Introduction
In the recent past, issues of police misconduct have been greatly debated. Police have been found to act out of the laws and disregard the rights of others. However, these people forget that the police also have rights and are humans hence prone to error. It has been advocated that the police be taken through the police bill of rights and other laws relating to their conduct to avoid unnecessary lawsuits. Just like in their oaths, in which they have sworn to protect the citizens, it is said they are doing the actual opposite. There should be strong emphasis on police conduct on their daily duties. There should be a two-way traffic in which the rights of the police should be respected; similarly, they should also respect the rights of the civilians.
Facts
The police officers are often put in check whether on or off duty by the Police Officers Bill of Rights, as this is its sole purpose. On the other hand, the rights of the police should also be protected while on the job just like they are in charge of protecting civilians. If there is evidence pointing out the misconduct of an officer, an investigation ought to be conducted, despite being held accountable for their actions. Until the investigation is over, secrecy should be held when an investigation is being conducted. In early 1970's, Congressman Mario Biaggi created the POBR. The bill was not passed to state level until late 1990’s when it got to state level, however, it was not passed until recently when the house of Congress merged it into the “State and Local Law Enforcement Discipline, Accountability and Due Process Act” (Schmidt, 2005).
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According to the declaration of the legislation, the issue of police accountability is not under the jurisdiction of the federal government hence should be a state concern. One province and 17 states enacted the Bill of Rights law despite the bill not being passed. Within the last decade, 10 states have attempted to create some form of POBR, leaving a more than half of the states without any police officer bill of rights. Despite this positive in the states is an improvement, this does not show unity in the country (Schmidt, 2005).
Decision
This means in different states, other people will be subjected to different standards. The rules apply even to the other government agencies (Schmidt, 2005). Overall, a responsive statement; would focus on fundamentals; decisional laws would be considered; would offer alternative ways of implementing rules; would cover rights and responsibilities, and civilians would be included were some of the agreed basic principles that the bill would cover (Schmidt, 2005).
There are some common statutes in the POBR despite being different from state to state. The common provisions include; officers should be informed of the time and place of a formal interview; duty to cooperate; statement should be supplied to officer for reasons of interview as well as given a list of complainants; officer should undergo examinations if necessary; officers should be able to access adverse information and dispositions available; officers should know they have the right to consult an attorney or union representative; (Schmidt, 2005).
Alternative Solutions
When officers are sworn in as police officers, they should be given a copy of the bill of rights. Predicting when an officer will act out of conduct is difficult to know hence people ought to understand that making such a prediction is difficult (Kinnaird, 2008). It is extremely important to have laws that hold the police officers accountable for their own conduct. The need for accountability in the force is necessary and has been proven so through the cases of Gardner vs. Broderick and Garrity vs. New Jersey. These cases openly show flaws in the force so we can ensure we correct them.
Another fundamental solution is through ensuring the police are well aware of the bill despite the state they operate in. This follows as police may be transferred from one state to another hence they must be familiar with the laws. The state legislatures should push for the necessity of these rules since the police force has been on the spot recently for negative acts.
Conclusion
This bill of rights is vital as it ensures the police are accountable for their actions while on duty. The police may go scot free for unethical behaviours if there is no law keeping them in check (Barker, 2011). Within the society, these provisions are reasonable as they are meant to protect rights of individuals. Each state has rules that ensure the employees are in line; therefore if the laws are not similar in some states, committing certain acts may not be punished. When officers are sworn in as police officers, they should be given a copy of the bill of rights. The society is made of rules and no one should operate without rules, therefore the police should have rules just like the civilians. There should be strong emphasis on police conduct on their daily duties. It is extremely important to have laws that hold the police officers accountable for their own conduct.
References
Barker, T. (2011) Police ethics: Crisis in law enforcement Springfield, Ill: Chares C. Thomas.
Kinnaird, B. A. (2008) Exploring police liability profiles: Proximate cause analysis of police misconduct in the San Francisco, CA Police Department Saarbrücken, Germany: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller.
Schmidt, W. (2005), March 1). Peace officers bill of rights guarantees: Responding to union demands with a management-sanctioned version. Retrieved from http://www.aela.org/pobr-iacp.pdf (2005, March 1)
