The policing system in the United States of America began as a community volunteering group whose main aim was to warn the members in case of impending danger. This later turned into a night watch. Boston established its first-night watch in 1636, New York followed suit in 1658, and Philadelphia in 1700. The night watch was majorly made up of volunteers, and was not effective in stopping crime. Later on, Philadelphia created a day watch in 1833, and New York followed the same suit in 1844. From these groups, the police force grew to become an important part of the society, and instead of being made up of volunteers who would sometimes sleep on duty, the force was revolutionized to include people who conducted the needed duties as a profession (Iati, 2019). Ever since then the role of the police in society has changed to involve other duties such as enforcing the law, keeping law and order, manning the security and responding to various emergencies. While in line of duty, the police force has sometimes used unnecessary force and violence, which are uncalled for and has led to the violation of human rights or injuries or both in most cases to their respective victims.
On November 22, 2019, The Independent newspaper reported a case where the police slammed a man’s head into a car, he was mistakenly believed to have stolen. The case ended up with the man dead from the injuries he sustained from the attack. As much as the case was a case of mistaken identity the police are not allowed to use such force on the unarmed citizens. As envisioned in the policing doctrines, the police have the mandate of arresting suspects and detaining them and presenting them for prosecution. If the situation must involve the use of force, there are laws that govern the use of force, and they strictly prohibit use of violence on citizens especially if their lives are not at risk.
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Conclusion
The story highlighted by The Independent newspaper is a classic example of the evolutions in the police force and its dynamics. As much as the current police force is effective as compared to other centuries, its shortcomings have also been dire.
References
Iati, M. (2019). Man Dies After Police Officer Slams His Head into Car, He Was Mistakenly Believed to Have Stolen. Independent . Retrieved from: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/police-slam-carjack-owner-head-dead-david-ward-sonoma-county-california-a9256881.html
Kennedy, B. A., Butz, A. M., Lajevardi, N., & Nanes, M. J. (2017). Unpacking the Foundations of Representative Bureaucracy Theory and American Policing. In Race and Representative Bureaucracy in American Policing (pp. 11-38). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
