Six Pillars of United States Policing
In light of current events that have revealed rifts between local police and community relationship, an executive order was signed to establish a task force on 21st century policing. President Obama charged the task by determining best practices and giving recommendations on how police work can reduce crime (Bell, 2017). The report emphasized building trust asserting that an atmosphere of mutual respect would be attained by treating one another with respect. Youth-focused policing is required to employ the six pillars of US policing as a framework for a task force.
Describing and Discussing Six Pillars
A task force team of officials was tasked with providing recommendations on how the US policing system can be improved. The established group was directed to respond to some suggestions and actions that outlined police departments’ compliance. In addition, the team has to compile supporting documents for responses when applicable through a specific system (Wood, Tyler & Papachristos, 2020). The report given highlighted six pillars and accompanying recommendations on each. The first pillar address change in culture, recognizing police role, ensuring transparency or accountability, and promoting work diversity. Second pilar entails community use of force, encouraging non-punitive peer reviews, gathering data, adopting no ticket quotas, prohibiting discriminations, and training (Wood et al., 2020). In the third pillar, the focus is to embrace standards for compatibility, addressing human rights, and developing less violent interventions while using technology to better operations. Social order can be attained by allowing the community to manage public safety through policing, integrating a multidisciplinary team, and reducing the aggressive force. The fifth pillar deals with the engagement of the community in high-quality training and includes leadership training in all officers to teach basic on biases, cultural awareness, and social interactions. Lastly, promotion of officers’ wellness, safety and giving tools such as vests, first aid kits, and other necessary gears when doing police work is deemed essential for better services.
Pillars in Concepts of Procedural Justice
Ideally, procedural justice refers to the theory of fairness in processes that involve resource allocation and resolving disputes. The concept seeks to promote positive organizational change when embraced and foster better relationships (Van Craen & Skogan, 2017). Major procedural justice principles that ground the pillars of justice are fairness, transparency, impartiality, and opportunities. Studies demonstrate that the four-standard mentioned contribute to relationships between communities and local authorities as people confide in police with confidence, honesty, and trust while officers practice unbiased and lawful acts. Allowing community members to have a voice and listening to issues support the pillar of trust building, while training enlightens officers how to engage in transparent actions as they approach suspects.
Tenets of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing
President Obama issued an executive order by signing in 2014, which established a task force for 21st century policing and it purposed to address the rifts between officers and communities objectively. The task force approach was to determine best practices that can be integrated in US policing system. In about 90 days, the task force facilitated hearings and reviewed written testimonies submitted online by witnesses and the general public (Van Craen & Skogan, 2017). The hearings and testimony were organized into key pillars and recommendations to the president. One tenant of the 21st century task force is to ensure public trust is restored by addressing crimes collaboratively. Furthermore, the president’s task force of the 21st century is based on the principle of encouraging diversity by recruiting officers from different background. Such a policy move will create value in the community by having representatives in the authority to address public needs.
What a National Code of Ethics for Police Should Include
The national code of ethics for police requires them to maintain trustworthy and ethical practices while enforcing the law. Organizations employ strict codes of conduct to govern behaviors, and the policy is generally expressed in the form of statements, with expectations for individuals to meet. The central effort is to ensure an overarching commitment to maintain set ethical standards (Van Craen & Skogan, 2017). Public administrators such as police officers, community sheriffs, chiefs, and commissioners are enforcers of the code and do so by preventing unethical behavior. In that way, the risks of legal or social disputes are minimized. The code of ethics must direct police force to use discretion stipulated in the law and exercise principle of reasonableness to guide actions. What officers sees, hear of witness should be kept a secret unless legal provisions requires otherwise
Police and other public law servants hold a position of public trust, while the fundamental duty is to protect lives and properties to ensure that laws are enforced. While operating under the rule of law, public members expect officers to be impartial, just, and reasonable when enforcing orders in the country. Good principles need to be reflected in the institutional value of law enforcement agencies. Respecting the dignity of individuals, the police workforce protects reminds the wield law enforcement powers and should recognize the human tendency to be corrupted (Van Craen & Skogan, 2017). Fairness and compassion ensure the treatment of all persons with high regard for civil human rights. The national code of ethics must direct the need for self-examination to ensures officers are physically and mentally fit to carry out tasks. A professional excellence should to a priority by attending mandatory training regularly.
Changes Recommended within US Policing
Reforms in the US police system usually focus on strategies that result in injustice practices such as killings. The latter is a debated topic since it is common in the community and appears in all aspects of daily interactions, questioning the relationship between police and minority groups. Poor police practice and lack of effective dialogues with public members result in high criminalization rates and arrests. In that way, suggestions such as establishing a law enforcement culture of guardian mindset are provided on how the US policing system can be improved to ease the problem in society. Mediation teams should be introduced through voluntary right-based prevention policies to deter individuals such as youths from engaging in criminal related activities.. Changes such as removal of stop and frisk police approach are recommended to condemn aggressive behaviors by policie.
Transforming police departments are anticipated through effective changes recommended by modernizing the law enforcement approach. The way the police force relates to the community requires a critical change of better training and improved accountability and practices to introduce a positive culture (Wood, Tyler & Papachristos, 2020). Enforcing training programs in police departments is an optimistic change to instill transparency, teach officers to be reliable, careful listeners and accountable. Strong leadership is needed to promote cultural awareness and sensitivity as effort to eradicate biases. Without a well-organized community and power building, there will be no transformation. In most cases, a lack of trust exists in the community due to accountability failures, and it should be directed that police officers are supposed to protect or serve the public rightfully. An independent body with access to police data is proposed as a change in US policing to mitigate issues of unethical behaviors and discipline officers.
Utility of the Pillars of Justice Serve in Promoting Trust
Police officers are required to allow individuals to provide their side of the story and let them vent. If someone encounters law enforcers, the latter should explain what to do or what will happen as the outcome of specific actions. Equity is enhanced by telling why some actions need to be taken. The reasons provided must be fair and unbiased, showing that people’s inputs are considered. Nevertheless, acting with dignity implies respect, humanity, being kind and compassionate (Van Craen & Skogan, 2017). By addressing these core elements of human needs, officers will elevate the quality of interaction, and community members will likely see them as helping. The pillars of justice promote trust by allowing constant communication between public and police force, that this can be achieved through survey approaches. More so, setting expectations for recruited officers enable performance within ethical boundaries and satisfying community needs. By employing the principle of transparency, monitoring programs can be implemented within an agency to build trust with at-risk people.
Promote Trust and Ensure Legitimacy
Usually, individuals are likely to obey rules when they are certain that implementors have legitimate authority. For instance, community members are quickly trusting to officers who serve them rightfully. Since 1990, policing has become effective and well equipped to deal with crimes (Tyler, 2017). Measures such as diversity inclusion have helped to improve trust by showing no biases in police force recruitment. Once an equity in the workplace is achieved, the public trust the system by confiding to officers whom they share same backgrounds. However, level of confidence remains low; hence, the urgent need in modern law enforcement to promote trust and legitimacy, which would be facilitated by the key pillars of justice. Furthermore, involving youths in police work such as investigations and crime detection would help to build relationship with officers and increase reporting, while letting citizens participate in solutions through suggestion.
Modernization of US Law Enforcement
One pillar of US policing that has real-world application to modernize law enforcement is technology and social media. Some police departments have considered partnership in reforming or strengthening a system of services provided to the communities. Examples of areas that organizations are leading include transparency and independent investigations (Wood, Tyler & Papachristos, 2020). The use of technology approaches such as body-worn camera represents a modernizing policing for the 21st century, which serves as an example to other sectors. Today officers are assigned full time to partners with other law units on investigation of use of force. Such an approach allows accountability and building public trust. Early interventions are made by use of technology to detect instances of criminal acts before they occur. More so, call for services through media platforms enable groundbreaking transparency due to open data movement. Training help officers to deal with individuals in times of crises and engage in ethical peer interventions when they see colleague do something wrong. Although police work is to protect citizen by taking necessary actions, modern US law enforcement consider public involvement in finding solutions is the way forward to reduce crime make peace with citizens.
Conclusions
Procedural justice is the idea of fairness and helps resolve disputes and allocation of resources in the community. The concept speaks to four principles: revealing transparent actions, allowing an opportunity for voices, being impartial in decision-making, and fairness in the policing process. Another vital context is the ideology of pillars that support the president’s task force of 21st century policing (Tyler, 2017). The program propose how to better the law enforcement through positive relationships with the community. Legitimacy in work help earn people’s trust hence officers have what it takes to be accountable, reliable and transparent as possible. Looking at the component of procedural justice which include fairness, equity and listening, it is possible to focus on young policing and strengthen the relationship between legal systems and communities. Some recommendations revolving around the pillars of US policing point that community trust can be gained through better strategies within the police workforce. For instance, training and education promote skills that strengthen collaboration and involvement of the public in crime interventions. Diversity on the other create awareness of the need for fairness and eradicate biases.
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