American law enforcement within our society is an ever changing entity that affects every citizen in their daily lives whether the citizen is aware of this fact or has frequent contact with an officer of the law. As a society, our criminal laws have been adopted from the Common Laws of England, created through local, state and federal legislation of the people and by the people. These laws are tested against our governing Constitution and repealed, modified or adjusted accordingly by judicial precedent. The laws are intended to control adverse behavior of the citizens to ensure a civil and safe society. A law enforcement officer is intended to be the physical embodiment of the law that enforces the obedience to these laws which are the demands of the majority of citizens within the boundaries of their jurisdictions. The law enforcement officer is sworn to uphold the Constitution, the laws and ordinances of the will of the people that they are charged to enforce. It is their sworn duty to apprehend those who break the laws and to issue fines to those that violate traffic ordinances. With this authority much responsibility is given. The inherent dangers of these duties require that the state issue the authority and right for the law enforcement officer to protect himself and those he serves up to and including when necessary the taking of an offenders life. An officer of the law possesses great powers that are given to him to perform his duty by the very people he protects. These powers, as mentioned before allows the officer to temporarily restrict ones freedoms when necessary. They also allow the officer to search one’s person or property when sufficient probable cause exists to warrant such a search in order to investigate and gather necessary evidence to support a conviction of an alleged suspect or offender. With these powers and responsibilities the officers are granted discretion. He is allowed to take into consideration the totality of any given situation to best judge his appropriate actions. Also, with discretion the officer is given “Good Faith” allowances when performing these functions according to the laws and training he has received due to the unknowns he may face, being after all, only human. Mistakes are routinely made and are usually allowed when the officer makes decisions based on his knowledge and adherence to rules and regulations while conducting his duty even when it is impossible to determine the appropriate action to take. In my many years as a law enforcement officer I have witnessed or received much criticism of the actions of law enforcement personnel simply performing his duty as ordered. I am of the opinion that most of these criticisms are targeted towards the human element of law enforcement due to the criticizing citizen’s being ignorant of the interpretation of our constitution and bill of rights. I have also learned that most citizens are unaware of their own local laws and ordinances or their right to contact their representatives in order to encourage change or amend the current or outdated laws on the books that they may not agree with. But mostly, it is the ignorance of the fact that the laws originate from majority rule of the citizens themselves. They possess the power of change. Also during my career I have seen many changes in the technology of law enforcement with the introduction of such useful tools such as computers, cell phones, mobile laptop computers and internet capability. I remember when most officers were lucky if they had a pager of their own to carry besides solely relying on their two-way radio for communications. I often wonder with all the technological advances that continue at a rapid pace how law enforcement will be in another five, ten, fifteen years? Will we advance to the point that police officers will be as they are in so many science fiction books and movies such as Robocop? Will the human embodiment of law enforcement be replaced with computerized robots that enforce the law strictly by the letter of the law without the ability to function with human emotion and discretion? I know, people will laugh at this but take notice of camera’s posted at intersections and freeways that remotely issue citations for running traffic lights and speeding. Do the computer operated cameras make allowances for emergency situations or slight infractions a traffic cop may overlook? No, they record the violation and issue the citation and instantly forward the information to your department of motor vehicles who will add points against your license causing your insurance premiums to increase. Let’s imagine your family is upset and arguing loudly and the Robocop enters your home and computes the violations it perceives. Best not be holding something in your hands it perceives as a threat. Imagine then that the Robot places you under arrest and carries you to the car in front of your neighbors, then locks you up in jail where a thorough body search will be conducted by a Robot Correctional Officer. I think I would choose to keep the human law enforcement officer, mistakes and all! Would you? Or, would you prefer Robocop without critical thinking skills?
