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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 10:04 pm
Time: 10:04 pm
Results for criminal justice police
1 results foundAuthor: James, Nathan Title: Public Trust and Law Enforcement -- a Brief Discussion for Policymakers Summary: Recent events involving conflict between the police and citizens have generated interest in what role Congress could play in facilitating efforts to build trust between law enforcement and the people they serve while promoting effective crime reduction. This report provides a brief overview of police-community relations and how the federal government might be able to promote more accountability and better relationships between citizens and law enforcement. Gallup poll data show that, overall, Americans are confident in the police; but, confidence in the police varies according to race, place of residence, and other factors. In 2014, less than 50% of Americans favorably rated the honesty and ethics of police, the lowest percentage since 1998. If they conclude that low public ratings of the police are at least partially attributable to police policies, Congress may decide to address state and local law enforcement policies and practices they believe erode public trust in law enforcement. Federalism limits the amount of influence Congress can have over state and local law enforcement policy. Regardless, the federal government might choose to promote better law enforcement-community relations and accountability through (1) federal efforts to collect and disseminate data on the use of force by law enforcement, (2) statutes that allow the federal government to investigate instances of alleged police misconduct, and (3) the influence the Department of Justice (DOJ) has on state and local policing through its role as an enforcer, policy leader, convener, and funder of law enforcement. There are several options policy makers might examine should they choose to play a role in facilitating better police-community relations: - Congress could consider placing conditions on federal funding to encourage law enforcement to adopt policy changes to promote better community relations. - Policy makers could consider expanding efforts to collect more comprehensive data on the use of force by law enforcement officers. - Congress could consider providing grants to law enforcement agencies so they could purchase body-worn cameras for their officers. - Policy makers could take steps to facilitate investigations and prosecutions of excessive force by amending 18 U.S.C. S242 to reduce the mens rea standard in federal prosecutions, or place conditions on federal funds to promote the use of special prosecutors at the state level. - Congress could fund Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) hiring grants so law enforcement agencies could hire more officers to engage in community policing activities. - Policy makers might consider using the influence of congressional authority to affect the direction of national criminal justice policy. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2016. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: R43904: Accessed March 29, 2016 at: https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=762775 Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=762775 Shelf Number: 138452 Keywords: Criminal Justice PolicePolice AccountabilityPolice BehaviorPolice LegitimacyPolice-Citizen InteractionsPolice-Community Relations |