Week 8 Paper (for Hifsa Shakaut)

Micro Lecture - Week 8

Wow—We are here already.  The eight weeks goes really fast. 

What’s next for law enforcement?  I included the article Toward a New Professionalism in Policing, because it outlines Travis’s view of where  policing is going: (1) Increased Accountability, (2) Legitimacy, (3) Continuous Innovation, and (4) National Coherence. (https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/232359.pdf)  I remember reading this article in March 2011, and wondering how these themes would play out throughout the country.  There is no question we are in an era of increasing accountability for the police and the justice system as a whole.  We covered accountability in this course extensively. 

Additionally, we spent a week covering the need for increased police legitimacy and there continues to be significant growth in this area.  In fact, the President’s 21st Century Policing Task Force report spoke directly to the need for increased legitimacy and provided clear recommendations. Copy this link to web browser: (http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/taskforce/taskforce_finalreport.pdf).  Re-building trust in policing is vital for real progress of criminal justice in the United States, and there are continuous innovations being developed to lower crime and build trust with the community.  The law enforcement practices that rely on high rates of arrest and stiff punishments are being abandoned across this country.  This is especially true for drug use and low level crimes.  Hopefully, the innovations of restorative justice and substance abuse treatment continue to improve to meet the increased need to handle these low level criminal offenses without courtroom based interventions.  Finally, National Coherence is occurring throughout the country through increased establishment of best practices/standards for law enforcement and the increased use of regional law enforcement task force groups. 

One of our chapters this week directly discussed issues related to police reform around the world.  Indeed, all law enforcement has ethical obligations to serve the community in fair and equitable ways.  As I read this week’s chapter, the recommendations for policing in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1996) really stood out to me:

· Police must function in accordance with the law.

· Police conduct must be regulated by a professional code of conduct.

· The highest priority of policing is the protection of human life.

· Police must serve the public and are accountable to the public and must communicate their action to the public to establish the legitimacy of police action.

· A central focus of policing is the prevention of crime.

· Police must act in such a way as to respect human rights.

· Police must act in a nondiscriminatory manner.  (Text book, page 353)

You might recognize these United Nations principles as themes from our discussions over the course.  Even though the principles were created for another country, we can see the struggle still playing out in American Policing.  If you notice, the concept of needing to earn legitimacy in the eyes of the community permeates recent recommendations and literature as a cornerstone to effective law enforcement.  Policing around the world faces additional challenges of being controlled by the military or serving to further the goals of dictators and/or repressive governments.  Even after a change of regimes, the trust of law enforcement is extremely low and faces a long road to rebuild trust because of past abuses.