Consent decrees play a critical role towards resolving any underlying disputes as a way of ensuring that law enforcement departments work towards delivery of the best possible approach in dealing with different issues. According to Alpert, McLean, & Wolfe (2017), consent decrees have been shrouded in secrecy, as it becomes somewhat challenging or difficult to note, definitively, how these decrees work as part of law enforcement. However, these consents create an environment in which law enforcement departments can account for the actions of their officers while reflecting on the expected outcome in law enforcement. In other words, consent decrees create a positive environment from which law enforcement officers not only reflect on what is expected of them as part of law enforcement but also work towards delivery of the best possible services to the community.
On the other hand, consent decrees can be viewed as being useful in building a front for accountability among law enforcement officers, as they seek to ensure that law enforcement officers understand their expected policies and practices. George (2014) points out that one of the critical areas that consent decrees have helped in managing is excessive use of force among police officers, as they limit the officers towards policies and practices in law enforcement. Consequently, this means that officers tend to understand the basis from which they operate, as this will act as a front for them in their interaction with the community as part of their law enforcement efforts. The outcome of this is that the consent decrees tend to ensure that the officers understand the impacts of using excessive force as part of their law enforcement efforts in the community.
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Use of consent decrees has also be cited as one of the critical elements that have been of great value towards avoiding cases of discrimination as part of law enforcement. In the past few years, law enforcement in the United States has been shrouded in instances of discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, and nation of origin. In most cases, these cases tend to affect the relationship between police officers and members of the community considering that it becomes hard to create a productive relationship. From that perspective, it is clear that adoption of the consent decrees may act as one of the critical elements that would be of great value towards reducing increased cases of discrimination occurring within a wide array of law enforcement departments. Through consent decrees, leaders within these departments tend to focus more on ensuring that the officers attached to their departments respect every member of the community regardless of the existing diversities.
Section 14141 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (re-codified at 34 U.S.C. § 12601) is considered as one of the critical law touching on the area of law enforcement in the United States. According to Ross & Parke (2009), this section of the act seeks to engage in an in-depth evaluation of practices associated with law enforcement departments as a way of determining whether the departments are violating the rights and freedoms of members of the community. In other words, this section of the act works towards ensuring that law enforcement officers respect the law in their handling of different members of the community as part of the law enforcement process.
The effectiveness of 34 U.S.C. § 12601 can be seen from the fact that it has played a critical role towards increased transparency and data collection as part of law enforcement. One of the missing elements in a majority of the law enforcement departments has been on the issue of transparency, as it becomes hard or challenging to determine some of the critical areas where the departments are failing (Simmons, 2007). However, adoption of 34 U.S.C. § 12601 has been considered as one of the essential steps towards building on transparency and accountability on the part of law enforcement departments. The outcome of this can be seen from the fact that majority of the law enforcement departments find it much easier in their bid to sharing information with members of the public as part of the constitutional obligation.
Another critical element of effectiveness associated with 34 U.S.C. § 12601 is that it has helped in creating steps to prevent discriminatory policing taking into account the increasing cases of discrimination among law enforcement departments. Ross & Parke (2009) argue that one of the critical issues that majority of law enforcement departments are experiencing reflects more on the issue of discrimination during the law enforcement process. The adoption of this section of the act creates a front from which to ensure that law enforcement officers understand their respective roles in the law enforcement process. Ultimately, this means that majority of the officers will learn the value of handling every individual equally regardless of the differentiation on areas of race and ethnicity. In overall, this means that the officers will be much more effective in their bid to deliver the best possible outcomes.
In the event of allegations associated with constitutional policing not being followed as a matter of patterns and practices, 34 U.S.C. § 12601 provides the Department of Justice (DOJ) with the legal jurisdiction from which to intervene with the focus being towards reflecting on any areas show a violation of the law. For the law enforcement departments, 34 U.S.C. § 12601 acts as a guide for them in their bid to ensuring that the quality of services that they offer to their respective communities match the set-out expectations. However, in some cases, law enforcement departments find themselves in a position where their practices and patterns do not reflect on the set expectations. Thus, this calls for the intervention of the DOJ, which will be mandated with the sole task of conducting the necessary evaluations to determine the areas that show any significant variations.
On the other hand, 34 U.S.C. § 12601 is a critical element of law enforcement, as helps towards building community-police partnerships, which are essential towards ensuring that the police remain useful in their approaches to law enforcement. When trying to reflect on the effectiveness of law enforcement officers, one of the critical areas to consider is the kind of relationships that the officers have with members of the community. In some cases, the nature of relationships lacks that element of effectiveness considering that police officers are not in harmony with members of the community. In such cases, it becomes somewhat challenging for police officers to carry out their respective duties effectively. Thus, this seems to suggest that indeed usage of 34 U.S.C. § 12601 can be seen as being a critical element that determines quality outcomes for law enforcement departments in their bid to maintaining some form of positive front for enhanced service delivery.
References
Alpert, G. P., McLean, K., & Wolfe, S. (2017). Consent Decrees: An Approach to Police Accountability and Reform. Police Quarterly , 20 (3), 239-249.
George, L. (2014). Are all Title VII consent decrees created equal? A study of the effects of protected class and type of plaintiff representation on consent decree outcomes. Dispute Resolution Journal , 69 (1), 79-88.
Ross, D. L., & Parke, P. A. (2009). Policing by consent decree: An analysis of 42 USC § 14141 and the new model for police accountability. Police Practice and Research: An International Journal , 10 (3), 199-208.
Simmons, K. C. (2007). The politics of policing: Ensuring stakeholder collaboration in the federal reform of local law enforcement agencies. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology , 98 (2), 489-546.
