Introduction
The United States just like most other countries has an obligation of ensuring that both its citizens and non-citizens are protected by the law as stated in its constitution. To ensure the protection of citizens is made possible, the government deploys individuals referred to as the federal law enforcement officers locally known as the ‘men in uniform’ to monitor and protect the law. Contrary to fulfilling their responsibilities and duties some of these police officers engage in unethical activities that defy the law and what is expected of them from the constitution. Some of the practices may include the involvement in corrupt activities, victimizing innocent citizens and engaging in activities that break the law. Therefore, involvements in these unlawful acts are abuse to the authorities bestowed on the police officers (Son, & Rome, 2004).
Police Misconduct, Corruption, and Brutality in the United States
As mentioned earlier, the police have a duty to ensure that law and order are enforced, exercised and maintained. Misconduct and corruption in the police force are a practice that has been in existence since the ancient days and the birth of the American nation. According to Doug Poppa (2015), the extremes of police misconduct and corruption in the past and present days can be compared and differentiated depending on the magnitude and category of the actions in question. Misconduct is the breaking of law and involvement in acts that defy the national integrity and the honor expected from the men in uniform. The United States Department of Justice (DOJ, 2015), reckons that it is unlawful for the federal police officers who deny citizens their rights to protection as the constitutions require through the indulgent in malpractices. Some of these illegal acts that contribute to police misconduct may include unlawful and (or) unwarranted searches, stops or arrests, harassment, use of excess force, and involvement in coercive sexual acts among many other forms of misconduct.
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Corruption, on the other hand, is the participation of unlawful acts that and use of the federal power to acquire illegal profits and useful materials for personal use. The most frequent acts of corruption are the obtaining of bribes to overlook a citizen’s offense or help a law offender cover up their wrongdoing. Other corrupt practices observed in the United States police force include the deduction or addition of evidence in a criminal case especially illicit drug cases, withholding proof leading to the disruption of prosecution and court procedures or giving false witness in the court, lying and alteration of testimony. Corruption has contributed to the lack of trust and confidence in the federal government and law enforcers. Both the innocent and law breaking citizens have been victims of brutality performed by police officers against the requirements of the law. Most victims end up with physical injuries, psychological torture or even emotional pain to the family of the police brutality victims. Police brutality is the use of the excess federal power while performing their duties to inject harm to their victims. Some of the injury injected in the citizens could be an order from above especially during a political indifference between the government and its citizens. Analysts state that some of these brutalities from the police force associated with the perspective of targeting a given population who in most cases are the marginalized community concerning race, religion or social status. The government of United States has tried all it can to tame the mentioned unethical police practices in the police force for improvement of every federal department to ensure that the constitutional rights of its citizens are protected and implemented by every individual including the police.
Details of Current Cases within the last Ten Years
Corruption and police misconduct are on the rise despite the efforts that the American government is enforcing to ensure that police involvement in the breaking of the law is handled. The citizens, on the other hand, have developed a negative perspective towards police officers and included the diligent ones in the group of the unethical ones.
Taylor Wofford (2015), of the Europe Newsweek, highlights some of the cases recorded by the Department of Justice exposing acts of misconduct, corruption, and brutality within the police authorities. For instance, in 2014 May a young African-American man who allegedly was rushing to a crime scene that involved his girlfriend was arrested and charged with false violations of the law. According to the young man, his intentions were to assist in saving the life of his girlfriend who was at risk due to the excessive loss of blood from the injuries incurred. At the crime scene, the policemen present arrogantly talked to him pushing him away. His refusal to move away from the injured girlfriend led to the police handcuffing him which he also resisted. The police concentrated on mishandling the young man instead of attending to the injured victim of the accident since the Emergency Medical Service team and other officers had not arrived. On top of towing and impounding the young man’s car, he was charged with various violations of the municipal code that included failure to cooperate with the police, assaulting a police officer, distracting of the federal government operations, resistance to arrest and acting disorderly.
Dr. Lawrence Miller a police psychologist (2008), suggest that law enforcement officers have a duty to ensure that accident victims are well attended to and their lives are saved through quick response, provision of first aid and involving the Emergency Medical Service team. On the other hand, loved ones to the victims whose emotions in most cases run high on arrival to the accident scene should be politely asked to move away so as the police can perform their duties of saving lives and analyzing the cause of the car crash without distractions. Other team members should be a source of calming the loved ones by assuring them that they will do their possible best to ensure that the lives of their loved ones are saved. Contrary to the mentioned ethics, the police handling the victim’s boyfriend prioritized arresting the young man rather than ensuring the girl found medical attention and that she stopped bleeding. In this case, the police should have considered the life of the accident victim to be more important than arresting a concerned loved one.
Corruption is rampant, and many incidences have been observed to be orchestrated by the men in uniform. For instance, in 2013, two men who were believed to be police impersonators were federal policemen who used their powers and rifles to rob the citizens. Caught on camera by a passerby, the officers in charge of an investigation of the robbery recognized one of their colleagues in the captured video. It is unlawful for any government officer to instill fear in the citizens by drawing their rifles and using them to steal and benefit themselves (Agorist, 2013).
The negative stereotype that police officers are unfriendly is primarily contributed by the brutality citizens are subjected in. For example in 2005, a police officer Johannes Mehserle shot and killed an unarmed citizen by the name Oscar Grant. Grant was involved in a fight which the police officers including Mehserle were responding to. Grant was handcuffed and ordered to lie down. While on the ground, he was shot dead yet he was unarmed. Mehserle was charged with murder and unlawful use of his gun and excess force defying the police authority. He stated before the jury that he thought the gun he used was his taser. Consequently, he was sentenced to twenty-four months imprisonment and was released in 2011 June on parole (Harris, 2011).
The actions of Officer Mehserle were in the extreme since his life was not threatened in any way because Grant had no weapon on him. On the other hand, the fact that Grant was lying on the ground handcuffed indicated he had corporate with the officers. Hence, killing Grant was an exercise of abuse of the federal authorities. Mehserle's actions were inhuman and deserved a longer period in prison because I most cases if it were a citizen who killed he or she would have spent their whole lives in prison.
According to Jay Albanese of the Virginia Commonwealth Universities, it may be difficult for some police officers to charge law offenders due to difference of characteristics of the situations at hand about what is expected by the constitution. Hence the lack of clarity on how police officers should apply the law, allows them to use the discretions like citations, or give warnings or enforce the law constitutionally. The decisions made by the court annually are challenging due to the uniqueness of each case hence ethical practice should be included in the decision making.
Conclusion
Human rights should be protected, and citizens on the other hand should feel safe around law enforcement officers. Unethical acts perpetrated by law enforcers in uniform should be looked into to ensure that these practices are dealt with ones and for all. For a government to implement constitutional rights to its citizens, it is the mandate of policemen to manage and ensure that they are on the frontline to practice law and order. Citizens, on the other hand, should be aware of their rights in a view to avoiding being taken advantage by the police officers.
References
Agorist, M. (2013, December 31). The Most Outrageous Police Misconduct Stories of 2013 . Retrieved March 18, 2017, from The Free Thought Project: http://thefreethoughtproject.com/shocking-police-misconduct-stories-2013/
DOJ. (2015, August 6). Addressing Police Misconduct Laws Enforced By The Department Of Justice . Retrieved March 18, 2017, from United States Department of Justice: https://www.justice.gov/crt/addressing-police-misconduct-laws-enforced-department-justice
Harris, P. (2011, October 24). US police brutality: the five worst examples . Retrieved March 18, 2017, from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/24/us-police-brutality-worst-examples
Miller, D. L. (2008, January 28). On-scene response to crime and accident victims: A practical guide . Retrieved March 18, 2017, from Police One: https://www.policeone.com/health-fitness/articles/1651795-On-scene-response-to-crime-and-accident-victims-A-practical-guide/
Poppa, D. (2015, May 6). Police corruption and misconduct; a continual battle . Retrieved March 18, 2017, from Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/police-corruption-misconduct-continual-battle-doug-poppa
Son, I., & Rome, D. (2004). The Prevalence and Visibility of Police Misconduct: A Survey of Citizens and Police Officers. Police Quarterly , 7 (2), 179-204. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1098611102250705
Wofford, T. (2015, April 3). 15 Most Outrageous Examples of Police Misconduct in the DoJ Report on Ferguson . Retrieved March 18, 2017, from Europe Newsweek: http://europe.newsweek.com/15-most-outrageous-examples-police-misconduct-department-justice-report-311434?rm=eu
