Introduction
Every nation that has a specified system of governance has a branch that deals with the law governing the nation. The law outlines the rules and regulations that are bound to be followed by every citizen of the nation. In most nations, the body that deals with the governance of the nation is the government. The police are a branch of the government and are entitled to maintaining law and order in the entire nation. In many cases, the police will try as much as possible to follow the laws outlined in maintaining order. At other times, the police will tend to go against the law and do things, which are not acceptable, not only by the law of the country but also to the social ethics of citizens. It thus becomes amazing, and questionable, how the police are supposed to maintain law and order amongst the citizens of a country, yet they do not follow the law themselves. It is even unfair for them to punish the civilians who go against the law since they do not punish themselves whenever they go against the law. In some cases, especially during major public crises, the police are supposed to be at the forefront in trying to figure out the truth about different matters. This does not happen most of the time, and criminals end up being identified as innocent people, while the innocent ones are left to suffer.
A major sector where the police seem to fail is in association with the medical sector. Are the outcomes of the medical specialists to their patients always genuine when the police have a hand in the matters? This is a question that we need to ask ourselves, as well as, try to find the true answer to it. Of the many deaths that occur every day, what has been the role of the police? Do the police lead to the death of some innocent citizens? If this is true, are the investigations that are done genuinely? These questions among very many others, when answered correctly, enable us to understand and be at the forefront to ensure that, the rights of all citizens are respected. Sometimes, the police also do some recommendable work. Many are times when the police have led to the realization of the truth regarding many deaths that happen. Criminals who had gone unidentified have been identified after a long period of a thorough investigation. Now, what needs to be done in the criminal investigation sector is to rectify the wrongs while improving the rights.
Criminal cases
A case only becomes criminal when investigated and proven to be wrong. The policy section is the major sector through which investigations are done. Many cases involve much more than the police department can offer. This is much evident in death cases, which are the major cases that trigger a public crisis. Thus, during such investigations, the medical department also plays a major role. Sometimes investigations are done to suit the aim of different personnel. This leads to wrong outcomes, which can be harmful, since, an innocent person can end up suffering for crimes they did not commit.
Criminal case examples
Here we are going to concentrate more on death cases. Someone dies, and the public feels that the death was not natural. Therefore, investigations are done. Taking examples from deaths that occurred during Hurricane Katrina, we are meant to believe that most of them were initiated by the police. During times of public crisis, the police usually have a crucial role to play. They are supposed to protect human life, by ensuring that order is maintained. Many are times when police kill people in the name of bringing situations into order. A very good example is the death of a man, who died at the hands of the police. This man had previously been shot and good Samaritans were helping him to hospital. When they meet with the police, they thought they were going to be helped, but instead, they were not. The police handcuffed them and took them as criminals. The shot man was left in the car in his critical status, and he later died. It was not clear whether the man died out of the gunshot, or some other forces were applied. This is because the car was found far away from the place where it had been left, and on top of all this, it had been blazed. All this happened at a time when an entire city was tense. The question that we need to answer is whether the police were responsible for this death. No matter how much we may be lenient to the police, they contributed to the death of this man. This is because, the man was helpless, and could not have caused unrest. Those who had been helping him were not armed to indicate that they were looters, handcuffing them was not right since they had no signs of causing disorder. Could the police have helped the man to the hospital, maybe his life would have been saved? In addition, if the police had left his companions with him, maybe they would have helped to save his life. What we can conclude from this situation is that, during times of unrest. Police officers tend to go against human rights. They always seem to take everyone they meet on the way, as one among the looters causing disorder. One thing that needs to be done is proper training for police officers. They should be taught how to analyze situations keenly, before undertaking any actions in times of disorder. This will enable them to work for the benefit of all. The major aim of the policy is to protect all citizens of a nation. Any action that does not lead to this should be deemed wrong, and any police officer associated with unlawful actions should also be brought before the court to face charges (Miller & Gaines, 2011).
During the Hurricane Katrina crisis, much of the shooting that took place was associated with the police. Many are times when police officers shoot aimlessly. They thus end up shooting innocent people. The law requires that shooting should only be done when a person is found to be armed and likely to cause harm with their weapons. Police are also allowed to shoot whenever they are confronted with a situation that puts their lives in danger. In this case, they can shoot for self-defense. Although many of them are aware of this, most of them tend to go against it. During the police shooting, during the Hurricane Katrina crisis, several people were injured, some of them dying because of gunshots. Their cases had remained hidden for some time, but with the improvement in the investigations done, several police officers were associated with the killings. Those were convicted and charged with the offense of murder. We have witnessed situations whereby, the police committed crimes and they went away with it. They tend to place themselves above the law, and any crime they commit they do not bring it to light as they do to the crimes committed by other people. In maintaining the law, we should keep it. Thus, the police should be good examples, in expressing the way civilians are supposed to live. Corruption has become rooted in our nations, many police officers commit crimes, and since they are familiar with their bosses, they pay them to keep their actions secrete. We all need to be honest and perform our duties as expected of us. If a fellow police officer has committed a crime and I am aware of it, I should be able to point them out to the law of the nation.
Whenever a death occurs mysteriously, investigations are usually done. During the investigations, medical examinations on the dead bodies are done. At times, some prominent people have a hand in the death of other people. Since they know that, it is only through post mortem examination that the true cause of death can be detected, they end up corrupting the minds of those medical forensic and coroner’s investigators. The medical reports end up being biased and untrue. Although sometimes doctors can provide untrue reports as a result of inadequate knowledge, many are the times that the actions of death investigators are controlled by the command of police officials. Thus, the death investigators produce the results that they have been instructed by the police officers to produce. This is a good reason as to why; the medical sector will never be perfect as long as we do not perform our duties as expected of us. People who have died in the custody of the police have always been examined. Many times, the results show that those people died as a result of things like psychological torture or suicide. This is never the case. Most of those people die as a result of excessive torture by the police through things such as lack of food, excessive beating, as well as other forms of physical torture. To hide the truth from the public, the police officers involved sent a message to medical death investigators, as to how the results should appear. The death investigators do exactly as they are told since they know that, at the end of the day, they will get a huge payment for the same. Thus, the truth is never known (Singer & La, 2010).
All this shows that, no matter how much we may think that the police are always committed to maintaining law and order, they are usually the very people behind the deaths of many people. No matter how much we may be made to believe that the police are right in matters concerning human life, we should understand that many great crimes are also committed by police officers. Nobody is above the law. Everyone who commits a crime should face the consequences of their actions like any other person regardless of class or work type. As a citizen, we can help in maintaining equity in matters concerning law by being corruption-free. Doctors need to be faithful to their work. No one should influence the outcomes of death investigations. To achieve this, much awareness is required of many people especially doctors in the death investigation chambers. The results of post mortem investigations should be relayed, as they appear to be. A series of investigations should also be done, such that, the results of different death investigators are compared for similarity. If no similarity occurs, further investigations should be conducted until the true results are obtained. Any medical officer who is found to be a cheat in their work should also be brought before the law. In doing this, the innocent would be proved innocent while the guilt would be convicted for their actions. As human beings, we are bound to mistakes but we can try our level best to be true in our actions (Jentzen, 2009).
Acceptable actions
Not at all times, the police are wrong during public crises. At times, they do perform their work as expected of them. For example, during times of unrest in nations and especially in the United States, police have been identified to perform good work. It is only very few people who would risk their lives to save the lives of many. A police officer can risk his life in dealing with a dangerous criminal to make sure that the criminal does not cause harm to the civilians of a nation. Many times, some police officers have been identified as heroes in maintaining law and order. Others have even died the cause of trying to save civilians from criminals and other dangerous situations. For example, whenever situations like theft are realized and the police are informed at the very time, many have shown their service in dealing with the thieves whether armed or not to ensure that such people are arrested and separated from other civilians. This is the kind of action that should be encouraged among all police officers as well as other citizens of nations. To encourage, these actions, police officers who are identified to perform their duties well should be awarded from time to time. This would encourage more police officers to perform actions that are directed to the benefit of all citizens. As human beings tend to be influential, when our leaders are good and perform their duties as expected of them, citizens would also strive to be in the same line as their leaders (Gross & Ní, 2006).
Conclusion
The police department is a major and very important arm in all nations. Without police in the current generation, it would be hard for people to live in peace. Many deaths would be announced every day as well as other criminal offenses. Thus, the police should be treated with respect and considered important to different nations. In times of public crises, some police officers tend to overreact and raise their tempers over the required capacity. This should not be the case. This is because, during different crises, the police appear armed with weapons of maintaining order such as guns. It becomes so dangerous when the police have high tempers with their weapons at hand. They end up killing people aimlessly without identifying who is wrong and who is not. They can even end up increasing tension instead of reducing it. They can even end up destroying property without the intention of doing so.
The police department should also be true in matters about criminals. The police officers are also citizens of nations and are bound to the laws of their nations. Any punishment that is delivered to a criminal citizen should be the same punishment inflicted upon a police officer who goes against the law. To ensure this, we should all unite in fitting corruption. This is because; corruption is the root of many crimes that occur in many nations today. We should also be faithful to the kind of work that we perform. Everyone should carry out their duties as expected of them without being influenced by some avoidable external forces. The world would be a better place to live if we learned how to respect human life. Just as the bible teaches us, the law also acknowledges that life is sacred and should be held sacred. Thus, all actions that pose danger to human life should be done away with. As citizens, we should also try to maintain law and order by doing what is right. Finally, police officers should acquire though training during their studies to ensure that, they are aware of what maintaining law and order requires them to do (Gardner & Anderson, 2012).
Reference List
Gardner, T. J., & Anderson, T. M. (2012). Criminal law. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Gross, O., & Ní, A. F. (2006). Law in times of crisis: Emergency powers in theory and practice. Cambridge, Cambridge Univ. Press.
Jentzen, J. M. (2009). Death investigation in America: Coroners, medical examiners, and the pursuit of medical certainty. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
Miller, R. L. R., & Gaines, L. K. (2011). Criminal justice in action: The core. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth.
Singer, R. G., & La, F. J. Q. (2010). Criminal law: Examples and explanations. New York: Aspen Publishers.