LEADERSHIP PERSONAL ISSUES AND THE RULES OF LAW
- Examine the change in requirements that police hiring agencies have had for potential candidates over the last 50 years and discuss the effects on law enforcement organizations. Support for critique the current requirements
Police hiring agencies demand a particular level of education for the individuals interested to work in the department. Individuals need to have a post-secondary education before they can be enrolled in the agencies. The post-secondary education requirements have been embraced by most of the police recruiting agencies in America for the last fifty years (50). They have made it an essential requirement while conducting the recruitment of potential police officers. Any person who does not have post-secondary education tends to be disqualified from the recruitment activities by the police hiring agencies.
Moreover, individuals willing to join the police force are required to possess particular qualities apart from post-secondary education. For instance, they are required to must be of sound mind, ability to perform his/her duties while under pressure, and must be of good character (Mays, 2). A high school diploma was the only education requirement required for someone to become a police officer in America before 1986. High-school diploma or the GED is still the minimum education requirement for a large number of individuals willing to join the police agencies. However, the trend is changing where most of the organizations prefer applicants with a bachelor’s degree, post-secondary credit, or associate’s degree (Powers, 1). For instance, in 1994, a bachelor’s degree was made a compulsory requirement for the individual seeking police officer jobs regardless of their experience.
Raising the education level requirements for the police individuals joining the police force is vital since it will help in developing an effective law administration operation. A high level of education amongst the police officers is an essential aspect since it enables them to exhibit appropriate character. Moreover, a high level of education will allow the police officers to generate necessary traits that are necessary while dealing with the members of the society. Potential police officers need to posse’s higher education levels since it will enable them to establish good work habits, hence making them turn out to more professional. Additionally, high education levels amongst eh police will tend to improve their effectiveness whenever they are conducting various duties in the society/field.
- Examine two areas in which federal courts have placed limits on officers’ constitutional rights due to the nature of their work and explain the reasoning
One of the areas in which federal courts have placed limits on the officers’ constitutional rights is regarding the right to privacy. The right to privacy denotes that an individual has the right to have the protection of his/her information from public scrutiny. Federal courts deny officers the right to privacy; it permits public recording of the police officers. This can be seen from various situations, for instance, the District Chief Judge Patti Saris (Martin v Gross in Boston) argued that section 99 of the constitution is unconstitutional since it inhibits the secret recording of the police officers (law enforcement officers) whenever they are undertaking their duties in public. The increase of the technology and innovation of new technological devices such as smartphones with recording devices has increased the recording of the police officers while conducting their duties in the field. It is turning out to difficult for the police officers to undertake any illegal activities whenever they are in the field (Mays, 2). Despite that the recording of police officers is prohibited by the section 99 of the constitution, it is a significant undertaking since it helps in unearthing the evil activities conducted by police officers in the field, this, in turn, facilitates law enforcement officers to behave whenever they are conducting their duties. The issue was affirmed by ACLU executive director (Carol Rose), who argued that the recording of the police officers while in public helps postulates a good picture of ho police officers undertake their duties.
A federal court has placed limits on the amount of the force needed to be exhibited by police officers. The federal court has a limited amount of force that needs to be applied by the police officers while dealing with the citizens or individuals in society. Excessive use of power by the police officers (police brutality) has caused massive loss of life amongst various individuals in the United States. Most white and black Americans have lost their lives due to excessive force used by police officers. This has contributed to Federal Law finding necessary measures to mitigate the power that needs to be used by police officers while in the field. This has contributed to the formation of a new bill such as AB392 to help save individuals from the excessive force employed by some of the police officers, which in turn leads to loss of lives and destruction of families. Police are only allowed to use excessive force only when there is no other alternative. These limits are essential since they tend to help enhance the wellbeing of society and reduce the evil acts beings conducted by some of the law officers in society.
- Identify Three constraints placed on law enforcement and examine how these constraints affect how law enforcement conducts its operations.
Law enforcement officers work under certain constraints; constraints denote that they are not supposed to conduct certain activities. Some of the constraints imposed on law enforcement include the amount of power to use, warrant, and body cameras. These constraints are imposed on law enforcement to limit the extent to which they are supposed to carry out their operations and duties. Also, the constraints help indicate how the police officers are supposed to relate with the public.
The excessive force denotes the circumstances under which law enforcement entitled to apply force surpasses the minimum amount of the necessary force needed to stop a particular incident. The public is free from the unusual and cruel punishment (Eighth Amendment) and free from unreasonable seizure and search (Fourth Amendment). Law enforcement is constrained with the amount of force they are supposed to apply for various situations. For instance, they are not supposed to shoot unarmed individuals. Shooting unarmed individuals by law enforcement are regarded as a violation of human rights and termed police officers (Mays, 2). This, in turn, leads to the establishment of the case proceedings for any officer who conducts such an activity. Law enforcement is supposed to use reasonable force depending on the magnitude of the circumstance. However, they are permitted to use excessive force only in particular situations, for instance, when the suspect has dangerous weapons or poses a danger to them. Additionally, they can be permitted by the court to use excessive force to prevent the escape of the individual who is considered dangerous to the public. Constraint on the amount of force used by police tends to affect police operations negatively. Some of the suspects tend to take advantage of the restriction to throw abuse to the police officers without fear. Under this constraint, police can also face intimidations from the suspects.
The activities of law enforcement agents are constrained through the use of body cameras. The body cameras are used to monitor activities being undertaken by the police officers while they are dealing with the public (Stickle, 3). The body limits the police officers from conducting abusive or some of the illegal activities whenever they are dealing with the public. It enables the police officers to act ethically; it minimizes the aggressive behaviors exhibited by the police officers while dealing with the public. Moreover, body cameras enhance police officers; they can undertake their activities without fear of being misjudged or facing false accusations. This all the evidence is retrieved from the body cameras while in court.
The other constraint imposed on law enforcement is the warrant; law enforcement is not supposed to search the premises of a person without warrant. Warrant denotes the official document signed by the court judge to permit law enforcement agents to search for a particular place during a certain period. Moreover, the warrant specifies the place and particulars they need to search, and they cannot go beyond that. A warrant can only be used once and not twice. Additionally, law enforcement agents are supposed to exhibit respect while searching the premises of a particular individual. Moreover, they are not supposed to bust on the premises; they have to give time to the owner of the premise to open the door for them peacefully. The constraint of warrant tends to have a positive impact on the victim since they are treated with diligence, and no destruction of property is witnessed. However, it can have some adverse effects on police operations since it consumes a lot of time. This can allow the suspect to hide the documents of particulars being searched by law enforcement agents.
- Examine two current events in which police supervisors were held criminally liable for their officers’ misconduct and explain why.
There are some circumstances where the police supervisors are held criminally liable due to the officer’s misconduct rather than the police officers themselves. The first event where police supervisors were held accountable for officers’ misconduct occurred in 2016 in Michigan. Chief of police in Michigan was discontinued from work due to the wrongful murder conviction of a particular teenage (Felton, 4). This occurred after he contradicted his testimony regarding the murder suspect (Devontae Sanford). Contradicting the evidence against the suspect made him be fired, and in turn, the young teenage was released. Any contradiction of the evidence denotes that the chief of police Michigan was lying, and hence he deserved to carry the accountability of the event.
The second event where the police supervisor was held accountable for his officer’s actions occurred in 2015 in Chicago. McCarthy (Police superintended) was fired after one of his police officers (Jason Van Dyke) shoot sixteen years old teenager (Tait, 5). The reasons behind his firing were that he deliberately suppressed the case even after realizing that the police officer was wrong. He was supposed to admit that the police officer actions were illegal rather than acting on his favor.
Source List
- Powers, D. (2017). ABSTRACT POLICE DEPARTMENT MINIMUM EDUCATION REQUIREMENT AND USE OF FORCE. https://repository.library.fresnostate.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.3/190323/Powers_csu_6050N_10360.pdf?sequence=1
- Mays, D. (2017). A Multiple Case Study on Police Agencies Hiring Practices Regarding Military and College Recruits. https://commons.und.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3205&context=theses
- Stickle, B. (2016). Education and Use of Force 1 A National Examination of the Effect of Education, Training, and Pre-Employment Screening on Law Enforcement Use of Force. http://www.cjcj.org/uploads/cjcj/documents/jpj_education_use_of_force.pdf
- Felton, R. (2016, June 9). The ex-Flint police chief may face charges in Detroit teen’s wrongful conviction. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/09/former-flint-police-chief-perjury-charges-wrongful-conviction-davontae-sanford
- Tait, R. (2015, December 1). Chicago police chief fired over black teenager’s shooting death. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/12027970/Chicago-police-chief-fired-over-black-teenagers-shooting-death.html