The Future of Policing (Research Paper Sample)

The Future of Policing Student name Institution Course Instructor Date The Future of Policing I believe the direction of today’s policing is not on the right track. This is because, almost on an everyday basis, new incidences emerge cantering on deaths of unarmed people of color like that of George Floyd or Dante Wright. Moreover, most arrest incidences have been based on racial prejudices. In other words, there has been a growing disparity in the use of force. In this paper, I will discuss why I believe that the future of policing is in great jeopardy and the need for complete police reform to transform law enforcement in America. The initial intent of policing is no longer to patrol neighborhoods and enforce the law so everyone obeys the rules. This required collaborating with communities to ensure optimal security and law-abiding behavior. People would automatically trust the police enough to report crimes or work with them to arrest criminals and solve social injustices. But since it is no longer the case, trust is so broken that we are working in a system that will never do what its true intent and purpose are. This is evident in the growing racial disparity in the use of force. Take an instance of how the police handle cases of drug crimes. While Blacks and whites have comparable drug use and distribution rates, there are significant disparities in who gets arrested, jailed, and convicted for drug offenses. And it is undeniable that in such incidents, Blacks invariably face the full force of the law. Another example of policing in jeopardy is the increased number of officer-involved killings over the past two decades. Studies point to systematic racism in policing as a contributing factor in deaths at the hands of the police, disproportionately impacting persons of specific racial and ethnic groups(Jackson et al., 2021). Recent high-profile killings in the U.S. have prompted calls for increased public reporting of police misconduct. I have encountered a lot of video footage in which the cops used force, despite the subject complying with their command. Occasionally, arrests are made without probable cause, based only on the suspect’s skin color. The police’s constitutional duty is to protect civilians from all types of danger. But how can they be trusted when they use unnecessary force against innocent victims instead of protecting them? The Washington Post reported on September 13, 2022, that officers are engaged in almost one thousand shootings annually(The Washington Post, 2022). In 2021, the number of police shootings nationally peaked at 1,054, with the vast majority of Black victims. However, most officers involved in the killings were not held accountable for their acts(The Washington Post, 2022). The above pieces of eviden...