Integrity In Law Enforcement

In my opinion the most important issue facing law enforcement today, is public perceptions of police integrity. Integrity is defined as being honest and impartial (Webster, 2016). Generally speaking, in 2016, mistrust of police is at an all-time high. This sentiment can be seen in the media headlines, by peaceful and sometimes chaotic protests, and the massive amount of police reform bills being sent for review to congress. When there is a pervasive culture of bad behavior within police departments nationwide, there has to be police reform legislation to punish corrupt incompetent officers and sometimes departments.
For example, the Cleveland Police Department was investigated by the Department of Justice and found to be in violation of its citizen’s civil rights by using excessive force (Justice Department Reaches Agreement, 2015). Also, the Baltimore Police Department was found to be in violation of at least four (4) constitutional laws when interacting with its citizens, particularly African Americans (Justice Department Announces Findings, 2016). The aforementioned cases all pertain to the African American inner-city population.
With the dominance of mobile cameras and continual evidence of police misconduct, culpability has to be enforced for criminals and police alike. African Americans are being killed whether they are armed or not at an alarming rate. Public outrage has nothing to do with being anti-police but outraged at the lack of unnecessary deadly force being used against minorities. Communities deserve to live without fear of law enforcement. Officers take an oath to protect and serve the community; Officers did not take an oath to protect themselves and no one else. Until officers are prosecuted the same as criminals, for crimes that they have in fact committed, then perceptions of police integrity will not