Question

What are the essential elements for achieving greater police accountability identified in your readings? Do you feel that the current internal and external mechanisms of accountability created by various police departments are sufficient? Provide at least two examples of such mechanisms.

Answer 1

Police accountability is important because it ensures that the police personnel work together, but effectively. This in turn ensures a sense of trust between the police and the community. Accountability is very important as it helps to build trust and a better community.

For example, if there is a transparent system, everyone inside and out knows what is going on in the system. This helps to guarantee accountability and a better system. It is very important that police officers are accountable for their behavior as it will keep them in check and not make them feel powerful and above the law. If this happens, there will be no balance as any one will feel that they are not answerable to the community therefore can do anything. This will lead to unlawfulness.

If we take the recent example In Minnesota, George was an innocent man who was strangled to death by a policeman because he felt threatend. There are witness accounts of what happened during the incident. However, if there is no accountability, the policeman will not get punished for the srime he commited and might commit it again.