Abstract
The application of the rule of law as well as driving the use of the law towards the creation of a law abiding society is the limelight towards the creation of a society which does not condone crime and its sycophants. Enforcing law is one of the most effective mechanisms of controlling crime in any area. The use of the police as a law enforcement mechanism encourages peaceful coexistence within the society. The control of crime is usually a major step in discouraging crimes in communities. In the places where there are high cases of criminal cases reported, the use of law enforcement procedures and mechanisms serves as a good method in the criminal justice (ONDCP, 2016). The enforcement of the law by the various law enforcement mechanisms is one of the most effective strategies of dealing with crime, as well as ensuring a peaceable and equitable society.
I. Introduction
The application of the rule of law as well as driving the use of the law towards the creation of a law abiding society is the limelight towards the creation of a society which does not condone crime and its sycophants. Enforcing law is one of the most effective mechanisms of controlling crime in any area. The use of the police as a law enforcement mechanism encourages peaceful coexistence within the society. The control of crime is usually a major step in discouraging crimes in communities. In the places where there are high cases of criminal cases reported, the use of law enforcement procedures and mechanisms serves as a good procedure in the criminal justice (ONDCP, 2016). Whether the method of enforcement is proactive or reactive, the implementation of community policing, hot spot policing or predictive policing are three more modern strategies utilized by law enforcement agencies. The enforcement of the law by the various law enforcement mechanisms is one of the most effective strategies of dealing with crime, as well as ensuring a peaceable and equitable society.
II. Literature Review
Current literature on the enforcement of the law and its effective strategies recognize the importance of the relationship between law enforcement and citizens of the community. As with all types of crimes that result in a processing through the criminal justice’s system, law enforcement begins with the officer and the community. In a 2015 article by A.A. Braggs, the author emphasizes the importance of involving the community to achieve effective law enforcement (Braggs). The finding was that the relationship between law enforcement and the community have a significant impact on the effectiveness of crime fighting. In further support of this view, Bush and Dodson present an examination of policing in a 2014 article wherein they determined that the quality of the relationship between the community and law enforcement has a significant impact on the effectiveness of the enforcement of the law by the police (Bush & Dodson). Additional support for this particular strategy was also provided in a 2016 article by Higgins and Hun wherein they reported that crime can be effectively reduced by the existence of a cohesive relationship between law endorsement officers and the community. Additionally, in another 2015 article published in the Psychological Science in The Public Interest, the authors determined that a more effective way to control crime would be based upon dual factors of community confidence in police and professionalism. With community involvement, legitimacy would be enhanced and law enforcement would become more effective.
III. Crime
Crime is an act against the law of the government that is punishable. Throughout the world, there is a serious and dangerous threat to nearly every community due to crime. The application of law enforcement is used to control various crimes such as drug trafficking, which is a major problem for the whole nation.
The reporting of criminal activity is one of the most important aspects in the whole process of ensuring that there is equal law application. In today’s society, citizens and victims are more apt to not report crime due to the reduction in trust of law enforcement and the legitimacy of the police. Yet, without effective enforcement, crime will increase.
Crime Control and Law Enforcement
The existence of law enforcement reduces crime. The mission of the police is to deter, prevent and control crime. The presence of the police officers is usually termed as an assurance of peace in the short run, which makes sure that crimes are reduced within the locality (International Association of Chiefs of Police, c. 2016). The police play a significant role in the general process of law enforcement. Officers must adhere to the rules, maintain their neutrality and treat people with dignity and respect” to accomplish their goal. The method of enforcement may determine its effectiveness.
The enforcement of law may be either proactive or reactive. Reactive police tactics occur when officers respond to crimes that have been reported in some manner. In reactive enforcement, the police typically keep their distance from the community unless summoned. Relationships with the community is limited. This keeps the police from being intrusive. Reactive enforcement does have preventive effects. However, police are less likely to arrive at a crime that is in progress or have a high likelihood of observing crime in progress.
Proactive police tactics involve methods of enforcement that are less conventional. Special units of officers are used to engage in undercover investigations and covert surveillance. Various activities have also been created by police departments in conjunction with schools to keep juveniles away from criminal activity. Direct patrolling of police in high crime areas and, arrests that are proactive rather than reactive are effective methods in preventing crime. Law enforcement has the ability to prevent disorderly conduct, drunk driving, robbery as well as gun violence so long as proper policing methods are utilized.
Communities with a larger number of police may have reduced crime because the department engages in directed as well as random patrols, and reactive as well as proactive arrests. Also, with larger number of officers in a community, emergency calls will be responded to more rapidly. With community and problem oriented policing, policing will be of a better quality.
A. Policing Strategies
There are a variety of policing strategies that law enforcement may use to fight crime. The strategies include both reactive and proactive methods as a basis of enforcement. The strategies utilized to enforce the law have been numerous. However, strategies used by law enforcement in the past are sometimes not effective today. The reduction of crime and the creation of a peaceful community is always the goal. Three more modern strategies of law enforcement are becoming more common in today’s society and more effective. These include community policing, hot spot and predictive policing.
Community Policing
In the past, the focus of the enforcement of the law was on compliance and attempting to motivate compliance by citizens through the use of punishment and sanctions . This focus has not been successful as it not only cost a substantial amount of public spending, it fails to recognize the issue of trust among the citizens. Without citizen trust, the police cannot be successful in encouraging peaceful coexistence in society. Community policing is a method of law enforcement that is being adopted in police departments throughout the United States to increase citizen trust.
Community policing not only results in an effective method of law enforcement, but it also has the ability to reduce any negative portrayal on police officers, and reduce tension between the community and local law enforcement. It is a partnership between the police and citizens of the community. Research and studies have indicated that community policing is an effective method of enforcing the law. When law enforcement and members of the community become allies, the safety and quality of the community can be enhancement and the officers can better enforce the law.
Relationships between officers and community members are enhanced as they work together to identify and solve problems of crime in the community while they have open channels of communication. Involving the community in policing gives the citizens more at stake. Open channels of communication are utilized and citizens feel as though their voices are heard; and they actually are heard and considered.
An example of community policing is a neighborhood watch program. This program could be comprised of an entire neighborhood or just a single block in a neighborhood. The participants in the program become the eyes and the ears for law enforcement agencies.
Hot Spot Policing
Hot spot policing is another more modern method of law enforcement found to be effective. Hot spot policing involves methods of policing that focus on a specified location or a specified location and time of the day . Typically, the specified location will be an area that has a record of high crime. The idea of hot spot policing supports the rationale that crime does not occur evenly throughout a city. Crime occurs in clustered areas known as hot spots. Hot spots account for a significant amount of crime in a community. Law enforcement agencies can utilize this strategy in a variety of ways.
Police departments determine hot spots by the use of crime mapping. The crime maps are then utilized in department meetings to discuss the problem areas and the appropriate strategy for enforcement. Officers are deployed to the hot spots displayed on the map during the days and times when crime peaks in the areas . The location of hot spots typically target serious crimes like drug trafficking, gun crime, assault and robbery .
Research of this strategy of law enforcement has indicated that it is effective in reducing crime in the hot spot area as well as nearby areas. However, research conflicts as to whether focusing police efforts in one area allows for an increase in crime in other areas of the community. Other problems that have been associated with this strategy have been the assignment of officers for a longer period than necessary in the location which results in no crime reduction, and the fact that crime reduction only occurs within the limited location and not in any surrounding areas.
Predictive Policing
A third effective modern method of enforcing the law is predictive policing. Predictive policing is a proactive method of fighting crime. This strategy makes use of information and data to “inform forward thinking crime prevention” . The information and data gathered is used to predict, thwart and respond more effectively to future crime. Predictive policing can be used to enhance other strategies of law enforcement. The focus of the enforcement of law turns to what may happen instead of what has already happened. A variety of methods can be utilized in predictive policing law enforcement including predicting crimes, predicting offenders, predicting the identity of offenders and predicting victims . Professionals have indicated that predictive policing has the ability to reduce department budgets as officers are placed more resourcefully in the right place at the right time.
Much like hot spot policing, predictive policing can also be used in conjunction with community policing methods. An issue that arises with predictive policing concerns the retention of data and the sharing of information by law enforcement agencies. Policies must be established to determine a period of retention and also who would be in control of the date.
Criminal Procedure
Whether through the use of community policing, hot spot policing or predictive policing, the law enforcement officer works as a part of the criminal justice system, and thus must have a clear understand of the criminal law and procedure. There is an intersection between the rules of law that govern apprehension, screening and trial of persons suspected of crimes. Criminal investigations and court proceedings do not exist separately. Criminal investigations establish the procedures that will follow in the criminal proceedings.
Crime Investigation
Whether through community policing, hot spot policing, predictive policing or any other strategy of law enforcement, the process of investigation is very important because it sets the record and the truth in order to establish the procedures to be used in the whole process of investigation.
The process of investigation also involves the process of placing the charges, the court appearances, the bailing and bond issuing, as well as the course of the grand jury and the preliminary hearings and trial. The process of arraignment is very important in the process of law enforcement to ensure that there is a compulsory law application (Brian et al., 2016). The method of law enforcement’s an efficient process of ensuring that there is an improvement of the security in the neighborhoods, as well as creating peaceful coexistence in the society.
Following law enforcement’s investigation of a suspected crime, if there is enough evidence a suspect may be arrested or cited. The decision to make an arrest or write a citation depends on the particular crime. After the arrest or citation, the prosecutor chooses whether or not to file a complaint against the suspect. When charges are filed, the defendant makes his first appearance in the criminal justice system at the arraignment. The arraignment involves a review of the formal charges, a decision to release or retain the suspect in jail and appointment of an attorney if necessary. Bail or bond will also be determined. The defense attorney and the prosecutor may then choose whether to enter a plea agreement or proceed to trial. Once guilt is determined, the defendant is sentenced. Law enforcements officers start this proceeding with their investigation and may participate as a witness at trial as well. Once defendants are released from jail, officers may also be involved in following up on the defendant to ensure no future crimes are committed. The role of the police officer is thus very significant in the criminal justice system.
Police and Court Proceedings
Police officers are responsible for the enforcement of the law for the State. They are the primary law enforcement agent. The duty of police officers involves the recognition of violations of the law and connecting the facts through investigation to identify the offender. Subsequently, the facts ascertained by the law enforcement officer are presented to the prosecutor in the criminal court system and the accused offender is provided with an opportunity to present his or her side of the case and argue in defense. If found guilty of committing the accused of crime, the offender is given an appropriate penalty by the court. Many legal provisions guide this process through the criminal justice system beginning with the commission of the crime, investigation by law enforcement, adjudication in court and correctional services. The objective of the criminal justice system, which involves law enforcement officers, is to keep peace and order in society.
Police officers have a direct responsibility to act upon a complaint of a criminal offense by responding to the scene of the crime, determining the facts of the crime, apprehending the alleged offender and prosecuting the offender in court. Public expectations of police response and involvement in handling crime are often misperceived, yet this does not change the duties of officers. For this reason, officers face many challenges.
Challenges of Law Enforcement
The process of ensuring that there is an active law application as well as the general process of ensuring that there is peace in the society is faced with some challenges. Allegations of excessive force and lack of legitimacy are the most common challenges faced by law enforcement today.
A police department’s use of force draws extensive controversy to law enforcement. However, the constitutional rights and freedom which inhibit the police from using excessive force might be a problem which makes it very hard for the members of the general public to enjoy peace. The police officers might have the problem of using force to arrest or even break into the properties of the law breakers (Blanks 2016). Other cases of the law enforcement officers who use excessive force, or even do not use the required procedures in the law enforcement process, is a challenge to the course of comprehending the law process.
Officer involved shooting investigations are currently conducted by the agency of the officer. This procedure has brought about scrutiny, decline in trust and opinion that bias is involved in the investigation. For this reason, officer involved shootings and use of force by officers have created challenges and have tended to reduce trust in law enforcement (Katz, 2015). Yet, public trust in law enforcement is central to accomplish of the enforcement of the law.
A solution to this issue may be to establish external investigation of officer use of force and police shooting investigations. Many countries have adopted procedures for external investigation of such matters including Great Britain, Norway and Canada (Katz, 2015). Surveys have revealed that implementation of independent investigation provides a higher opinion of law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
Legitimacy of law enforcement enhances the ability to enforce the law and improve the criminal justice system. Legitimacy is referring to “the judgments of ordinary people about the authority of the police to make discretionary decisions with respect to enforcing the law and maintain social order” . Today and in the preceding decade, police legitimacy has decreased as a result of national events beginning with Rodney King.
Trust and confidence in police, when accomplished, instigates community involvement. Citizens more readily report crime, are more willing to acts as witnesses, and attend neighborhood meetings. Public support of law enforcement enhances the success of the enforcement of the law because the actions and behavior of citizens either help or hinder police efforts to maintain a peaceful and orderly society.
Conclusion
There are various police strategies than can play an important role in the course of ensuring that there is safety and peaceful coexistence in the society. Law enforcement is used in the process of ensuring that there is the general process of upholding the law to ensure that there is a reduction of crime, through the analysis of the general corruption effects and incidents in the society. Law enforcement and the general process of criminal correction procedures ensure that there is the general and useful application of law effectively and efficiently. The process also ensures that there is a general method of bringing all the offenders to book (Queensland Police Service, 2012).
The application of the rule of law as well as driving the use of the law towards the creation of a law abiding society is the limelight towards the creation of a society which does not condone crime and its sycophants. Enforcing law is one of the most effective mechanisms of controlling crime in any area. The use of the police as a law enforcement mechanism encourages peaceful coexistence within the society. The control of crime is usually a major step in discouraging crimes in communities. In the places where there are high cases of criminal cases reported, the use of law enforcement procedures and mechanisms serves as a good procedure in the criminal justice (ONDCP, 2016). The enforcement of the law by the various law enforcement mechanisms is one of the most effective strategies of dealing with crime, as well as ensuring a peaceable and equitable society.
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