Policing and the Use of Excessive Force (Essay Sample)

Policing and The Use of Force
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Policing dates back to time immemorial in the epoch of ancient generations, but its purpose still holds to uphold law and order, thus ensuring that peace prevails. Throughout history, myriads of reforms have been enacted to ensure that police institution runs smoothly in meeting its goals and eliminating all forms of shortcomings that accompany policing work. Nonetheless, policing has not always been exemplary perfect as it has continuously drawn a lot of attention from the public due to various ramifications, thus rendering numerous debates to be initiated with the sole purpose of restructuring the police institution and setting better standards for the public's safety. The use of coercive powers by the police draws a lot of attention from the public, media, and political leaders due to its misuse and the challenge of determining when it should or shouldn't be applied.
Professional police are very substantial in the Canadian criminal justice system. However, their existence is contemporary, given that their roots trace back to the 19th Century (Greer, 1992, 19). Such law enforcement groups gained their relevance throughout the nation by combating persistent vices in the society, such as domination by hostile organizations. However, using coercive force through ancient policing was beyond human standards as soldiers and police would use excessive force when they deemed it to be applicable even when dealing with non-violent groups. The military is seen to have often shot those it perceived to be threats, such as rioters during elections considering that there was no other cause of action within their play. Ancient Canada was entirely reliant on the military to mitigate any situation that seemed to oppose the government, thus having the military serve as a deterrent (Greer, 1992, 26). During the state-building epoch, law enforcement agencies were primarily misused by the government by empowering them to use coercive force against all parties that posed any threat or opposition hence establishing an environment of fear and intimidation. Such tendencies were very prevalent throughout Lower Canada and British North America, thus rendering all police and military