Is there a need to broaden the roles of traffic police, and how so? This essay will discuss this question, and argue for or against whether or not traffic police should broaden their roles within the police force. While there are limited references to refer to on aspects of policing and traffic policing, this essay will discuss the different roles and functions related to police officers in general, followed by what the roles and functions of traffic police are. Following this, the essay will continue to discuss traffic officers in regards to what the communities perceptions of them are, plus what could be done in the future in the form of educating the community of their roles. Along with this, the essay will also discuss how their duties …show more content…
The opinions of the public are of importance to the police, as they are less likely to contact officers or ask for help if they doubt the integrity of the police force (Powell et al, 2008).
The introduction of the separate, specialist units is what has helped keep the peace of society that is needed in order to create a sense of safety. Instances of the separate units involved in policing, include and evolve around the mounted police, the canine section of the police force, detectives, major crimes, tactical operations, hostage response, public order and finally highway patrol and traffic policing. Although some units were developed at a later date compared to others – for example the canine section, which was formed in 1993 with the initial intake of two German shepherd dogs, it has steadily grown (About WA Police, 2015), in order to help with apprehending violent offenders, and detecting explosive devices and narcotics (About WA Police, 2015).
As seen from the example above, it is easy to note that although each unit is under different names and investigative tactics, they all coincide with the general policing operations, as they are collectively on the same mission as one another – which is to enhance the quality of life and well-being of those in the community, along also with trying to keep the State a safe and secure place to live (About WA Police,
While these foreseeable critical issues certainly pose a set of substantial concerns for and potential threats to policing in the future, many can be dealt with and effectively addressed in the present-day through the implementation of a handful of changes. The first change that can start to take place in the policing world today is to establish
It is widely known that police officers are given a substantial amount of latitude concerning vehicular searches while on patrol. Many officers make it a habit to ask citizens they pull over if it 's okay to search their cars, while others will only ask if they have reason to believe that a suspect is hiding something. Either way, what should you do if the police search your car without your permission, and without first obtaining a search warrant? Most people know that police officers need one of three things to search your car: permission, probable cause or a warrant. Unfortunately, an officer will obtain one of those three things if he is determined to execute a search, even if there is a possibility that it will later be thrown out in court. If permission is denied and they don 't have sufficient evidence for a warrant, just about anything can be used for probable cause. For example, let 's say that you 're pulled over for speeding, and when the police officer takes your license and registration, he notices that your eyes are red. This is a common side effect of marijuana use (and about a thousand other things), but he might decide that he wants to search your car, so he asks permission. If you don 't give it, but there is a large jacket tossed over the passenger seat of the car, he can use that jacket and your red eyes to generate probable cause. After all, you might be concealing an ounce of marijuana underneath the jacket, and he would have to search your car if he
Policing has come a long way since the London Metropolitan Police. In the mid-1800 's policing was more about crime prevention and use of force was a rare last ditch effort to gain compliance from a suspect ( White p. 69-69 ) New technologies have changed policing from an informal neighborhood watch to a sophisticated organization.
Law enforcement leaders must be continually vigilant to ensure that the actions of their officers do not violate civil rights and do not compromise public support. The individual officer is granted a tremendous amount of authority and discretion to enforce the law. Their ultimate duty is to protect individual rights from being infringed upon by others in the community. They must never consider themselves above the law while executing their responsibility to enforce the law. This commitment is what distinguishes police in constitutionally based, democratic societies like ours from police in nondemocratic countries, where they are perceived as oppressive agents of a government whose main purpose is to restrict, rather than protect, the rights of civilians (International Association of Chiefs of Police, 2006).
The militarization of the local law enforcement first escalated with the passing of the 1981 Military Cooperation Law Enforcement Act, which allowed for greater engagement between the military and the domestic police (Coyne, 2015). The terrorist attacks on 9/11/01 provided an opportunity for an expansion of the militarization of the police (Coyne, 2015). In 2002, the Department of Homeland Security was formed. The Department of Homeland Security provided even more funding for local police departments to buy military-grade equipment and training (Hall, & Coyne, 2013). The police started to use more military tactics and technology and this has lead to the lines being blurred between the police and the military. The idea behind the militarization of the police is preventing further terrorist attacks from happening on United States soil (Nacos, Bloch-Elkon, & Shapiro, 2007). Even though there are some benefits from using military technology and strategies in policing, the militarization of police is more harmful than beneficial.
Over the years, police have been portrayed in the media, television shows, and the local newspaper as crime fighting heroes. This portrayal would make one think a police officer is always out doing a dangerous job, which may require shooting, beating up, or arrested the bad guy. The truth is, most officers will not make a felony arrest in a given year, and there are also many officers who have never fired their weapon. There are various perspectives of the policing functions. I will examine these perspectives from the local, state, and federal organizational levels. I will identify and address possible future changes in laws and the overall
The colors red, white, and blue in America represents freedom. When a police officer approaches a civilian in today’s times, those colors mean the absolute worst. With recent police mischief including shootings, red, white, and blue could mean absolute panic. Americans today feel as if there is a war with police officers. The most common question civilians have, why are innocent people being killed by police officers? The civic responsibility of a police officer is to serve and protect citizens while upholding the law. With many recent incidents, civilians no longer feel safe around authorities. A new policy proposed to congress by Barack Obama is for police officers to wear body worn cameras, or BWC’s. “... nine in ten Americans support the use of cameras on cops” (Boone). Therefore, police officers should be required to wear body worn cameras in order to have better security, behavior, and evidence for crime scenes.
Many different types of police agencies exist in the United States of America. Each and every police agencies varies from small town police departments to larger federal agencies. The functions of the police agencies usually depend on the type of organization, its size, its mission, and jurisdiction. When selecting an agency that is suitable for you and your interests several things should be considered.
Among our travels to a variety of different facility 's in the united states and in England there are vast differences and some similarities within each of our systems. When it comes to police, prisons, and other facility 's there are vast amounts of things that are done in each system that we can learn form each other and things that should be taken away.
The dictionary definition of the police is “the organized civil force of a state, concerned with maintenance of law and order, the detection and prevention of crime, etc,” (Collins English Dictionary, 2002). This definition states the minimum of what the police actually do. Providing support for families, protecting society from criminals and responding to calls 24 hours a day 7 days a week are just some of the other roles that police have to deal with. In this essay the evolution of the police will be discussed as well as how the police are facing challenges.
Baltimore police force is provided with more resources than a small town police force. The wire showed how provided the Baltimore police was. In the wire it showed how the media turned the murder case into a drug case. When the media got involved the police chief made a new drug task force to fix the problem. This drug task force was made of people in different departments of the Baltimore police. It shows how the Baltimore police force can spared people for a new program. When this drug force started to get information about the suspect the head chief funded the program. With the funded the drug force got more cars, vans, and listening devices to help them get the suspects faster. When the drug force got enough information for a bust. The police force spared manpower and vehicles, so they can get the suspect.
Policing has greatly evolved over the years, and will continue to do so. Not only do the policies and procedures that policemen follow change, but so do the public’s views of them and the way they handle certain situations. Policing is now becoming more focused on the community, prevention, and the reduction of fear, rather than strictly fighting crime. The best way for police to get to know the members of the community is through patrol, which involves police recurrently observing a beat, or designated area in search of crime or suspicious behavior and community contact. Patrol can be in the form of a motorized vehicle, bicycle, scooter, all-terrain vehicle, horse, or on foot.
The psychologist serves a great purpose in the law enforcement as well. The police psychologists provide services that are used to counter police use of excessive force. The psychologists are there to characterize the types of officers who are known to abuse force and to recommend psychology-based intervention that could help police managers reduce cases of excessive force. Some think that the police departments should rely mostly on pre employment screening to identify violence-prone candidates.
In a national Institute of Justice study it was found that interactions with police are the factors that most influence public opinion. (Factors That Influence, 2007) Interactions were defines as “person to person”
When it comes to the topic of policing, countries have different laws and regulations for the police force. Tactics also differ which allow each police force to be unique and distinct from others. In the presentation covered, Peru’s police force was examined. Topics that were discussed include the history and demographics, law enforcement policies, police training, corruption, and female officers. Topics that were covered during the semester that was discussed in this presentation in regards to Peru were community policing and crime mapping/hot spots. With the enlightenment of these topics, one can distinguish between what was learned this semester about the United States police force and Peru’s police force.