Weitzer, Ronald,
Can the Police Be Reformed?. Ronald Weitzer. - Contexts, 2005. - SIRS Enduring Issues 2006. Article 77, Institutions, 1522-3256; .
Articles Contained in SIRS Enduring Issues 2006. Originally Published: Can the Police Be Reformed?, Summer 2005; pp. 21-26.
"Americans are ambivalent toward the police. We depend on them and are fascinated by them, as shown in the popularity of police shows on television--which usually present the police sympathetically. But confidence in the police is periodically shaken by revelations of misconduct. The most dramatic incidents involve the beating or killing or unarmed civilians, such as Rodney King in Los Angeles and Abner Louima and Amadou Diallo in New York. Less dramatic but no less serious are corruption scandals. The Rampart Division of the Los Angeles Police Department was recently caught up in such a scandal. Rampart officers were accused of falsifying police reports, stealing drugs from suspects, framing people, and abusing unarmed suspects. About 200 lawsuits have been filed against the city, and more than 100 tainted criminal convictions have been overturned." (CONTEXTS) The author examines the serious problems of police brutality and corruption in the United States, asserting that "some types of reform have the potential to curb police misconduct and to increase public confidence in the police."
1522-3256;
Americans--Attitudes
Community policing
Diversity in the workplace
Minorities--Attitudes
Multiculturalism
Police--Complaints against
Police brutality
Police corruption
Police misconduct
Racial profiling
Reform
Responsibility
AC1.S5
050
Can the Police Be Reformed?. Ronald Weitzer. - Contexts, 2005. - SIRS Enduring Issues 2006. Article 77, Institutions, 1522-3256; .
Articles Contained in SIRS Enduring Issues 2006. Originally Published: Can the Police Be Reformed?, Summer 2005; pp. 21-26.
"Americans are ambivalent toward the police. We depend on them and are fascinated by them, as shown in the popularity of police shows on television--which usually present the police sympathetically. But confidence in the police is periodically shaken by revelations of misconduct. The most dramatic incidents involve the beating or killing or unarmed civilians, such as Rodney King in Los Angeles and Abner Louima and Amadou Diallo in New York. Less dramatic but no less serious are corruption scandals. The Rampart Division of the Los Angeles Police Department was recently caught up in such a scandal. Rampart officers were accused of falsifying police reports, stealing drugs from suspects, framing people, and abusing unarmed suspects. About 200 lawsuits have been filed against the city, and more than 100 tainted criminal convictions have been overturned." (CONTEXTS) The author examines the serious problems of police brutality and corruption in the United States, asserting that "some types of reform have the potential to curb police misconduct and to increase public confidence in the police."
1522-3256;
Americans--Attitudes
Community policing
Diversity in the workplace
Minorities--Attitudes
Multiculturalism
Police--Complaints against
Police brutality
Police corruption
Police misconduct
Racial profiling
Reform
Responsibility
AC1.S5
050