Introduction
The news report is of a tragic incident in which an innocent civilian dies on account of police incompetence and corruption. The incident, touted to be racial, might not be what it seems to be. Although it is difficult for the reporter or the broadcaster to look beyond the case of race, police incompetence in recent years suggests that they blunder into making disastrous decisions with tragic consequences irrespective of the victim’s race. The story of police officers using tasers on a Caucasian senior citizen for using a walking cane is equally outrageous. The victim was blind and the trigger-happy police officers used their tasers to subdue the bewildered citizen. The reason offered by police later was that the officers mistook the cane for a samurai sword. Hence, it is clear that police incompetence reckons beyond race.
Corruption in the force
The Armored Administration which handled the incompetent service for the victim during his time in custody still enjoys patronage of the Sheriff’s Department and the Highway Patrol. It is inconceivable that a human life can be worth so little. The reason that appeals to logical reasoning on why this healthcare service provider deployed incompetent staff is corruption. The service provider generates a few thousand dollars every day and their contention that staff nurses require training to read the symptoms of a stroke is preposterous. The priority list of illnesses that nursing staff and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT), includes stroke. It is the highest priority illness to keep a tab on. If the nurses require training to recognize this illness, it is a wonder how they managed to qualify themselves as nurses. The highest levels of corruption are prevalent in this case. Perhaps the FBI should take notice of this case.
Lack of basic policing skills
Basic requirements of a police officer include Problem solving and judgment, visual acuity, coherent perception, and self–control. These were the qualities that the two police officers who made the arrest were missing. Hence, it is clear that inadequate training contributed heavily to the incident. Police forces throughout the nation indulge in nepotism during hiring. It is not about what a person knows but whom a person knows that will ensure positing as a police officer. In addition, hiring from a pool of GED holders is highly questionable especially for smaller outfits such as a Sheriff’s office. It is time to create training modules uniformly across the nation. Furthermore, the educational qualification should be a college degree in Criminal Law or Criminology (Dempsey and Forst, 2011).
Conclusion
Police departments across the country are failing in their basic competencies. The situation is critical since human lives are lost while the police still try to find their bearings. A slew of reports on innocent civilian killings are on the rise and the killings are not always against the minorities. Over seven thousand innocent Americans have died since 9/11 due to police incompetence. The reason for this erratic behavior is due to the supply of army surplus weapons to local police. They are increasingly trigger-happy and juries are reluctant to indict erring police officers leading to a dangerous confrontation. The connection to the course and this case is the reliance on the execution of proper police procedure. If the police officers had proper education and training, the news headline would be very different.
References
Dempsey, J. S., and Forst, L. S. (2011). POLICE 2010-2011. Cengage Learning. Clifton Park: NY. Pp. 67-79.
