Modern Day Policing
Introduction
Policing is one of the main sectors that help in maintaining law and order in any geographical area. It is the very reason that people in society can interact with the rest members of the community with peace and a lot of respect. This is because the policing factor embraces and upholds morals and ethical behavior. If social deviance is seen, there are punishments, which include imprisonment. The policing department, therefore, goes through a lot of challenges that compromise their levels of trust towards the public. This is because, in the process of law enforcement, the public is easily affected by either massive shootings by the police. This brings in riots and marches from the public to fight for their rights. However much the policing department faces a lot of challenges, it should be appraised for the work they are doing.
Eras of policing
There are different eras of policing, but there are those that are main; they include the political period, which was the first method to be put into place in the United States. (Echeverria, et al., 2020) It included putting trained police officers into place. This era brought in positive changes like those of police departments being developed in bigger cities in the USA; there was industrialization in the area and industrial changes, which brought about the trade of goods and services. The industries brought about job opportunities for citizens in those cities hence better-living standards. The second era is that of the community. This era suggested that the police or any policing bodies couldn’t work alone. The town was to be involved in solving most of the problems that were in the cities since the society comprised of the different community’s era had its positives in that the members of society were not left out in the issues that were affecting them.
However, there were those weaknesses that they brought, which include an insufficient number of police officers. This has led to the sharing of one police officer to the whole department. This compromises the work, and most enforcement work is not done. Another weakness in the era was that of insufficient funds, whereby there was no enough training; therefore, very few chances of recruits.
Issues faced by law enforcement bodies
The other important issue was that of putting across issues that law enforcement as a body faces today, and one of them includes police officers’ rights and discipline; this is whereby the police officers are supposed to behave in such a manner that is supposed to be in the professional standards. Most police officers don’t put discipline as a core value in their careers hence corrupting their professionalism. This includes the shooting of people in public, whereby they could evade it; however, much there are risks in between. The discipline they got should go by the policy rules that govern them at all times. Putting shooting in mind of the public, it has an impact on society. This brings the audience into riots and protests to fight for their rights. The process at times may lead to pressure in how the police officers conduct themselves in the field as they solve major crime issues (Stanko et al., 2020). The other problem is that of overpopulation in prisons. This is an issue that profoundly affects the prison systems. When there is overcrowding in the cells, there are a lot of poor conditions experienced that compromise the health conditions of the prisoners, which may lead to deaths.
Another problem is that of no privacy-enhanced, which may lead to mental illnesses, hence most prisoners not in their sane minds. That may easily lead to harm, which includes suicide. All these effects have an impact in the sense that families of the affected people have to look for all ways for justice to be served. This makes people in society have a disorder as they try to get all answers required to make sure justice is put into place.
Law enforcement in the next five years and challenges law enforcers may go through
There are a few ways that I would propose as to where law enforcement is headed in the next five years. I suggest that it will be in better hands because of methods that will be put into place immediately. They include police reforms which entail having active approaches to focus on the department’s directions and the ways forward. This will consist of the police inspectors and chiefs, absorbing the communities to develop and maintain professional services to the public. The cities will help in solving most of the intercommunity crisis without much strain. The second thing is that the investigators or any other law enforcer will have independence through their independent investigation that will be conducted externally. Civilians will also be engaged to take part in their studies, whereby their complaints and comments will be considered. This will bring fairness and growth to the policing department hence making it a responsible department in the world. I believe that the future of the policing sector is bright. This is because the industry cannot work effectively without civilians being into the bigger picture. So, I recommend that all law enforcement bodies put the civilians at the top front while working towards the success journey. Challenges the law enforcers may go through may include mistrust by the civilians. This is a significant threat to justice since most civilians act as witnesses. So, if most of them won’t be ready to have honesty as a value, that will easily corrupt justice. Another challenge is the lack of cooperation by citizens. This will lead to more massive shootings and low evidence sources; hence inferior justice methods will be put into place. That will easily hinder the independence of law enforcement bodies since all activities will be compromised.
Roles of the public in cooperation with the police
The purpose of the people in collaboration with the police in the community is to communicate with the police. This includes reporting of crimes, making calls to the police and also, providing relevant information that will help the police quickly identify a criminal. These community acts will help in regulating the behaviors of the citizens in a community. Another role is that of efficient public cooperating with both parties since it is the fundamental step to attaining justice. The public has to be ready to trust the police department in their regular daily work. That their role is, to be honest, and tell them all that they have witnessed (Hunter and May et al., 2020) They should also trust the police officers with the information and wait for justice to be put into place without taking sides. This will motivate cooperation between the two parties hence a higher likelihood to obtain real truth for all.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a core thing about law enforcement is cooperation. This is the primary way to serve justice efficiently. The collaboration between the policing bodies and the public makes it easier for law enforcers to conduct their duty in helping true justice without being biased. It will also improve the trust and confidence issues between the two parties. This will, therefore, make the societies we live in more habitable and freer to live in.
References
Hunter, G., & May, T. (2020). Views from the frontline: graduate police recruits on the status of evidence-based practice. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 14(1), 91-103.
McLeod, M. N., Heller, D., Manze, M. G., & Echeverria, S. E. (2020). Police interactions and the mental health of Black Americans: a systematic review. Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 7(1), 10-27.
Stanko, E. A. (2020). Learning versus Training: Thoughts about the Origins of the Home Office Innovation Fund Project ‘Developing an Evidence-Based Police Degree Holder Entry Programme’2016–18. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 14(1), 43-51.