Civilians Perceptions of Law Enforcement Officers

Civilians Perceptions of Law Enforcement Officers
Student’s Name
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Civilians Perceptions of Law Enforcement Officers
Introduction
The present project tries to establish the perceptions that the civilians have on law enforcement officers during their contact. The motivation for this project is the large outcry from the public that the police officers are misusing their power. There are many cases that have been reported on the police officers mishandling and mistreating the residents. There are other cases and reports where white police officers are blamed to have been killing residents because of their race. These events have triggered an outrageous cry from the public accusing the criminal justice legal system of unjust in addressing the concerns of the residents. The major concern in this project is how the gender and race of the law enforcement officers and the residents impacts their perceptions when interpreting the contacts.
The extent and nature in which the civilians and law enforcement officers get in contact varies depending on who initiated it. The contacts occurs for several reasons and in various situations: various services are provided to the public by the police officers and the residents are always seeking information or reporting various offenses to the law enforcement officers; at traffic stops, the drivers are the residents, the police officers are often searching the residents or their homes and they are likely to use extra force or threaten the civilians. Perceptions on the police officers are formed based on the residents’ own interaction with them or experiences from their relatives or friends. They tend to focus how they are treated by the police and rarely do they consider the outcomes. Research has indicated that police officers who treat the residents fairly and with respect tend to receive positive perceptions than those who treat them unfairly even if they give them speeding tickets. Other researches have demonstrated that the actions of the law enforcement officers are crucial to the perceptions they receive from the public. This is has been supported by some studies that have concluded that police officers who employ good communication strategies and treat the civilians with respect, there is a kind response in return from the residents. Consequently, those residents who perceive that they got ‘procedural justice’ perceive the officers as trustworthy.
The media coverage on police officer’s misconduct is also influences the perceptions of residents. Frequent coverages on police misconduct strongly influences the perceptions and also supports the common public beliefs about law enforcement officers. African-American or Hispanics in high-crime rate areas and hear others talk about what they witness tend to believe that police misconduct is common in the legal justice system. However, a study that was conducted in New York City shows that absence of violent scandals, the media coverage does not have any significant impact on civilians’ perceptions on the police. Therefore, the major motivation for this study is to examine and explore the interactions between law enforcement officers and civilians and the consequences they have on...