has had with law enforcement. In this case, officers often find that the
conflict hinders their investigations within these groups, which reduces the effectiveness of the
service that they provide to these communities. Moreover, negative relationships also mean that
these societies have more exposure to officers’ misconduct due to the negative feelings that the
two harbor for each other (Mazerolle et al., 2012). As a social entity, law enforcement requires
its officers to provide the same standard of service to all communities under their jurisdiction to
ensure the success of their interactions and investigations. Subsequently, officers should work
towards approaching all their cases with the same level of objectivity to increase citizens’
cooperation and confidence in their services.
Police officers enjoy more privileges than ordinary citizens because of the role that the
former plays in ensuring the safety of the latter. One of these is the power to detain a person for
his or her safety or the safety of the public. For instance, officers are authorized to arrest drunken
drivers to protect the rest of society from the dangers associated with this practice (Dunham &
Alpert, 2015). Even though the legal guidelines surrounding detention guarantee the safety of
these individuals, it is possible for law enforcement officers to overemphasize the importance of
detaining lawbreakers. For example, the police force can wrongly utilize this tool to detain
POLICE-CITIZEN CONTACTS
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people who are of primary importance to their investigations to safeguard the integrity of their
investigations. In such occasions, the officers use this statute to deprive the concerned persons of
their freedoms for extended periods of time to ensure the success of their cases as opposed to
safeguarding the lives of these people (Mazerolle et al., 2012). Therefore, this among other
misuses of power can have adverse impacts on the cases that these officers build, especially if
the perpetrator’s defense counsel pushes to negate the evidence obtained from the detained
individual. Therefore, officers should understand the limitations of their power to detain, and
ensure that they preserve the integrity of their cases while also respecting the rights of the
victims that they detain.
One of the main controversial issues in police-citizen contacts is that of the officers’
power to arrest individuals once they establish enough proof of their involvement in criminal
activities. Arrested persons have fewer freedoms as compared to ordinary citizens since their
arrest often precludes extended periods of incarceration to separate them from society. In any
case, an arrest acts as a precursor to the concerned person’s arraignment in court, which means
that officers should only utilize this tool after establishing the individual’s involvement in the
crimes in question (Mazerolle et al., 2012). However, the high number of cases of wrongful
arrests that are reported in the media indicates that police officers are prone to misusing their
powers of arrest. In fact, officers’ subjective approach to some cases often results in a failure to
hold these individuals accountable for their crimes because wrongful arrests lead to case
dismissals as they constitute contraventions to such individuals’ rights (Dunham & Alpert,
2015). Illegal arrests are of primary concern to officers and citizens alike because they negate the
effectiveness of the claims that the officers build while eroding citizens’ confidence in officers’
activities. Police officers should thus ensure that they utilize their powers of arrest at the right
POLICE-CITIZEN CONTACTS
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time, and facilitate their ability to meet their mandate while respecting and safeguarding the
rights of the citizens in their jurisdictions.
Police officers possess the power to employ reasonable force to preserve the peace, and
this allows them to respond to violent individuals in order to subdue them. The power to react
violently to aggressive suspects ensures that officers can safeguard their safety and that of the
public from those willing to unlawfully utilize violence to achieve their means (Mazerolle et al.,
2012). Like any other situation involving persons with more protections than others, officers can
misuse this power to subdue individuals who show inclinations to violence but do not enact it
when dealing with other police officers who break the law. The issue of suspicion also plays a
significant role in influencing officers’ decision to use lethal force, such as in the case of a
person suspected of having concealed weapons when interacting with officers or with the rest of
society. In some instances, wrongful suspicion can lead to the injury or death of the suspect,
which exposes law enforcement efforts to negative publicity. In doing so, police officers can
cause undue harm to the individuals that they restrain, as well as to the public’s perceptions of
the operations of law enforcement agencies (Mazerolle et al., 2012). Officers should thereby
understand the limitations of their application of force to reduce the instances of its wrongful use
and preserve the integrity of their operations.
Law enforcement actions often expose officers to interactions with suspected criminal
elements that they sometimes have to infiltrate or cooperate with to meet their mandate. The
human element in such scenarios can lead officers down a path of corruption, whereby they work
to safeguard their interests instead of those of the public (Dunham & Alpert, 2015). Comparable
officers further reduce the efficacy of police operations, since their interactions with corruption
negate the work of other members of the Bureau regarding their efforts towards apprehending
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these perpetrators. Corrupt officers are also more likely to overlook public safety when they
operate, further exposing society to the scourge of unlawful treatment. Even though cases of
police corruption are few when compared to those of officers who abide by the law, the existence
of corrupt officers is detrimental to the integrity of the police service. Police corruption has a
negative effect on citizens’ interactions with officers because it reduces the public confidence in
the latter’s ability to meet the obligations of their tasks (Dunham & Alpert, 2015). Moreover,
corruption reduces the ability of other officers to carry out their investigations because it creates
avenues for criminal elements to sabotage cases that law-abiding officers build against them.
Therefore, officers should work towards identifying and rooting out corrupt colleagues in order
to improve the effectiveness of their operations.
Even though police officers have a long history of conflict with citizens, their role as
security agents also means that they are responsible for the relative safety that the citizens enjoy.
Officers find that positive interactions with people also translate into better cases and therefore,
an increased ability to conduct their activities efficiently. In fact, including citizens in police
activities concerning public safety is instrumental in facilitating the success of the investigations
that officers carry out (Dunham & Alpert, 2015). Officers have to make sure that the citizens that
they interact with are willing to cooperate with them and to contribute freely to their
investigative efforts. To achieve this goal, officers must ascertain that any cooperation is
consensual, thus reducing the friction between them and the public while facilitating positive
contributions to their activities. The modern world’s dependence on innovations in
communication opens up many avenues for police officers to cooperate with and obtain
information from responsible citizens. Tip lines, anonymous informants, and community security
initiatives are just some of the communication channels that officers can use to increase
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interactions with the public and thus, their ability to safeguard the communities under their
protection (Mazerolle et al., 2012). Officers should, therefore, understand the limitations of
traditional investigative channels and incorporate technology to facilitate better communications
with citizens.
Police officers have to understand the limitations imposed by the contact between them
and citizens to enhance the provision of unbiased and holistic services. Police harassment is one
of the factors that lowers public confidence in police activities. Officers must also use their
powers of arrest and detention sparingly, and thus ensure that they uphold the law and preserve
citizens’ confidence by operating within legal parameters. The use of force and racial profiling
also stand out as critical issues that officers must address to increase the public’s willingness to
interact with officers and help in their investigations. Besides, law enforcement agencies have to
vet their officers regularly to address issues of corruption, since corruption reflect negatively on
their ability to meet their mandate while simultaneously increasing citizens’ exposure to criminal
elements. Furthermore, officers should work towards collaborating with citizens given that this
reduces the chances of exposing their investigations to incidences of profiling and unlawful use
of probable cause. Overall, officers have to understand that citizens’ involvement in police work
is instrumental to the efficacy of their activities. Therefore, the police force must work towards
building public’s confidence in their services, and thus increase their willingness to contribute to
the safety of their communities.
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References
Dunham, R. G., & Alpert, G. P. (2015). Critical issues in policing: Contemporary readings.
Long Grove: Waveland Press.
Mazerolle, L., Bennett, S., Antrobus, E., & Eggins, E. (2012). Procedural justice, routine
encounters and citizen perceptions of police: main findings from the Queensland
Community Engagement Trial (QCET). Journal of Experimental Criminology, 8(4), 34367. Retrieved from http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11292-012-9160-1
Joshua,
This was a major improvement over your other papers. While I could clearly see where you
points were stated, I felt as if there are a lot of words that could be taken out and still get the
point across. The professor gets on me about my word count, at 2232 words; your word count is
over the maximum requirement of 1700 and it clearly formulates the article as such. I put some
comments throughout your paper in hopes that they could help you with your writing and I look
forward to the same.
Suggestions for Improvement: There was a lot of information in this paper. There are a lot of
“the”, “that” I feel should be taken from the article. From the looks of it, seems as if you used
Grammarly as a source for article. That is awesome. I would also read-up on APA formatting as
there were a few mistakes in the paper. I would also read over my paper and review the final
draft to make sure proper formatting is there. I did not see a Abstract and looks like you need at
least one more reference. Overall, great article.
Thank you,
Malcolm Anderson
…
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