Should The Police Have More Power?
We live in a country with many freedoms. We each have many rights that citizens of other nations do not have. With all these rights and all these freedoms, there is a need of regulation. At one moment the police officer is a hero, the next a monster...to people in trouble he is a savior..to criminal suspects he is a demon (Geller 53). The police in this country protect citizens everyday and yet need protection themselves. Police officer have the power to interrogate someone, arrest someone and settle disputes. However, when someone does not comply with the officers and resist arrest, the officer must use force. This is where police officers are limited in power. There is a need of more power for those who protect our everyday lives.
When thinking of the power one can come up with many conclusions but in this case we are dealing with police power. Police power, in law, is the right of a government to make laws necessary for the health, morals, and welfare of the population (Columbia). How and why did this creation occur? Simply because the police is an arm of government, whose creation and existence is necessitated by the imperfections of human behavior. When the United States Constitution was ratified in 1788, its main focus was on preserving the new democracy and protecting against future tyranny by ensuring separation of power among the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government (Vila 20). An example of the separation of power is found in the Fourth Amendment, which places limitations on police behavior and its protection of individual?s right to privacy.
Police officers are equipped with everything they need, most noticeably a gun, only to be used if the suspect has a gun as well and threatens to use it. A 1978 Police Foundation survey reported that 49 percent of the forty0nine police departments surveyed required their officers to carry their guns while off duty, while 51 percent allowed but did not require them to do so (Vila 231). Many times
When thinking of the power one can come up with many conclusions but in this case we are dealing with police power. Police power, in law, is the right of a government to make laws necessary for the health, morals, and welfare of the population (Columbia). How and why did this creation occur? Simply because the police is an arm of government, whose creation and existence is necessitated by the imperfections of human behavior. When the United States Constitution was ratified in 1788, its main focus was on preserving the new democracy and protecting against future tyranny by ensuring separation of power among the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government (Vila 20). An example of the separation of power is found in the Fourth Amendment, which places limitations on police behavior and its protection of individual?s right to privacy.
Police officers are equipped with everything they need, most noticeably a gun, only to be used if the suspect has a gun as well and threatens to use it. A 1978 Police Foundation survey reported that 49 percent of the forty0nine police departments surveyed required their officers to carry their guns while off duty, while 51 percent allowed but did not require them to do so (Vila 231). Many times