Citizen Complaints Rising!
The Crime Report website wrote an article about Community Policing: Promise and Failure. In
this article they talked about how despite measurable reductions in violent crime, citizen
complaints of police misconduct rose by double digits between 2002 and 2006, according to data
gathered by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), and more of these complaints were
substantiated than in previous years. Over the same period COPS hiring grants put thousands of
new officers on the street. Assuming the problem with police behavior is limited to “a few bad
apples,” it’s safe to say COPS programs haven’t done a terribly good job cleaning out the
orchard.
In my opinion more law enforcement presence is needed as a means of control to ensure order
for the lives they protect, however, law enforcement should not be intimidating to the community
that they provide services for. This shows lack of control and will only heighten an already
volatile situation that is extremely sensitive to the community aspect as well as the law
enforcement aspect.
I think there needs to be a clear cut approach that details the way we can
start repairing the damage that has been done on both sides of the aisle. The blame falls on no
one, a common ground can be achieved if we concentrate on the dynamics of the circumstance
that caused this country to be put in this predicament in the first place.
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