Police Coercion Essay, Research Paper

Police Coercion

The police exist to protect the public from harm, abuse, murder and infringement of personal rights. They are here to sustain those persons who have committed a crime against the laws of the land. Basically, the duty as a police officer is to protect the good from the bad. Ironically, however, in many cases this is not true; sometimes the police will play the role of the bad man. In one recent case, police officers were convicted of over-excessive use of force on an African American man named Rodney King. Twenty-three police officers were captured on home video, thrashing Rodney King with their clubs continuously. Now was this action taken by the police officers morally, effectively, and legally accepted? After interviewing several colleagues, it became evident that many people view this incident as a case of police brutality. Therefore, morally, the police officers were wrong for beating a man nearly to unconsciousness. Effectively, the actions by the police officers were over-excessive. Finally, the legal system declared some actions by the police officers as legally unaccepted. But why did these officers break their code of conduct only to create a controversy; a controversy that ended with both parties under the control of the court? Maybe our expectations of the ideal law enforcement practices can not and will not become a reality. As each day passes and cases of police brutality is covered by the media, the rapport between the police and the public will continue to decrease. As a result, tension is created only to entice police officers to exercise their authority in a fashion to their favor. This is what I would like to talk about in this essay.

Respectively, police officers are excellent in finding offenders of the law. But it is how they use their authoritative force upon the offenders. As the law enforcement organization becomes similarly comparable to our military, fear against the police begins to intensify. Many police departments are now using actual battle equipment to fight against offenders of the law. However, the public feels the need for a distinction between the military and police. The military performs harsh punishment against our nation s enemies; the police, with their resemblance to the military, has made the public into their enemy. This diminishes the ideal image of a police officer and hatred spreads among the public against the members of law enforcement. Police who rely on coercive force to make the world a less threatening place make it more dangerous place for themselves and for other cops (Above The Law, p. 96). Cops are now more likely to be a point of retaliation. The new image of hate must be changed. As a public we can continue to bring cases of police brutality under the court of law. This will increase the knowledge of the reality at hand and perhaps, in the future, cops will carry the ideal image influenced by the conventional wisdom of the public.