Dificienices in Police Practices

Deficiencies in Police Practices American Military University Professor Dena Weiss CMRJ303 Criminology Abstract This paper will serve to describe the deficiencies in police practices. This paper highlights constitutional due process and the amendments violated in the process of administering justice. It will show civil rights violations to include profiling and race discrimination. Furthermore, this paper addresses police brutality and the use of deadly force. Keywords deficiencies, race, due process, amendment, civil rights, profiling Deficiencies in Police Practices Public citizens and lawmakers scrutinize the decisions and actions of police departments around the world on a daily basis. Some would say this is unfair while others would say it is the nature of what they do that make them so susceptible to inquiry. The amount of authority and power, law enforcement agencies wield, is in direct correlation to the amount of oversight they need from lawmakers. To have the authority to not only arrest individuals, but also legally end the life of a suspect is a monumental power. This power is what makes oversight of the deficient practices of the police departments so important. The National Investigative Commissions in the 1930s and 1960s noted six distinct areas law enforcement agencies around the country are deficient in (Adler, Laufer Mueller, 2010, p. 430). This paper will discuss three of the serious issues in which law enforcement agencies have ignored constitutional due process, abused civil rights, and police been found guilty of brutality to include the use of deadly force. Constitutional Due Process The adherence to constitutional due process is vital to ensuring that every arrest brought before the courts has a legal basis, without concern for any of the defendants rights being violated. Three vital aspects of a suspects rights is the fourth, fifth and sixth amendment. This amendment is an important one due to the daily traffic stops,