The Importance Of Civil Law Enforcement

Great Essays
All legal systems recognize, create, vary and enforce obligations; this isn’t an accident. Obligations are central to the social role of law and explaining them is necessary to an understanding of law’s authority and, therefore, its nature; these also include a moral obligation to obey. As a matter of course, throughout the human history, the subjects of a state had obeyed the sovereign power. But how does one acquire such an obligation, and how many people have really done what is necessary to acquire it? Human beings do not necessarily have a moral obligation to obey the sovereign. As the humans cultivate and evolve from wild animals to what we are – civilized beings, we still retain some basic animal instinct. One of the most …show more content…
The army is geared into destroying the enemy of its nation; while the police force serves the people, who are guaranteed presumptions of innocence and rights. However, according to Wiebenga, ever since the National Defense Authorization Security Act of 1997 it becomes much easier for the distribution of military equipment to make its way to the civil law enforcement agencies which leads to increase police agencies demanding military equipment - “By 2005, this number grew to 17.000 police agencies demanding military equipment” (11). The civil law enforcement agencies now can no longer be viewed as the traditional peacekeeper of the urban communities; they now have become soldiers in these communities. They do not fight against the enemy from a foreign nation as the military does; rather, the enemy has become the citizens of this nation. In addition to the advance of technology innovation that spread the images, videos, and reports of actions and behaviors of a militarized police force, even without actually committing the so-called ‘police brutality’, the citizens make their own interpretations of the things they see. Different interpretation, different ideas will spread. But the most common is the feeling of fear of this militarized police force that is within the very community that the citizens lived in; therefore, the citizens are conducting themselves …show more content…
Government is a concept that has existed throughout human history. To obey the sovereign is almost becoming a habit. According to Wolff, “The most common, taking the whole of human history, is simply the prescriptive force of tradition. The fact that something has always been done in a certain way strikes most men as perfectly adequate reason for doing it that way again.” (6-7) Due to the fact that it has been a precedent practice which gives a good result, the people do not try to think about the reason as to why they are obeying the government. They just do as they have always had done because in most cases the people assume that the law is generally good; thus, should be followed. Yet, at the same time, laws can be breached due to circumstances that conflicts the individual 's’ morals. For example, if a person is fatally injured, yet the ambulance cannot get to the scene on time. Someone can save him or her (doing something that is morally just), yet the savior could be speeding pass the speed limit in order to save the injured person. In other words, whether or not to obey a sovereign is based on an individual’s own opinion and not moral

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    John Stossel, in his article, “Beware warrior cop," argues that police use their power to control others. Stossel discusses how the government is allowing the police department to use swat teams to invade people’s homes. The swat teams are using military weapons such as tanks, battering rams, armor, and stun grenades. The level of crime decreased, yet the number of swat team has increased. However, the department of defense should not be selling military machinery equipment to the police department.…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout history people have had their own perspective about government and how much power it should hold. While some people believe in the saying “power to the people” and that government should play little to no role in the lives of society other’s believe all the power should be given to one specific person like a dictator. With these different beliefs, there is also those people who stand in the middle agreeing that the government should play big roles in society but the people should have just as much say as the government. After analyzing different authors views on government such as Machiavelli, Thomas Jefferson, and Lao Tzu it is clear that each have strong separate belief’s. As each of their political views are understandable and…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    provide a sense of security when there is the potential for harm. On the front stage, the police display themselves as approachable and dependable. As seen in On the Run and Cop in the Hood, the police can take on two different acts on the front stage. It was prevalent in the ethnographies that the police take on an aggressive front stage display in order for citizens to comply in a manner that officers desire at a particular moment. In On the Run, this is seen during the threats of arrest.…

    • 1704 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Police brutality is becoming a major problem in today’s society. It has been an ongoing issue throughout the world. As society grows, the existence of police brutality become more of an issue. The issue posed by illegal use of power is ongoing reality for people of a disfavored race or sexual orientation. Police brutality remains as one of the most divisive human rights in the world.…

    • 106 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Our governing factors may not always be right, but few have the courage to take a stand and step outside their comfort zone. Government assumes numerous parts in the lives of people, some great and obviously some awful. Despite the fact that some concur with how our representing body handles unjustifiable circumstances numerous don't. A few authentic figures, for example, Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. stood firm for the privileges of americans and changed the lives for some eras to come. Martin Luther King Jr. states that the state ought to regard the individual, the part of an ethical individual is to contradict foul play in the public arena, and Thoreau trusts the administration exists by the assent of the individuals for the up most reason of executing their will.…

    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introduction Secrecy is a common factor in the government, they will always hide something from society. It could be to protect us or just to avoid something even bigger. A police officer role is to “serve and protect the community” by enforcing the law in a safe way to those that break it. Every citizen have the right to be treated fairly in this country. Police officers are supposed to help the community follow the law, by making sure that everything is in order and no one is acting illegal.…

    • 1196 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Militarization of Law Enforcement Militarization of law enforcement has been a recently debated topic in society. There are several pro and cons associated with this idea. Militarization of the police has been going on for several years. There have been several studies conducted showing that militarization has played a key role in “professionalizing the police” (Bieler). The results showed that it helps the image of the officer and their discipline.…

    • 300 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many people in our society have been taught, starting in their early years of life, that they should be obedient to those older than them or those placed in a position of authority. Being taught from a young age that disobeying will lead to harsh consequences. But what if one is asked to do something that doesn’t aline with their personal morals? Why is it that most people in society seem to act under compulsion when faced with things they don’t care to do? What makes it so hard for them to disobey in that moment?…

    • 2072 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A central conflict in human society is a divide between obedience and autonomy. People are by nature, herd animals, with a need for the security of knowing their place in the world. In Erich Fromm’s essay, “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem,” states that by being obedient, we gain a measure of the power that we worship, be it the Church or the State or a charismatic leader, and we become strong. We become righteous. It frees us of thought and of the accusation of wrong-doing (Fromm 4).…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    September eleventh changed the way the world views terrorism, the wars in in Iraq and Afghanistan claimed the lives of thousands and we the United States have taken massive counterterrorism measures home with us. The United States Patriot Act of 2001 made significant changes in the structure of federal law enforcement, it was revised in 2006 and in 2004 when the 9/11 commission called for a complete overhaul of the U.S. intelligence system the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan or NCISP set standards for a new system of domestic intelligence gathering and analysis. These changes were made in regards to personal privacy and civil liberties. Civil liberties are the rights given to all Americans under the United States Constitution. The…

    • 1166 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Dirty Harry: Film Analysis

    • 1588 Words
    • 7 Pages

    INTRODUCTION The act of crime is brought about by breaking the law enforced by the government thus, there is violation of rights entitled to individuals and disruptions of well-being (Brown et al. 2013: 20). The duty of a law enforcement officer is to eradicate crime in a society, it’s to promote peace and ensure safety within a society. Additionally, law enforcement officers are normally seen as law abiding citizens who are tasked with implementing the laws at all jurisdictional levels (Otu 2006: 18). At the same time, some law enforcement officers see themselves as crime fighters, while others consider themselves helpers of those who cannot help themselves.…

    • 1588 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What is the purpose of a government? As people continue throughout their busy lives, they seem to follow their government because it is what their parents did before them. It is not very often that government is questioned. A government is supposed to offer its people certain protections and freedoms in return for obedience of its laws. When the laws are not upheld, the offenders suffer consequences.…

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Man is born with a consciousness of right, wrong, and order of the world. It is out of these nature-given morals that government is born. Therefore, should government not also have morals as if it were a living and breathing man? The drawback is that government makes mistakes just like man. Some laws are just so unacceptable that is not only the people’s right, but duty to disobey them.…

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Modern policing in America has faced some scrutiny, particularly when it comes to the “militarization” of police. There as some who are very opposed and then there are others that are pro militarization of modern police. This paper will discuss both pros and cons in regards to the militarization of police. However, it should be noted that I have a bias towards the pro militarization of police, I will do my best to cover the other viewpoints that are very much opposed to what I personally believe.…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In fact, according to me we have a “prima facie” duty to obey laws. If the law is legally enacted by an authorised entity it is valid in the legal system. Therefore, the law is applied and obeyed by citizens. In other words, “law is to be obeyed because it is the law” . However, “prima facie” means that “it is accepted as correct until proved otherwise” .…

    • 2196 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays