Policy issues affecting the police Essay Example for Free

Policy issues touch the natural law EssayJust like any other department in the government, the jurisprudence repulse is largely influenced by the policy issues that the government adopts. Be it new laws or strategies, they take a leak to adjust their trading operations so as to fit what the policies dictate. The duty of the police is to maintain law and order and in doing this they get to incorporate policies set by the government. As it will be shown in this paper, these policy issues may run the mapivities of the police push much(prenominal) that they may consider to completely change their modes of operations to fit the governments requirements. some(prenominal) policies concerning police conduct, human rights and police duties be bind been put forward in many forums and conferences addressing issue security. Analysis Unlike in the past where the police had an absolute power, a police officer today may find himself or herself being sued for violation of human rights such(prenominal) as police man submitling or assault (Freund, 2006 Meadows, 2000). There atomic number 18 several(prenominal) policies that have been put forward following revision of several laws which affect the police directly. Policy issues on human rights requiring specific procedures of arrest and handling of suspects have been made.The mavin-fourth amendment has limited police power especially with the private law that protects citizens from unwarranted searches and seizures. This means that before a police officer can search or seize private property, in that respect moldiness be a warrant which is given when the need to search premises is of great importance to protect security. respective(prenominal) liberty and human rights protects citizens from false keep. The fourth amendment comes as a civil li tycoon to the police officers which limits their puzzle outivities since they have to pay attention to avoid breaking the law (Freund, 2006).This has affected the police in that it has limited their ability to obtain as much information as possible concerning a crime. Some officers have overly found themselves in court over what can be referred to as assault during arrest. Perhaps one of the most current policy issues that has affected the police is the governments anti-terrorism policy. A strong policy especially subsequently the 9-11 attacks on the U. S brought out the importance of the need to heighten security to prevent such attacks from misadventure in future.The government aims at keeping the possibility of any terrorist attack which must involve the police (Pleck, 2004). The involvement of the police force in the war against terrorism has led to the need for more discipline on the police officers on incident management and terrorism intelligence. As the government noted, the police force was not well equipped to handle such severe incidents hence the need for prepare on incident management. Again, there the need to develop intel ligence skills to counter any form of panics calls for proper training of the police.In order to ensure that the needs of this policy are met, the government has introduced special training schedules for the police which they have to attend to keep updating them on better skills and intelligence on avoiding terrorism attacks as well as how on how to manage with terrorism incidents if by any chance they occur (Pleck, 2004). conjunction policing is a policy issue that has come up as a result of the need for the residential area to take part in their own security through reporting any suspicious act to the police.This is because the community is at the best position to identify those that live among them (Palmiotto, 2000). The government requires that the police officers work hand in hand with the community so as to curb crime activities in the society. The effect of this on the police is that there has been need for training to help them be able to deal with the community and abe t in identifying between potential danger and normal happenings (Palmiotto, 2000).The police have also been given the tautologic duty of training and educating members of the public on how to identify potential threats within the community and how they can deal with them in conjunction with the police. The community policing mostly focuses on vulnerable groups such as children and women who are apparent to be victims of violence. Policy issues concerning rape have been put forward which has necessitated for trained specialists to handle rape calls as well as interaction between the police and medical practitioners to help in solving such cases (Palmiotto, 2000).The government advocates for attainment in technology for sustainable developments. As a matter of national security, there has been the rising need for the police to upgrade their technology so as to meet the ever change magnitude crime rates. Technology has been used by criminals to steal from numerous citizens and this has raised an issue of concern. Cyber crimes, phishing and identity larceny have been on the rise. The problem with these kinds of crimes is that catching the perpetrators can be quite hard due to the advancement in technology that is used to conduct the crimes.Keeping up with these developments poses a challenge to the police who have to come up with more advanced methods to locate cyber thieves, hackers and identity thieves. More often than not, the police are subject to the laws of prosecution and provision for justice. Policies on the procedures of prosecution highly affect the police. For example, the police are jounce by law to only file a prosecution when there is substantial evidence for the happening of the crime. Different policies exist for different kind of prosecutions.The juvenile justice for example has undergone many changes and new policies have come up following proceedings from various cases. new-fangleds have a wide range of rights and detention of a juvenil e can only be under serious suspicions of delinquency. Proof that is beyond probable doubt must also be established to ensure that the juvenile offender poses a threat to the community (Rick, 2003). Policies on juveniles also require that they be put under preventive detention consort to the standards set by the law (Rick, 2003).This differentiates juvenile offenders from adult ones. The police therefore should pay attention to such details so as to be on the safe side of the law. It is also part of their duties to act according to the laws. Conclusion It is evident that the polices activities are highly influenced by policy issues. The government which also determines the rules of a country constantly comes up with policies for national development. These policies may alter a departments activities or increase its responsibilities depending on how the policy issue is to be tackled.It must also be noted that apart from government policies, from each one police department has its own policies which guide the officers (Miller, 1997). These include the code of ethics that must be followed by the respective officers. Rules on duties rosters, dress code and punishment for police misconduct within the department are strictly followed. Breaking of these laws may result in serious circumstances and hence the police officers must follow them to the letter. Word Count 1179 References Freund, E. (2006). The Police Power, Public Policy and Constitutional Rights.New York Callaghan Company. Meadows, R. J. (2000). A composition of Police Misconduct and Litigation Findings and Implications. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice. 41(2), 77-92. Miller, S. et al. (1997). Police ethics. London Allen Unwin, 1997. Palmiotto, M. (2000). Community policing a policing strategy for the 21st century. New York Jones Bartlett Publishers. Pleck, E. (2004). Police in the fight against terrorism. American Journal of Police, 25(1), 38- 45. Rick, A. (2003). Juvenile Justice. New York Odhams Press.