In the United States, police legitimacy has grown to become one of the most prevalent issues in the national dialogue. With the recent occurrences in the country, research has continuously indicated that minorities are increasingly questioning the legitimacy of the powers of the police against citizens. Indeed, police legitimacy stems from the constitution. In the creation of a Leviathan, the people, through the constitution gave up their individual powers to the government to administer their legitimacy for them. It is from this grand norm that the government deemed it proper to exercise its mandate for the protection of its people against the threat posed by the dangerous elements in the country. In the wake of recent protests, the use of
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According to an opinion by Mellman (2015) in the Hill.com website, police legitimacy has brought a crisis not only in the United States but in other countries as well. It must be stated that the issue can be juxtaposed with the issue of deterrence from criminal activity. If at all police, as law enforcers, have the leeway of arresting and prosecuting law offenders, why is that they decide to kill their offenders? The discussion in the website strongly features minority populations as victims of extrajudicial killings in the USA (Henry & Franklin, 2017). The latest example has been in Baltimore. TheHill.com reports of a 2014 poll where young African Americans did not accord the police any respect or legitimacy. The reason behind this is the fact that police have been brutalizing a faction of the black community while the majority white community has no reason to …show more content…
Gun control has been a major issue in the discussion of race and police legitimacy. All through the discussions, it was found that majority of the black illegal firearm owners were reluctant to hand them over to the police. Additionally, many encounters with police yielded no arrests (Tyler, Goff & McCoun, 2015). The interpretation of the above facts, as considered by the National Institute of Justice website shows that many did not accord the police the legitimacy as required in the constitution. The accuracy with which police dispense their duties has been reason for more queries than answers. Instead of being objective, must of them have been ill bent on profiling certain sections of the society and especially the minority groups.
In summary, police legitimacy continues to be a controversial issue. The law pitches responsibility on the police to ensure law and order. However, many scholars are of the view that police often overstep their mandate and act on their own illegal bidding. There have been several groups against the recent developments with communities coming together to fight the police. Legitimacy seems to be precipitated on bad blood with the minority. There is a definite need for change if the country is to move forward to legal practice of law and
According to an opinion by Mellman (2015) in the Hill.com website, police legitimacy has brought a crisis not only in the United States but in other countries as well. It must be stated that the issue can be juxtaposed with the issue of deterrence from criminal activity. If at all police, as law enforcers, have the leeway of arresting and prosecuting law offenders, why is that they decide to kill their offenders? The discussion in the website strongly features minority populations as victims of extrajudicial killings in the USA (Henry & Franklin, 2017). The latest example has been in Baltimore. TheHill.com reports of a 2014 poll where young African Americans did not accord the police any respect or legitimacy. The reason behind this is the fact that police have been brutalizing a faction of the black community while the majority white community has no reason to …show more content…
Gun control has been a major issue in the discussion of race and police legitimacy. All through the discussions, it was found that majority of the black illegal firearm owners were reluctant to hand them over to the police. Additionally, many encounters with police yielded no arrests (Tyler, Goff & McCoun, 2015). The interpretation of the above facts, as considered by the National Institute of Justice website shows that many did not accord the police the legitimacy as required in the constitution. The accuracy with which police dispense their duties has been reason for more queries than answers. Instead of being objective, must of them have been ill bent on profiling certain sections of the society and especially the minority groups.
In summary, police legitimacy continues to be a controversial issue. The law pitches responsibility on the police to ensure law and order. However, many scholars are of the view that police often overstep their mandate and act on their own illegal bidding. There have been several groups against the recent developments with communities coming together to fight the police. Legitimacy seems to be precipitated on bad blood with the minority. There is a definite need for change if the country is to move forward to legal practice of law and