Police Misconduct

Police brutality is the term being used to describe the excessive use of physical force , HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Assault " \o "Assault " assault , verbal attacks , and threats by HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Police_officer " \o "Police officer police officers . 1 Police brutality exists in almost all nations , even in those who are very vigilant in persecuting it

Abuse by law enforcement officers in the United States is one of the most serious and divisive human rights violations in the country . 2 The violations persist nationwide , in rural , suburban , and

urban areas of the country , committed by various law enforcement personnel including local and state police , sheriff 's departments , and federal agents Police have engaged in unjustified shootings , severe beatings , fatal chokings , and unnecessarily rough treatment . While the proportion of repeatedly abusive officers on any force is generally small , responsible authorities - including law enforcement supervisors , as well as local and federal government leadership - often fail to act decisively to restrain or penalize such acts . Police or public officials greet each new report of brutality with denials or explain that the act was an aberration , while the administrative and criminal systems that should deter these abuses by holding officers accountable instead virtually guarantee them impunity . 3

Just this July 12 , 2006 , another police misconduct has been documented to happen in the Los Angeles area . A Los Angeles city task force called the Blue Ribbon Rampart Review Panel , assigned to consider the Los Angeles Police Department 's response to the Rampart scandal of seven years ago offered a sobering assessment Wednesday morning . The Rampart Scandal is

about police officers of the LAPD that are involved in crimes like bank robberies and cocaine

1 Wikepedia .Org . Police Brutality . HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Police_brutality http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Police_brutality

2 Human Rights Watch . Shielded on Justice Police Brutality

HYPERLINK "http /www .hrw .org /about /initiatives /police .htm http /www .hrw .org /about /initiatives /police .htm

3 Human Rights Watch . Overview . HYPERLINK "http /www .hrw .org /reports98 /police /uspo14 .htm http /www .hrw .org /reports98 /police /uspo14 .htm

stealing and selling , police beatings and illegal shootings . 4 The task force says there 's been extensive reform in the department and the LAPD 's Rampart Division is now a model of modern policing adhering to proper protocol and refraining from terrorizing ' criminals . But it later found out that the former is not true at all and the department remains at risk of another scandal like Rampart which involved officers framing suspects and committing perjury to help secure convictions Also known as warrior-policing method of law enforcement , these grave actions are considered as one of the most serious police corruption scandals in American History

As to date , nine (9 ) officers were criminally charged and twenty three (23 ) were fired or suspended , 156 felony convictions were invalidated due to suspected police misconduct and the city paid 70 million to settle civil rights lawsuits brought by victims , the Times reported . 5 Yet even now , the panel found , police supervisors fail to provide adequate oversight and control of officers - a key problem in the Rampart scandal . The accusing finger is being pointed by the panel at the criminal justice system in Los Angeles for lacking a system that effectively checks the police officers in to prevent them from lying or fabricating evidence , according to the Times

Unfortunately , this kind of incident is not new and is fairly consistent in many cities and states in the US . Only a small number of officers commit human rights violations but still they are able to taint entire police department for the public tends to generalize these actions Thousands of public complaints are made against police officers for using violence against civilians , but an overwhelming majority do not result in disciplinary action against the

PBS . Rampart Scandal . HYPERLINK "http /www .pbs .org /wgbh /pages /frontline /shows /lapd /scandal /cron .html http /www .pbs .org /wgbh /pages /frontline /shows /lapd /scandal /cron .html

5 NBC4 . Task Force Warns : LA Could Face Another Police Scandal

http /www .nbc4 .tv /news /9505430 /detail .html

officers in question , according to a new report from the US Department of Justice . 6 Out of the 26 , 556 citizen complaints filled during 2002 about police brutality , only 8 were sustained with enough evidence to justify taking punitive action against the accused officer . In nearly one-half of the cases reviewed , authorities exonerated officers despite allegations that they acted excessively in about a third of incidents investigators said they did not find enough evidence that unlawful force was used . These officers are being protected by the silence of their fellow officers and by flawed systems of reporting , oversight , and accountability . Another pervasive shortcoming is the scarcity of meaningful information about trends in abuse data are also lacking regarding the police departments ' response to those incidents and their plans or actions to prevent brutality . 7 Where data do exist , there is no evidence that police administrators or , where relevant , prosecutors utilize available information in a way to deter abuse . 8 Another common denominator in these cases in recent years is the recognition about what needs to be done to fix troubled departments . Police officials are usually unwilling to deal seriously with officers who commit abuses until high-pro cases expose long-standing negligence or tolerance of brutality

In most cases , sloppy procedures and an apparent bias in favor of fellow officers combine to guarantee that even the most brutal police avoid punishment for serious abuses until

6 Catherine Komp . Justice Dept . Reports Inaction on Police Brutality

HYPERLINK "http /newstandardnews .net /content /index .cfm /items /3343 /printmode /true http /newstandardnews .net /content /index .cfm /items /3343 /printmode /true

Human Rights Watch . Overview . HYPERLINK "http /www .hrw .org /reports98 /police /uspo14 .htm http /www .hrw .org /reports98 /police /uspo14 .htm

Human Rights Watch . Overview . HYPERLINK "http /www .hrw .org /reports98 /police /uspo14 .htm http /www .hrw .org /reports98 /police /uspo14 .htm

committing an assault so flagrant , so unavoidably embarrassing , that it cannot be ignored . 9 Even when police departments do try to punish these officers for the misconducts they have done , many still avoid dismissal or severe disciplinary sanctions because officers are provided with many opportunities to fight punishments . Most of the times , these bad officers ' prevail still thus sending a message to other police officers that in case of misconduct and corruption , they are almost invincible

Like in the case cited above , the blue ribbon panel is being quoted in saying that the criminal justice system conducts "anemic checks on police abuse " and has called for an audit to assess whether there are sufficient safeguards against convicting the innocent . 10 The system can be as smooth and efficient in but if the people implementing it are lax then the system would still fail . As stated above , we can therefore conclude that the main problem in the implementation of justice and discipline to these corrupt and abusive officers is the fault of the officials because of their laxness in implementation . The apparent lack of collective official will to control officers who commit human rights violations- and to require all police forces to abide by the law and the police departments ' own policies - is evident in the lack of linkage among various entities responsible for overseeing the police and for criminally prosecuting officers who break the law . 11 The laxness can come from their being uncaring in doing their jobs and can also be deduced that they are corrupt themselves . This laxness in implementation in the system also benefits them for they can also get away in their own wrong doings and misconducts

Human Rights Watch . Investigation and Discipline . HYPERLINK "http /www .hrw .org /reports98 /police /uspo08 .htm http /www .hrw .org /reports98 /police /uspo08 .htm

NBC4 . Task Force Warns : LA Could Face Another Police Scandal

HYPERLINK "http /www .nbc4 .tv /news /9505430 /detail .html http /www .nbc4 .tv /news /9505430 /detail .html

Human Rights Watch . Investigation and Discipline . HYPERLINK "http /www .hrw .org /reports98 /police /uspo08 .htm http /www .hrw .org /reports98 /police /uspo08 .htm

Reforms to curb abusive police conduct - or , at least , punishments of specific abusive officers - tend to occur only when the local news media or high-pro court cases focus public attention on the problem . That this happens relatively seldom , in comparison with the incidence of ill-treatment , is partly due to the lack of information supplied to the public regarding allegations of police brutality . To address this problem , the system must first be reviewed and revised if needed Apparently , there are changes to be made for the system to be loophole free . Afterwards , we should now focus on the most important part . In for the system to work , strict implementation should be done with these procedures . Police officials cannot anymore be trusted to implement the system for it has been evident through the years that they can 't do that correctly anymore . Therefore , outside forces should be tapped to implement these laws and sanctions . Another government agency that is not military in structure should be entrusted to handle the investigations of these misconducts . The should be called in to handle everything from investigation to documentation and finally to recommend proper sanctions . They should also oversee the implementation of these sanctions . If officials fail to implement such sanctions , they too should also be charge with a case called negligence of duty

Human Rights Watch , in its website HYPERLINK "http /www .hrw .org www .hrw .org , has also came up with some recommendations on how to avoid police misconducts in the future . These recommendations are the following

(1 ) Federal aid should go only to those state and local police departments that can show they are taking concrete steps to respect human rights and curb police abuse

(2 ) Steps that police departments should take include : creating and strengthening civilian review agencies putting early warning systems into place to identify officers who are the subject of repeated complaints and creating a special prosecutor 's office to pursue cases against officers accused of criminal conduct

(3 ) International human rights covenants should be implemented . The U .S is obligated to uphold international human rights standards , and international human rights law provides greater protections than U .S law in more areas

As citizens , we have a responsibility , not only to ourselves but also to the community we live in , to not only be observant but also vigilant so as to avoid being a victim of police misconduct . Police misconduct and abuse cannot be eradicated overnight but we can do something to at least diminish the cases in numbers . Do not sleep on the matter report such incidents to the proper authorities

Bibliography

Catherine Komp . 2006 . Justice Dept . Reports Inaction on Police Brutality

HYPERLINK "http /newstandardnews .net /content /index .cfm /items /3343 /printmode /true http /newstandardnews .net /content /index .cfm /items /3343 /printmode /true (accessed

September 5 , 2006

Human Rights Watch . 2006 . Investigation and Discipline

HYPERLINK "http /www .hrw .org /reports98 /police /uspo08 .htm http /www .hrw .org /reports98 /police /uspo08 .htm (accessed

September 5 , 2006

Human Rights Watch . 2006 . Overview

HYPERLINK "http /www .hrw .org /reports98 /police /uspo14 .htm http /www .hrw .org /reports98 /police /uspo14 .htm (accessed

September 5 , 2006

Human Rights Watch . 2006 . Shielded on Justice Police Brutality

HYPERLINK "http /www .hrw .org /about /initiatives /police .htm http /www .hrw .org /about /initiatives /police .htm (accessed

September 5 , 2006

NBC4 . 2006 . Task Force Warns : LA Could Face Another Police Scandal

HYPERLINK "http /www .nbc4 .tv /news /9505430 /detail .html http /www .nbc4 .tv /news /9505430 /detail .html (accessed

September 5 , 2006

PBS . 1995 . Rampart Scandal

HYPERLINK "http /www .pbs .org /wgbh /pages /frontline /shows /lapd /scandal /cron .html http /www .pbs .org /wgbh /pages /frontline /shows /lapd /scandal /cron .html (accessed

September 5 , 2006

Wikepedia . 2006 . Police Brutality . HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Police_brutality http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Police_brutality (accessed

September 5 , 2006 ...