Introduction
The law enforcement officers play an essential role in enforcing law, order, and protecting citizens from criminals and criminal activities. Regardless of being on the frontline each day serving the public, police brutality and criminal activities have increased over the years despite the training offered to the police officers. Efforts to improve the law enforcement agencies in terms of training have been the recent focus as the police department has been facing a lot of critics due to increase of brutality cases conducted by police officers. However, the government channels resources to train the police officers each year to increase their effectiveness, but instead, police misconducts are still on the rise. The paper discusses the issue of whether the quality of training the police should be increased or the policing department should be defunded.
Modern policing is complex; thus, police officers need more quality training. Quality training will enhance effective policing, which involves a combination of several vital skills, such as physical, interpersonal, emotional, and cognitive skills ( Karma, 2020 ). The skills are essential when engaging the public and also a way to improve the police department. Furthermore, the training needs to consider the technology advancements experienced globally. Changes in technology have made policing complex. The use of social media can easily lead to poor interpersonal relationships between the police and the public. Both the interpersonal skills and technical skills make the foundation for effective police work. Social media accounts of misconduct of police affect perceptions of the police rather than the personal interactions ( Blumberg et al., 2019 ). The frequent exposure of police misconduct changes the public perspective of the police, therefore strongly discourages good interpersonal relationship between the police and the public.
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Effective policing happens when the public and the police officers make a crime-free and safe society. Police officers, in addition to physical skills, should be equipped with psychological skills to know how to deal with the public ( Blumberg et al., 2019). The psychological training is essential to the law enforcement officer for both advancement of the profession, delivering services, and importantly in engaging the public (Blumberg et al., 2019). The training also helps the officers to recognize their own emotions, communicate efficiently, and put emphasis on behaviours that are effective in curbing complex situations of law enforcement. Police officers deal with human beings; thus, psychological skills are important (Karma, 2020). The skills improve the policing techniques used in handling the public.
Point 2
Policing department should be defunded. This is one of the major steps to restore public imagination, and resources to bring more justice and humanity that is suitable for community safety. Defunding the police department will encourage the investment on other productive programs that could provide an improved crime preventive in the community (Ray, 2020). Despite the training, police brutality is increasing. Many police misconducts have been experienced time and again. This indicates that it should take more than the training to equip police officers with the right attitude towards engagement with the public (Ray, 2020). There is no relationship between police brutality and training; what matters is personal morals (Preston, 2020). Being moral upright in the process of law enforcement enables the officers to have the ability to make the right choices as well as evaluate between bad and good actions.
Defunding the police will make the country safer (Fernandez, 2020). The redirection and redistribution of funds from the police department will reduce their budget hence curbing the harmful effects caused by the police. Furthermore, the focus should be directed to essential community and social services programs that will effectively result in public safety, therefore reducing police brutality. The issues in society can be addressed without police being violent.
Point 3
It is unfair to use taxpayers’ money on a department that does not serve the interests of all citizens. The main role of the law enforcement agencies is to provide safety in public as well as supporting the rule of law to ensure the liberty prevail. The police department has been unfair to blacks. The black American adults are five times more likely to be mistreated than the whites by the police officers (Desilver et al., 2020). This is also evident through many reported cases of beatings, shootings, and even stabbings by the police in the country. The racial biasness has roots in law enforcement and has resulted in the unfair treatment of Black Americans.
The race continues to impact the way Black Americans are treated in the United States. The police’s work is to establish white supremacy and not to protect all the citizens (Zerkel, 2020). The main focus being on the blacks and also other minority groups. The police concentrate on controlling the black traffic instead of dealing with crimes (Ray, 2016). The belief that certain groups of people can commit certain crimes encourages unfair treatments.
Point 4
Quality training in culture will reduce racism in the police department. Therefore, embracing cultural diversity improves police services hence limiting unfair treatment. Police brutality is tied to racism in the USA; however, it is important for the officers to undergo diversity training to build a positive attitude towards the Blacks. Training the police on culture will also reduce discrimination hence lower police brutality (Sargeant et al., 2017). Also, unnecessary deaths occasioned by police officers acting as a result of anger towards blacks will be reduced through culture-education (Stoughton, 2014). Consequently, improving the police-community relationship.
Conclusion
The complexity of modern policing requires more quality training. Quality training will change the police attitude towards blacks. Nevertheless, defunding the policing department will make the country safer and will ensure the taxpayer’s money is utilized for the benefit of all citizens. Whether the government decides to defund the police department or offer quality training, each has its advantages and disadvantages. Since the police officers have misbehaved despite the training, it is wise for the government to try another way, that of defunding.
References
Blumberg, D. M., Schlosser, M. D., Papazoglou, K., Creighton, S., & Kaye, C. C. (2019). New directions in police academy training: A call to action. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health , 16 (24), 4941.
Desilver, D., Lipka, M. & Fahmy, D. (2020). Things We Know About Race and Policing in the U.S. Fact Tank: News in the Number. https://www.pewresearchcenter.org
Fernandez, P. (2020). ACLU News & Commentary. Retrieved 12 November 2020, from https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/defunding-the-police-will-actually-make-us-safer/
Karma, R. (2020). We train police to be warriors — and then send them out to be social workers. Retrieved 12 November 2020, from https://www.vox.com/2020/7/31/21334190/what-police-do-defund-abolish-police-reform-training
Preston, C. (2020). Police training is broken. Can it be fixed?. Retrieved 12 November 2020, from https://hechingerreport.org/police-education-is-broken-can-it-be-fixed/
Ray, R. (2020). What does 'defund the police' mean, and does it have merit?. Retrieved 12 November 2020, from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/06/19/what-does-defund-the-police-mean-and-does-it-have-merit/
Sargeant, E., Antrobus, E., & Platz, D. (2017). Promoting a culture of fairness: police training, procedural justice, and compliance. Journal of Experimental Criminology , 13 (3), 347-365.
Stoughton, S. (2014). How Police Training Contributes to Avoidable Deaths. Retrieved 12 November 2020, from https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/12/police-gun-shooting-training-ferguson/383681/
Zerkel, M. (2020). 6 reasons why it’s time to defund the police. Retrieved 12 November 2020, from https://www.afsc.org/blogs/news-and-commentary/6-reasons-why-its-time-to-defund-police
