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Today I wanted to write on the subject of abuse of authority, on those persons and institutions which use authority for illegitimate purposes or who, in the pursuit of a legitimate purpose, go beyond the bounds of what is legally and/or morally acceptable. As I have already mentioned I do believe in rules and respect for authority. However, I also believe that those who wield authority must do so responsibly and justly. People who break rules annoy me but authority figures who abuse their power truly infuriate me because, through their misdeeds, they simply increase disrespect for law and authority.
I've seen abuse of authority of various kinds and in varying degrees of severity. One time, when I was working as a security guard I had to remove an intoxicated homeless person from a site I was working at. He wouldn't leave voluntarily and my supervisor instructed me to have him arrested for public intoxication. So, I called the police and stood with the intoxicated man for about 30 minutes or, blocking him from proceeding further onto the property; I've found that the police are chronically understaffed and overworked so, if you call them, you will probably be waiting quite a while for them to respond unless you are in immediate danger.
Finally a police cruiser pulled up and an officer got out. He seemed to be in a bad mood and set about brusquely processing the intoxicated individual and placing him in the back seat of the car. At this point the prisoner began to get agitated because he had a bicycle that he'd brought with him and had left outside the police cruiser and, I suppose, he thought the police officer was about to take him away and leave the bicycle behind. So, he started to make a bit of a scene and shout for the officer to not forget his bicycle. The officer responded by opening up the door to the rear of the cruiser and then yelling at the top of his lungs, "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" This had the desired effect because the intoxicated man did stop shouting but it, in my mind, it was unnecessarily rude.
Swearing at a prisoner isn't very high on the spectrum of abuse of power and I can understand that police work is stressful but still, all things considered, I have to conclude this was inappropriate. You have to be civil to the people you're dealing with, even if you are stressed and even if you don't like them. Failing to do so is unprofessional and just makes you look bad too. I know because I have lost my temper dealing with annoying people on occasion and said some things that were rather rude although I haven't screamed obscenities at full volume thankfully.
I can also think of more serious cases of abuse of power. For example, I knew of a security guard who, on multiple occasions, acted in a manner that was overly aggressive and actually downright illegal. On one occasion he found a panhandler playing a guitar on the sidewalk in front of property he was guarding and told him to stop. When the panhandler refused he apparently threatened to beat him up. In another incident the same guard was assigned to protect some equipment in a city park overnight when he came across a homeless man in the park and he decided to tackle him and place him in a choke hold because he was trespassing in the park (being in a city park at night is a violation of city by-laws).
Actually, I never really liked that particular by-law anyways. My understanding is that the reason the city passed that by-law in first place was to deal with crime that was taking place in the parks at night (vandalism,drug deals,fights). However, I heard at least one councillor say that he never intended the by-law to be enforced against everyone, just the troublemakers. He wanted the by-law there so that the police could use it against persons they found in the park at night that they considered were "up to no good" but not to use it against the "good citizens" who might be out for an evening stroll, etc.
I've never liked giving too much discretion to authorities. I realize that you need a certain amount of discretion or else the police would have to run around in a crazed frenzy writing people tickets for every little infraction. Yet, when you give law enforcement too much discretion I believe it can lead to discrimination and injustice. If you make laws and then tell the police only to enforce them against the "troublemakers" that invites the question: Who is a troublemaker? Who decides who is to be targetted for enforcement and who is to be left alone? For example, with the city by-law respecting parks, are the police going to only target homeless people and youth because society considers them to be most likely to cause trouble? If so, I have a problem with that.
Everybody has biases and prejudices that influence how they view and act towards others, even if they don't know it (actually, especially if they don't know it, because a person who knows they have prejudices is more likely to take steps to counteract them). Police are no different. So, giving them wide discretionary powers to decide when to enforce laws and when not to is, in my mind, a bad idea. It will lead to abuse of power. In my mind a rule is a rule for everybody, nobody is above the law. |
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Posted by hairytoad2005 on 2008-02-20 03:57:37 | Rating: | Views: 83
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I think part of the foul disposition of the police might lie in that, as an entity, they're isolated in some tangible ways from the rest of society. Breeds an 'us' and 'them' mindset. Doesn't this explain so many things?
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Posted by Knoxxie03
on 2008-02-24 19:06:19
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I think that may be part of the reason why problems can arise and, I'm guessing, it is why these days there is so much emphasis on 'community based policing' as they call it - i.e. having good relations with the general public, liasing, etc. I have a lot of respect for the police - my brother-in-law is a police officer and a friend of mine is trying to get in, I myself probably would've applied except that I know I wouldn't pass the physical and eyesight requirements - but I don't think they're above being questioned or examined or improved.
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Posted by hairytoad2005
on 2008-02-24 20:34:59
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