I found that one of first and most important problems related to policing is the prison system. It is used to punish those that have failed to comply with laws, but what about after they serve their time. What then? A lot of prisoners become mentally scarred and unable to return to a normal life. According to an article on harvardmagzine.com, the change from living in prison to living outside jail is vast. One of the more memorable parts of the article was when they mentioned the fact that after leaving prison, a majority of people’s minds are still in prison. This means they never really feel safe. In prison, the small cells were what kept them safe at night, but outside prison, rooms tend to be much more open and accessible. This leaves them with feeling unsafe. Smaller crimes, that put people in jail for a short period of time, can really affect their whole life. Their likelihood of finding a decent job plummets and if the person was in school before the crime, they would have missed a lot of education. Our system is meant to destroy the lives of those who end up in prison rather than helping them after they have repented for their crimes.
Another one of the big problems is the way in which the police somewhat abuse their power. Recently, the media has been focusing on police brutality and police killings. According to usatoday.com there are at least 400 recorded police killings every year. This number is apparently not so accurate because a database for this information is not being kept well. A lot of police killing end up falling through gaps. This means a lot of the police officers are not as liable for their actions as they should be. On top of this, it appears there is not that much that keeps the police officers from abusing their powers. They could cross red lights and speed as they wish, but we may never know if they were actually doing these things for their convenience.
The last big topic about policing that stood out to me was the long time that can be spent in prison while waiting for a court case. The article we read in class showed how long a case can take for no reason. Mr. Browder had to stay in prison for years for allegedly robbing and assaulting a man. This is ridiculous considering the fact that they had to dismiss the case. The monetary cost along with the emotional cost can become extremely high due to the fact that these cases last for months to years. This one specific case wasn’t even an extraordinary high time for a court case. According to The New York World, on average it takes 783 days for a case to go to trial. That is more that 2 years. The defendant, if they cannot afford bail, is practically carrying out their punishment while waiting for the case. Our system is very flawed and we need to fix this.
Sources:
http://harvardmagazine.com/2013/03/the-prison-problem
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/14/police-killings-data/14060357/
http://www.thenewyorkworld.com/2012/02/27/the-daily-q-how-long-criminal-cas/
Problems with our prison system are vast and most look at the ways in which prisons are flawed while convicts are still in jail, the fact that you took an in-depth look into post-incarceration was interesting. We tend to look at convicts as outsiders, separating them physically with walls and barbed wire while in prison and after, shunning them from society. These people become our neighbors and the fact they have no second chance is disheartening to myself and damning to them. It would be cool to see you take a look into the psychological aspect of this problem; what does a prison sentence do to the mind? This might also tie into another one of your mentioned problems, the waiting in jail for a court case. It seems ridiculous that some can be serving time without a proper verdict. This must have huge psychological effects on those waiting for a trial and probably cause some trouble with assimilation back to their normal lives, even if they are eventually found innocent. As for the abuse of power in our law enforcement system, there needs to be change. Just because one is given some power over others does not mean it should be abused. Even with this you may be able to look at how psychology causes this problem. It would be interesting to find out why those with power tend to abuse and use it for personal gain. Overall great post, you mentioned many problems at the forefront of our policing system today.
I agree with you that our prison system is extremely flawed. Too many people are put into prison for minor offenses and then held there for long sentences. Simply put, too much taxpayer money is being wasted on sustaining people and ruining their lives in prison. I also agree that prisoners aren’t well prepared to function normally in the outside world. The rehabilitation programs aren’t effective in prisons and not much is being done to improve the prison system. I believe this is due to a lack of judgment because like the police force, the prison system is too much of a business.
I also agree with you on the case of the police not following the laws that they are entrusted to enforce. I see too many police on the road that blatantly disregard speed limits and red lights by turning on their sirens while also stopping people for doing the same thing. It seems hypocritical to me for the people that are supposed to be role models to be engaging in such behavior. For the police to be trusted by the people they serve, they need to work on being the role models that they are expected to be.