Policing in America Today

1 Policing in America Today The manner in which the law enforcement field operates has been the subject of a lot of public and private discussions in recent years. In the USA, in particular, the police have come under criticism for allegedly being brutal, particularly when it comes to minority communities (French, 2018). Due to these views, there have been calls either to defund the police, or to develop mechanisms through which the police can be reformed. For those who hold somewhat radical or extreme views, they maintain that the police force as is currently constituted in the USA cannot be reformed. As such, their stance is that the police force, in and of itself, has to be abolished. However, this is not to suggest that, in the USA, every person supports the abolition of the police. Indeed, as French (2018) suggests in his work, there are some factions who believe that the police force in the USA is necessary. According to them, it is only a few people who work in the police force who are problematic.

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2 Using the diverse views regarding the police force as an entry point, this essay will conduct a critical analysis of the various issues which face the police in the USA today. In undertaking this analysis, the aim will be to get insight into the positive and negative aspects of the changes which are expected to be made to America’s police force (French, 2018). In addition to this, there will be an examination of the impact that strategies such as defunding or complete abolishing will have on the state of policing in America today.

Issues Facing the Police in America In his work, Friedman (2017), argues that there are five key issues which affect how policing operates in the USA today. The first issue is that of active shooter responses. As per law this author, enforcement officers are usually expected to act without much hesitation when it comes to responding to a situation where there is an active shooter. However, even as they do so, they find themselves in a dilemma. On the one hand, law enforcement officers will get lauded if they are able to respond in such a quick manner as to prevent the loss of life, harm to people, or damage to property. At the same time, in some cases, police officers may come under criticism where they react disproportionately in the course of responding to an active shooter. The manner in which police officers have to balance these two sets of responses is one which has to be addressed.

The second issues faced by American police today concerns the question of transparency and public records. In light of the fact that police officers are public servants, they are required to avail their personal communication to scrutiny. However, in recent years, there has been pushback from the police. They argue that their private channels of communication should not be subjected to scrutiny (Friedman, 2017). This issue is important, as it has a bearing on questions of bribery. In the ideal case, it should be possible to coerce a public officer to avail their

3 communication - as long as the said communication was conducted in the course of work. Even so, such a requirement may infringe on the rights of the police officer in question.

The third issue is with respect to police recruitment. In light of the fact that there is significant criticism towards police officers, there are fewer people who are interested and willing to join the police force. In a country which depends on its police force to maintain peace and order, the reduction in the number of people who want to be police officers may jeopardize the country’s efforts at securing itself and ensuring that its population has the necessary protection (Friedman, 2017).

The fourth issue is with respect to the manner in which police officers are handling immigration laws. Due to various inconsistencies in the manner in which immigration laws are being enforced in the country, police officers may either overreact or underreact whenever they are in situations that require the application on immigration and sanctuary laws. Finally - and perhaps most importantly - the police in American are having to reconcile themselves with the idea that they are among the most brutal in the world. As Friedman (2017) implies in his work, the future of policing may be a state where the use of physical force by law enforcement officers is restricted. While this may mean that the people who are routinely subjected to such force get respite, it could also mean that members of the force lose access to what is arguably their most useful tool of policing.

An Analysis of Some of the Proposed Changes According to the work conducted by Oliver (2016), most of the changes which are currently being proposed in so far as the police force is concerned can fall into two categories.

The first category is defunding the police. The second category is abolishing the police. In

4 making calls for members of the police force to be defunded, individuals and institutions are proposing two related issues. First, they are proposing that police departments in the USA should have their dedicated annual funding reduced. It is hoped that in taking this measure, the brutal and unjust manner in which policing is conducted will improve. Secondly, after reducing the budget, it is proposed that the material resources which had previously been set aside for police work should then be redistributed towards essential funds such as housing, education, and other employment opportunities.

Defunding the police will have the obvious benefit of increasing the resource pool of social services such as housing and education. Here, it is worth noting that defunding the police does not mean that all the funding to which the police typically have access is stripped away.

Instead, the idea is to shrink the scope of police responsibilities and shift a large element of what the police typically use to other areas which may actually reduce the work that the police typically has. This is the positive change will defunding will bring. On the other hand, critiques of this strategy argue that defunding the police may expose both the police and members of the public to significant security risks (Oliver, 2016).

In abolishing the police, the end goal is more radical. Oliver (2016) notes that calls to abolish the police aim to do away with the entire institution. Here, there is a recognition of the notion that there is nothing which can be reformed within the police force as it is. Here, it is worthwhile to understand that this movement is not monolithic. There are those whose agitation for an abolition of the police force is a request for the police infrastructure to be eliminated so that it can be built from start through the use and application of strategies which are less antagonistic and more just. On the other hand, there are those who argue that, in calling for the abolishing of the police, people are only making policy proposals (Oliver, 2016). Thus, the

5 abolition of the police acts as an ideal which includes the fulfillment of certain essential steps before achieving total abolition.

The positive aspect of the calls for abolition is the possibility of creating a police force that is in tune with the demands and needs of the current reality. It is worthwhile to note that, according to many abolitionists, American policing is built on a prejudiced superstructure whose function was to protect the interests of those who were in power. In abolishing it, there will be an opportunity to make the police more just (Oliver, 2016). The negative aspect of the call for abolition is that it may not gather the support of enough members of the public as to make it a viable proposition. As such, it could easily become an ideal which cannot be achieved and, therefore, becomes ineffective.

Conclusion In sum, one could argue that policing in America is currently in a state of crisis. The issues which the police are facing need to be addressed comprehensively so that both the image and the function of the institution can be reconceptualized by the American public. Furthermore, the calls for defunding of police institutions and abolition should be taken into consideration so that, ultimately, there can be the development of solutions which are attentive to the needs and demands of the American populace.

6 References French, L. A. (2018). The History of Policing America: From Militias and Military to the Law Enforcement of Today. Rowman & Littlefield.

Friedman, B. (2017). Unwarranted: Policing without permission. Macmillan.

Oliver, W. M. (2016). Policing America: An Introduction. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.