“On my honor, I will never betray my badge, my integrity, my character or the public trust. I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions. I will always uphold the constitution, my community, and the agency I serve.” This is the Law Enforcement Oath of Honor, a statement proclaimed by every Police Officer in the United States upon their initiation. It is a statement of trust of the highest degree. It is a statement of responsibility to support and protect those around them. It is a statement all too often not upheld by the ones who take it. This oath is not exclusive, it encompasses all who live within the jurisdiction of these officers. Why then, are the citizens to whom this oath refers so frequently
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It’s a term that many have encountered before, but likely fewer have internalized its meaning and effect on the institutions around us. The first police departments in the United States were established in the 1860’s, the same decade that slavery was abolished, to put things into perspective. Unsurprisingly, for the majority of the existence of law enforcement in the United States, it has been a vastly white-dominated field. Even as racial and ethnic minorities gain more of a presence within law enforcement, the fundamental existence of law enforcement has set a precedent of racial bias for many, many years. Racial tensions have persisted since then even into today’s society. We have surely come a long way since then, from granting citizenship to African Americans via the Civil Rights Act of 1866 to abolishing segregation in our school systems with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Countless efforts and accomplishments have been made to further the conversation of racial equality, yet still we face this struggle in our law enforcement. The recent Black Lives Matter movement, sparked by the unjust and untimely deaths of several African American citizens by the hands of police, is just one more step Americans are taking towards the ultimate goal of racial equality in our justice system. By the numbers, it …show more content…
Words of the founding fathers of The United States of America. These opening lines of the Constitution of The United States of America provide a welcoming sentiment to all who reside here, or so one might come to expect. But just who are the “People” to whom our founding fathers refer? Let us take them at their word. “Justice” implies a structure of law under which the people are protected. “Domestic Tranquility” implies a sense of security in the home of the people, The United States. The “Blessings of Liberty” imply, in nature much similar to the previous lines, a freedom to live in peace as a citizen of the United States. As long as the Preamble to our Constitution continues to be disregarded by the establishment entrusted to enforce it, we must continue to further the conversation of racial equality in the United States. While movements for the equal rights of African Americans have come a long way over the years, we still have much more work to do before we can truly claim that our rights are equal and that our freedom is protected unanimously, regardless of the color of our
It’s a term that many have encountered before, but likely fewer have internalized its meaning and effect on the institutions around us. The first police departments in the United States were established in the 1860’s, the same decade that slavery was abolished, to put things into perspective. Unsurprisingly, for the majority of the existence of law enforcement in the United States, it has been a vastly white-dominated field. Even as racial and ethnic minorities gain more of a presence within law enforcement, the fundamental existence of law enforcement has set a precedent of racial bias for many, many years. Racial tensions have persisted since then even into today’s society. We have surely come a long way since then, from granting citizenship to African Americans via the Civil Rights Act of 1866 to abolishing segregation in our school systems with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Countless efforts and accomplishments have been made to further the conversation of racial equality, yet still we face this struggle in our law enforcement. The recent Black Lives Matter movement, sparked by the unjust and untimely deaths of several African American citizens by the hands of police, is just one more step Americans are taking towards the ultimate goal of racial equality in our justice system. By the numbers, it …show more content…
Words of the founding fathers of The United States of America. These opening lines of the Constitution of The United States of America provide a welcoming sentiment to all who reside here, or so one might come to expect. But just who are the “People” to whom our founding fathers refer? Let us take them at their word. “Justice” implies a structure of law under which the people are protected. “Domestic Tranquility” implies a sense of security in the home of the people, The United States. The “Blessings of Liberty” imply, in nature much similar to the previous lines, a freedom to live in peace as a citizen of the United States. As long as the Preamble to our Constitution continues to be disregarded by the establishment entrusted to enforce it, we must continue to further the conversation of racial equality in the United States. While movements for the equal rights of African Americans have come a long way over the years, we still have much more work to do before we can truly claim that our rights are equal and that our freedom is protected unanimously, regardless of the color of our