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The Decision of the Police to Stop, Search, Use Force, or Arrest
Student's Name
Institution
Course
Professor
Date
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The Decision of the Police to Stop, Search, Use Force, or Arrest
Police officers are warranted employees entitled to perform different functions in
countries, such as enforcing laws and ensuring people in these communities peacefully co-exist
with each other. There are different activities that these police officers use, such as patrolling in
distinct areas to ensure the people in these communities follow the country's laws. Therefore, the
police officers are said to make decisions that involve stopping, searching, using force, and
arresting people to ensure they deliver the services they are employed to perform. These
decisions are influenced by factors that push the police officers to the point where they
administer them to ensure the communities are served well. The identified activities are
conducted by these police officers based on the problems these people experience. Some of the
things that may influence the decisions of these police officers may include racial profiling, cases
where they are forced to literate to protect themselves as well as a third party that might be in
danger, criminal cases, and other factors.
Racial profiling refers to a state where the police officers embrace a disciplinary practice
based on the laws of the country targeting a distinct group of people guided by the religion, race,
ethnicity as well as the national origin of the people that may fall in the trap of the police
searches and arrests (McCabe et al., 2021). Racial profiling is mainly used by police officers
working in the traffic to search on the individuals associated with the minor traffic violations to
ensure they are arrested (Akbas et al., 2022). The use of racial profiling is witnessed chiefly in
the United States, where these police officers rely on race to arrest people of a given racial
group. Also, racial profiling affects pedestrians in which the aspect is used in searching for the
pedestrian unlawful contrabands.
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Notably, the public's acceptance of racial bias varies depending on the circumstances. For
example, after minorities were stopped over depending on perceived racial origin and ethnicity,
81 percent of residents complained of racial bias, according to a poll taken in 1999. Conversely,
9/11 attack, a new survey found that most of the public favored increased surveillance and the
screening of passengers from specified backgrounds, such as Muslims and others (Akbas et
al., 2022). As a result, the public's perceptions of racial profiling vary. According to McCabe et
al. (2021), minorities are exceedingly likely compared to whites to think that the minority are
handled unfairly by police and that their neighborhoods are treated poorly. Even though whites
believe that cops harass blacks, many typically dismiss it as part of their crime-fighting efforts
rather than discrimination. Profiling is also seen as a result of racism by minorities, but whites
see it as a reasonable response to minorities, especially blacks, engaging in criminal conduct
(Akbas et al., 2022). Throughout this sense, answers and reasons of institutional racism are built
on the foundation of far more underlying assumptions regarding race.
Furthermore, blacks and other minority groups have experienced friction due to racial
prejudice when engaging with law enforcement officers. Notably, from the time of slavery to the
current day, blacks in the U.S have faced prejudice and unfair treatment. According to Akbas et
al. (2022), police contacts with black adult males have become increasingly fatal over time due
to the absence of informative training provided by criminal justice systems. Notably, the reason
cops have used disproportionate force in most cases on innocent black men is a relation of the
broader African American race or general systemic racism that someone might express regarding
a race. Unarmed black men frequently encounter law enforcement officers unaware that they
may be racially targeted and abused because of their skin color (Kovera, 2019). This aspect is
critical when law enforcement officers have a pledged responsibility to protect and serve
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individuals without discriminating against minorities (Vera Jiménez et al., 2020). However,
because no one is perfect, a few corrupt law enforcement officials find their way into police
agencies with concealed objectives and motivations that are at odds with what the criminal
justice organizations are meant to promote.
Despite entering the post-racial period, police personnel is reported to practice the aspect
in which they recognize all persons as the same regardless of their background. The police
searches and arrests are said to occur every day in the cities and towns in which these police
officers tend to target people of color (Kovera, 2019). Racial profiling within these police
officers is said to be based on race. As a result, the people of color are identified as the most
affected since these police officers search for them and administer to them frightening arrests as
well as detentions with them not having distinct evidence of the criminal activities which these
people might be accused of (Akbas et al., 2022). Therefore, these people are subjected to
situations where they feel humiliated. Racial profiling is a distinct way of showing how police
officers rely on prejudices to humiliate people in the process of enforcing laws (Lum et
al., 2020). Racial profiling is said to be channeled towards black people since the people of color
are the ones that experience the most significant number of searches as well as arrests in the
United States.
In addition, the races are described by the different places they live, and the combination
of these factors, including the color of these people, affects the way they interact with the police
hence the increased number of them being searched and being arrested. The police do not
practice the Equal Protection Clause as per the Fourteenth Amendment in the United States
Constitution, which prohibits them from practicing unreasonable searches and seizures (Akbas et
al., 2022). Therefore, the lack of the adaptation of the law has seen many people of color being
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affected by the arrests administered by the police officers, especially in cases involving traffic
(Lum et al., 2020). Based on statistics addressing the issue of racial profiling and the traffic of
the United States, the white people are the ones highly associated with breaking of the laws of
the traffic, but the police officers in the United States target the black people subjecting them to
the highest mode of searches as well as arrests. In the United States, the issue of racial profiling
is said to have started in the 1990s (Weisburst, 2019). The media coverage addressed and about
its origin. It has been one of the critical problems black people have to experience within their
police officer encounters.
The issue is addressed with "driving while black" and "driving while brown." These two
phrases determine the encounters the people experience with the police officers. Driving while
black is one of the most critical things which instill fear into the black people in which they
always have bad encounters with the police (Akbas et al., 2022). Therefore, the problem is a
serious societal issue that police officers should investigate. The police officers are entitled to
maintain peace within the people, and as a result, they should not engage themselves in activities
that make them promote some of the foul things in these societies (Lum et al., 2020). Racial
disparities are a significant problem in the United States that has been sought for a long. As a
result, they should find ways to fight the problem rather than encouraging people to participate in
such activities.
Furthermore, the racial profiling among these police officers has been witnessed with the
police officers by different individuals, as evidenced by Dr. Elmo Randolph, the Black dentist in
the United States (Johnston & Houston, 2018). The dentist had to experience the notion of the
police of people driving in the wrong cars with some distinct cars being identified with a
particular race during these days. Based on the reports given, the dentist has been stopped by the
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police officers since 1991, with the police officers being identified as the New Jersey Troopers
more than 50 times. Randolph was not involved in excess speed in driving, having any drugs in
the car, being involved in proceeds of crime, as well as other factors that could lead him to
searches, but due to his skin color, he had to experience all of these situations (Akbas et
al., 2022). In this case, Randolph is classified as one of New Jersey's prominent minorities,
which is the source of his problems.
Additionally, people of color have experiences in which they reside in a particular area.
In cases where they are found walking in the areas associated with white people, they tend to be
arrested (McCabe et al., 2021). Alvin Penn experienced the incident of the police arrests and
neighborhoods; a black American said to have been a vice president of Connecticut State
(Johnston & Houston, 2018). In his incident, he was caught driving in an area associated with
white people. As a result, he had the police officer of Connecticut taking his car and driving
while asking him if he knew the town he was driving in (Akbas et al., 2022). The case shows
how the African Americans get arrested in the United States due to petty reasons such as having
vehicle equipment failures, in the event of poor signaling, illegible license plates as well as other
petty reasons which these police officers search such that they make the people suffer at the
expense of their races.
The police officers are also said to use force in their arrests and the different encounters
they usually have while administering the activities they ought to administer in society. These
police officers ought to use force in cases where they are in danger, and the best way to defend
themselves is through the use of force such that they are not overpowered by the enemy (Ba et
al., 2021). The police officers may experience environmental factors or situational factors which
may involve them as well as third parties, and with them being entitled to ensure the safety of the
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people, they must apply force to ensure they protect themselves as well as the people that might
need their care at the moment (Johnston & Houston, 2018). Some of the contributing elements
that prompt the police to use force include situations when citizens raise uproar in demand of
their rights, whether the outcry is correct or incorrect. In these cases, the citizens decide to face
the laws and quest for their rights, and as a result, the police officers turn to force to ensure the
people dispatch, and they do not cause more harm than good in these societies.
The police officers in these protests shift to using force to ensure the movements do not
cause a high rate of damages to the people in the society as many of the people turn to the use of
high force that may affect third parties. The use of the police force and the people's protests were
witnessed with the incident of the black lives matter demonstrations in which the people claimed
for the black people being mishandled in the United States (Ba et al., 2021). This development
came after the mishandling of George Floyd, whom a police officer killed. Rather than
subjecting him to the law, Floyd had to suffer death at the hands of the police officers, with them
viewing the black people as lesser human beings than the white Americans (Headley & Wright,
2020). Therefore, the protests which cropped during these times saw the police turn into using
force to ensure the people stopped the protests in which they were identified to be causing
damages in the societies.
The black lives matter movement has existed in the United States for a long time, with
the proceeds of the police using force between 2014 to 2019 being identified have killed one
person in a population of 4000 (Headley & Wright, 2020). The black lives matter after the death
of George is said to have been the largest in American history hence the death of the people with
the police using force to administer law and order. According to Ba et al. (2021 Travis Campbell
is a Ph.D. student in economics at the University of Massachusetts, and according to his research
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on police use of force on individuals, 15 to 20% of Black Lives Matter protests between 2014
and 2019 had police officers attempting to reduce the use of lethal force to maintain law and
order, as the use of police force is said to affect the people in a variety of ways.
In addition, when the authorities are concerned about the suspects they are dealing with,
they often resort to using force. In these cases, the police officers might be in contact with
harmed suspects, and as a result, they ought to use force to ensure they do not fall into the trap of
being harmed by these suspects. Some of the suspects might have guns, and as a result, the act of
the police being soft with them may lead them into losing their lives in the hands of these
suspects (Bagley, 2018). The lack of force is sure to trigger an attack, and as a result, the police
officers may end up dying in such incidents. Therefore, how they administer to the suspects in
such cases should involve using force to ensure they defend themselves. Also, other
environments should have the police using force to ensure they are not harmed (Geller et
al., 2021). The environment identified here is when the suspects opt to use force at the beginning
of their encounters with the police officers. In this situation, the suspects may foster an attack,
and as a result, the police officers have to apply an immense amount of force to ensure they do
not fall victim to these people.
The police officers, on the other hand, are not supposed to use force that is too harmful
but the force which can help them mitigate the situations and ensure they are in better conditions.
This aspect applies in cases where they are in the sense of insecurity and in which they have to
find ways through which they can survive these situations. The police officers are entitled to
ensure they regain control as fast as possible since the lack of control is detrimental to their
careers. The situation can harm many people in society (Bagley, 2018). In cases where the police
officers use force, injuries have been witnessed to occur. As a result, they should ensure these
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people are administered with medical attention as fast as possible to ensure they do not display a
sense of failure through the activities which they administer (Geller et al., 2021). In many cases,
the police officers have been identified to use force based on the national data collected in 2019
regarding the use of force within these police officers.
Criminal cases are significant reasons police officers opt to arrest people since various
factors back up the police decision to arrest anyone that might go against the country's laws.
Arrests by police are defined as an act where the police choose to take people into custody in
which they might be identified to have committed different crimes which may require them to be
put under the law (Bagley, 2018). The police arrests have the person taken to custody before they
are released to the courts such that they can justify their guilt (Chalfin et al., 2020). Police
officers tend to arrest people in cases where they have a warrant to arrest a particular individual.
However, they tend to arrest these kinds of people in which they suspect the individual might be
doing what is not correct (Cooley et al., 2020). Therefore, in cases where the person is caught
ready-handed, they have to arrest the particular individual for stopping them from completing the
crime they might have been in the process of committing.
Police officers tend to see arrests as a way to maintain law and order since, in many
cases, the people who get arrested are linked with them engaging in activities that interfere with
the peaceful coexistence of the people in the society. The 911 has been identified as a social
agency number through which people experiencing difficulties in their surroundings can call the
police officers and have them come to ensure they are safe (Weisburst, 2019). A number is a
form of emergency developed by these police officers through which the police can ensure they
perform their roles most appropriately.
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Additionally, police officers tend to arrest people for establishing a probable cause of
situations that might be regarded as unlawful. The probable cause is the critical issue that must
be established to ensure that the person being arrested has been identified to have committed a
crime. It is not right to arrest someone without an offense, and as a result, the critical reason for
someone's case should be established before these police officers take the people to custody
(Chalfin et al., 2020). Here, the police officers have to establish the objectives lying behind the
suspects to analyze if the situation stands the chance of being identified as a crime or not. A
police officer cannot justify an arrest by saying that they had the feeling that the individual had
committed a crime. They must go step by step to establish why they are arresting the particular
individual.
Also, people tend to be arrested for proceeds of crime, for example, in cases where
individuals might be found with drugs such as cocaine and marijuana. These hard drugs tend to
be illegal in many countries across the globe and as a result, being found with the drugs stands
the position of having the individual arrested since the actions do not concur with the law
(Chalfin et al., 2020). Drug trafficking is identified as one of the significant proceeds of crime
since people tend to smuggle drugs in countries with the act is unlawful. Therefore, in cases
where people are found with drugs, they get arrested in which the police officers have the right to
arrest people found in such proceeds (Cho et al., 2021). These sorts of crimes harm society, with
narcotics being designated as dangerous. Therefore, they want to guarantee they are not
permitted in these nations. The police officers are entitled to doing investigations regarding the
matter in which they, in return, have to put the people in custody and be arraigned for going
against the country's laws.
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Furthermore, police officers are entitled to arrest people involving themselves in
disrupting peace in societies. Some of the ways these people can interfere with others' peace are
through stealing and robbery with violence. In the case of stealing, these people may involve
themselves in taking the property of other people without their consent, and as a result, they can
be put through the law in which the owners can report the aspects to the police officers. In such
cases, the police officers have to do investigations to ascertain the level of crime in which these
individuals engage themselves hence the arrest (Chalfin et al., 2020). Besides, the case of
robbery with violence is a primary key reason for the police arrests since no one is entitled to
taking the property of other people forcefully. The things these people tend to steal are of great
value in which they always want to benefit from things that they do not have a share in (Cho et
al., 2021). Robbery is a dangerous aspect of society as it instills fear in the people, and as a
result, they may be having less peaceful experiences in cases where they carry things bearing a
high value in the society. In cases where the police come across this kind of person, they have to
be arrested to ensure that the people in the society get to experience peace (Rosenfeld et al.,
2020). The key robbers that involve themselves in the robbery cases have to be put through the
law to ensure they do not continuously engage in crimes that are terrible to society.
Remarkably, racial prejudice has long been a concern in society and criminal justice
institutions globally. However, to put an end to such needless violent acts, law enforcement
officers must try to work together and be extra active with community members to minimize
confrontations between the minorities and the police that result in death caused by an inadequacy
of training and the execution of civic reforms that restrict officers' ability to interact with
minorities in a legitimate and just way (Akbas et al., 2022). It is imperative to note that racial
stereotyping and police forces persist, but if particular rules are implemented, there is a chance
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that fewer race-related deaths may happen across the country. As such, there should be policies
to bring peace between law enforcement and all minority groups who are killed by police
officers just because of hatred that may exist, either because of a lack of training or simply
because of a lack of concern for life (Vera Jiménez et al., 2020). When individuals of a minority
origin come into contact with law enforcement agents, there are several remedies to the abuse
and use of police brutality. Police brutality, according to McCabe et al. (2021), is a preventable
cause of death that affects all racial groups equally. The most significant answer to any
misunderstanding or correction of prejudiced movements that law officers may display is
education that does not include police having personal, bigoted views towards ethnic minorities.
In addition, law enforcement officers must be familiar with the rules and regulations of the law
enforcement agency they represent.
In conclusion, police officers are identified as employees entitled to ensure the peaceful
coexistence of society. These police officers tend to enforce laws in countries to ensure the
people do not live in fear. Even though whites believe that cops harass blacks, many typically
dismiss it as part of their crime-fighting efforts rather than discrimination. Profiling is also seen
as a result of racism by minorities, but whites see it as a reasonable response to minorities,
especially blacks, engaging in criminal conduct. Throughout this sense, answers and reasons of
institutional racism are built on the foundation of far more underlying assumptions regarding
race. Notably, the reason cops have used disproportionate force in most cases on innocent black
men is a relation of the broader black race or general systemic racism that someone might
express regarding a race. As such, unarmed black men frequently encounter law enforcement
officers unaware that they may be racially targeted and abused because of their skin color. This
aspect is critical when law enforcement officers have a pledged responsibility to protect and
13
serve individuals without discriminating against minorities. However, because no one is perfect,
a few corrupt law enforcement officials find their way into police agencies with concealed
objectives and motivations that are at odds with what the criminal justice organizations are meant
to promote. People in society may opt to break the laws. As a result, the police officers should
find ways to ensure these people follow all the laws set by the countries as they are set to ensure
the goodness of the people. The police officers in the process of administering their roles tend to
make decisions that channel them towards stopping, searching, using force, and arresting. These
cases have been identified to crop out different factors, with racial profiling being the primary
reason these police officers engage in such activities. Also, cases where the police officers are in
danger, as well as other people, have to use force in order to ensure they save them. Racial
profiling is linked with the black Americans in which they are looked down on hence the
increased cases of racial profiling, especially with the traffic police. The traffic police tend to
administer searches to the black people many times, contrary to the whites who are said to break
the laws more than the black people. The use of the police forces has been witnessed in different
cases in the United States where the police officers have used the force for peace, but they end
up causing harm to the people in these societies. Robbery with violence also leads police into
searches through which they have to arrest particular individuals for ensuring continued peace in
these societies. However, to put an end to such needless violent acts, law enforcement officers
must try to work together and be extra active with community members to minimize
confrontations between the minorities and the police that result in death caused by an inadequacy
of training and the execution of civic reforms that restrict officers' ability to interact with
minorities in a legitimate and just way. The most significant answer to any correction of
prejudiced movements that law officers may display is education that does not include police
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having personal, bigoted views towards ethnic minorities. Additionally, law enforcement officers
must be familiar with the rules and regulations of the law enforcement agency they represent.
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