A Setting of Independent Warfare Checks in the Crime Department
Dsicuss about the Role Of Police Culture And Receptivity Of Risk.
Police departments around the country and even the world always send police officers to the field for them perform various tasks, following instructions from their supervisors (Morin, et al., 2017). This is a dangerous occupation which requires them to protect citizens no matter what dangers come on their way. Police officers are human beings who worry about their safety during execution of their duties. In most cases, they meet with different individuals having crossed the laws. Understanding and proofing whether the accused has done a crime is the problem. Many are the times when police have been accused of misusing their powers when handling criminals (Willis, 2014). As it is in every society, several police officers have been accused of abusing suspects who have been held at the police custody.
On 15th February 2006, Mr. George Brouwer who was then the director of police integrity received some information in concern to mistreatment of suspects who were in custody by some officers belonging to the Armed Offenders squad (Strong, 2008, p. 6). In persuasion to section 86NA of the police regulation Act of the year 1958, the director began some investigations to help him get to the root of the information. It was being rumored that some of the officers from the squad were on several occasions involved in the unauthorized use of force to the people in the police custody. The members were accused of totally neglecting suspect’s rights. This was being supported by audio-visual footage which showed some members of the squad assaulting a suspect. The principal aim of the report was to critically analyze the objectives of loyalty and culture regarding suspects shaping on what is wrong and what is right. The director was determined to know if the in the availability of proper management can be a breeding environment for bridging the law by some police officers. It is through the report that we get to realize that some police officers are always able to work against their oath of protecting the citizens to defend themselves or their colleagues.
The Director was able to identify various issues that the Victoria Police was able to put in place to curb the problem of misuse of power by its officers. When the reports concerning the indiscipline of the Armed Offenders squad emerged, Victoria police decided to dissolve the team. In return, the team was replaced by a task force which has since been able to produce positive results concerning the matter. The complaints in concern to the conduct of the officers working in the area subsequently reduced leading to smooth operations of the area detectives a factor which has restored the dignity of the city. The director made some various recommendations that police officers have to be thoroughly trained on detection, investigation, and prosecution of criminals. As a result, Mr. George recommended: a setting of Independent warfare checks in the crime department and improvement in processes of warfare checks
Improvement in Processes of Warfare Checks
For an extended period, police were accused of several misconducts. Many of these misconducts involved lack of upholding human rights. Police regularly harassed people on the streets without any possible reason. Because it is difficult to know if what a police officer did was the right thing or not, several changes have been made on the police culture to help the police department earn its respect and trust from the citizens.
To begin with, the first recommendation, politically and culturally independent agencies which are not in any way connected to the police have been mandated to investigate allegations of misconduct, abuse of human rights and criminality (UnitedKingdom, 2017). This has minimized the use of police officers to undertake such operations and if used, it should be under minimal circumstances (Strong, 2008). It has also been maintained that, if police officers have to be used, then they must come from a post outside the area of investigation (Balko, 2017). The relationship between the police and the city under investigation has also been put in place to avoid police bias when conducting the studies (Reiner, 2017, p. 238). Former police officers use in such rigorous investigations have also been reduced. Civilians have been highly trained to aid in such investigations while still in their civilian attire. These civilians happen to have dominated the investigation agencies. Before recruiting former police officers, the investigation agencies have been scrutinizing them to investigate if such officers might be having any other personal motive or motives towards the investigative operations (Wang, 2013, p. 58).
Investigation agencies are complaint centered and oriented (Evans, 2015). This is because they always operate under a healthy skepticism of police accounts in concern to criminal misconducts and behaviors. This is why they have maintained that, for them to be able to carry out their activities without being distracted or noticed by the offenders, the civilian investigators must have attitudes and attires which are entirely different from those of the police. When criminals realize that an individual agency has been trailing their actions, most of the agencies end up being captured. This is why minimal relations between the agencies and the police have been maintained (Thompson, 2011). Even though meetings between the agency under operation and the police agencies are critical, such meetings have been held under keen circumstances to maintain the agencies secrecy. Other law enforcement agencies have also been kept at bay.
The law enforcement agencies after the report begun separating police suspects and the witnesses for interview purposes the moment they get them (Rania, 2011). This happens within a moment of fewer than twenty-four hours once the police get details of the complainants. If the witnesses decide not to be involved in such interviews, they are dismissed immediately without any course for alarm.
Under circumstances where a suspect dies while at the police custody, civilian investigators are mandated to carry out such investigations and prepare a report on what caused the death. This change has really worked in the modern police department. Private agencies have resulted to several services in the police department and how investigations are carried out in the police department. Private investigators have the ability to dig deeper into a case and come up with a detailed report about a suspect. This move has highly been welcomed by the police since it is meant to enhance their respect in the society.
Misconducts by police officers during official discharging of their duties have substantially reduced drastically. This has seen the full administration of justice is achieved. This has proofed that, (Strong, 2008) recommendation on improving the process of warfare checks has improved. In addition to the civilian agencies being put in place, citizens have been advised to go an extra mile and film those conducts by the police officers who seem not to be useful to them (Ballucci, et al., 2017, p. 248). This makes it easy for the law enforcers who deal with police irregularities to be able to hold such police officers accountable of their misconducts. The proliferation of mobile devices such as mobile phones and cameras, it is easy for an ordinary citizen to film such behaviors which seem oblique and publicize them on the social media such Facebook, Twitter, and even websites. These steps have been successful though they have faced a complication in such a way that police confide, seize or delete any film recorded by a camera by the citizens. This is a serious crime which prohibits destruction of evidence of any crime being committed (Thomson, 2013, p. 1). This holds anyone accountable irrespective of whether such individual was a police officer or just a civilian.
The move has worked tremendously. This is because cases of police misconducts have drastically reduced. Civilians have been empowered to criticize unfair misconducts of the police through reporting such cases to the necessary authorities. Initially police never welcomed such moves but with time, many of the police officers have changed to accumulate the move.
Most are the times when police officers feel that their job is uncomfortable. I, therefore, recommend that police training department do include culture studies in the police training institutions. This can help police graduates have information about different cultures for them to be able to relate to different people differently without causing unnecessary tensions. Secondly, I suggest that it will be of many advantages if research agencies start rewarding those police investigators who complete a commendable job. These two recommendations can help the police department build a stable relationship with the communities they protect.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Victoria Armed Forces Report geared towards achieving considerable success in the police culture. When the police arrest someone, he or she is entirely at the hands of the law enforcement officers. Therefore, it becomes a sole role of the police to take care of such individuals. A suspect’s dignity, mind, and body are prone to a violation if such individual is tortured. It is highly advisable for the police to take care of criminals once they obtain them. Therefore to my view, Mr. George Brouwer’s report was a massive success towards the transformations of the police culture.
References
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[Accessed 10 May 2018].
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[Accessed 4 May 2018].
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