Please write a book critique using the instructions and format provided. Book: ‘Unwarranted: Policing Without Permission’ by B

Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces

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Instuctor’s Name

Date

References.

Balko, R. (2013). Rise of the warrior cop: The militarization of America's police forces. New York, NY: PublicAffairs.

Dinsmor, Alastair (2000). Glasgow Police Pioneers. Journal of the Police History Society, No. 15.

McElreath, D., Doss, D., Jensen, C., Wigginton, M., Kennedy, R., Winter, K., Mongue, R., Bounds, J., Estis-Sumerel, J. M. (2013). Introduction to Law Enforcement (1 ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. pp. 87.

Perri, F. S., Lichtenwald, T. G., (2009). When Worlds Collide: Criminal Investigative Analysis, Forensic Psychology And the Timothy Masters Case. Forensic Examiner. 18 (2).

Savelsberg, J J., Cleveland L. L., King, R. D. (June 2004). Institutional Environments and Scholarly Work: American Criminology, 1951-1993. Social Forces. 82 (4), pp. 1275–1302.

Sheptycki, J. (1995) Transnational Policing and the Makings of a Postmodern State. British Journal of Criminology, Vol. 35 No. 4. pp. 613-635.

Walker, S. (1992). Origins of the Contemporary Criminal Justice Paradigm: The American Bar Foundation Survey, 1953-1969. Justice Quarterly. 9 (1). pp. 47–76.

Introduction.

From the book, Rise of the warrior cop: the militarization of America`s police forces, the author has put across various issues of concern. Just like the title of the book goes, the author is trying to explain the changing eras and the innovations that have been given to the police forces in America. The author claims that in the past, the roles of the police force were matched with the kind of armor that they used.

However, in the recent past, the technology and tactics that have been used by the police force depict that even though the country has claimed to have worked hard to exclude the use of the military as far as the enforcement of the various laws is concerned, recent studies have proved otherwise. In his view, the author claims that the increased militarization of the police forces in the recent past has driven the police forces to view the public as just another enemy instead of viewing them as the parties to protect.

From a personal point of view, the author starts the book by saying that he is not anti-cop but the details and description that he has given is inclined towards showing the negative side of the increased militarization of the American police forces. The following section is going to address the various issues that are seen in the book while describing the entire book.

Overview and Description.

The author has dedicated his book towards ensuring that the various issues that revolve around the increased military power that has been given to the America`s police forces in the recent past. The role of the police forces in enforcing the various laws has been gradually changing. In the past, it has been established that the police forces were inclined towards safeguarding the affairs of their subjects, who are the public.

However, in the recent past, the increase in military might of the police forces has not reduced the gap between the police forces and the public as far as the security of the people is concerned but instead, it has increased the gap reducing the level of trust that once existed between the public and the police forces (Balko, 2013). In the attempt to lure the readers into understanding the thesis, the author has given a catchy title which he has used to give the various issues of concern that have been associated with the thesis. Additionally, the author has given out separate occasions and examples from the real-life world to supplement the arguments.

The author has divided the entire book into various subsections that have been placed strategically in the attempt to explain the most basic details of his thesis. The description that includes the details of the increased use of military power by the police in the name of fighting drugs among other minor issues and its effects on the public has been described. From the dominant issues that have been discussed in the book, the current state of the police forces in America cannot be associated with the effective handling of the law enforcement problems. Rather, there seems to be a bigger force driving the militarization of the police forces.

Additionally, the current militarization of the police forces has been seen to prepare the police forces for the unknown combats instead of equipping them with the skills that are inclined towards getting closer to the society with which they are to serve to build up the necessary trust (Balko, 2013). The skills to get closer to the society would be effective in law enforcement while militarization drifts the two parties away from each other. This conclusion rhymes with the other findings made by various other scholars.

Weaknesses.

The author has claimed that the increased militarization of the police forces in the country has led to increased suffering to the society. It is important to note that the police forces have the mandate to protect the society from which they have come from. Additionally, it is the role of the police to keep off the bad guys from the affairs of the public. The increased militarization has led to improved ways of handling drugs among other cases that may be witnessed in the various areas of the country. The use of new tactics and new weapons has made it easy for the police forces to enforce the respective laws and order as far as the respective issues of concern are concerned which the author has not described.

When reading through the book, there are numerous aspects that are witnessed. First, the author is taking sides as far as the explanation of the book and topics within the book is concerned. This is evident in the description given concerning only one side of the coin instead of addressing both sides. When the author claims that the increased militarization has led to increased suffering among the societies instead of handling the issues that may affect the same society is biased towards just the society.

Do the police face challenges when dealing with offenders especially the drugs-related offenders? It is evident that the current state of technology has favored even the offenders where they may have improved on their tactics as well as weapons. When the police forces have been militarized, it is a problem but from another perspective, the militarization of the police may be a means to improve and match their counters.

The author claims at first that he is not anti-cop. However, all the descriptions that have been given throughout the book depict that the author is somehow against the police forces. This is seen in the manner with which the author portrays the police forces. The descriptions that have been issued from the first chapter to the last indicate all the negative aspects of police forces being militarized. Instead of the evaluation of both the good and the bad deeds that may be associated with the militarization of the police, the author has just addressed the negative aspects of police militarization.

What decisions led to the militarization of the police force? What had happened? Did the federal bodies just wake up one day and decided to militarize the police? Unfortunately, these are some of the issues that the author has not yet brought out in the book.

The author has quickly engaged in addressing the issue of the negative side of police militarization. However, with the advancements in the drug trade and the need to be more secure, the drug lords among other criminals have invested in weapons. Some areas have reported military grade weapons as well as tactics being used by criminals in their activities. It is not in one instance when the police have been found to fall victims to criminals simply because the police could not match the weapons and the tactics being used by criminals.

While a lot of police officers have fallen victims while others being gunned down, the author does not relate these incidences with the need to upgrade the tactics and the weaponry being used by the police. The author has failed to address the benefits that the police forces may realize as far as enforcing the respective laws is concerned.

Strengths.

The author has brought out the picture of portraying the police officers who have received the military kind of training and weapons as individuals who have used the forces, and might that have been given to them negatively. The author cites that in most raids such as the one that happened in Columbia in the year 2010, the police officers who were heavily armed stormed into the residence of a suspect where they were reported to be swearing to fire their weapons (Balko, 2013).

Even though they already had gained access to the victim`s home, they shot dead a dog that belonged to the victim`s family. This has been brought out clearly by the author where the possible misuse of force by the police since they had been given military grade training as well as weapons and there seems to have no body to respond to such claims or to keep the police in line.

One of the primary roles of the America`s police forces has been portrayed to be dealing with drug cases. It has been established that such cases may require specialized training since the might of the drug dealers may not be underestimated or neglected. With this notion, the author has brought about the issue of the police having strong weapons and tactics conducting raids on various drug dealing sections that in the end don’t end up well.

The case mentioned above concerning the police forcing entry into a suspect`s home killing their family dog and not getting the evidence or the items that they were intending to find is a good example of drug raids gone bad. Should the police just storm homesteads just because they have the ‘power’? What happened to the notion that the police are supposed to protect the society (Balko, 2013)? These are some of the issues that the author has brought out clearly.

The author has invested quite a substantial amount of evidence in the attempt to show and explain the evolution of the law enforcement as well as the various issues that revolve around the law enforcement policies and bodies. The author has given the traditional setting of the law enforcement bodies and the kind of jobs that they undertook. The implications that it had on the society has been explained.

The slow but gradual change in the various police forces and the taking up of new roles have also been explained clearly. The history of the police forces in the country and the comparison between the traditional society and the current one has been explained. According to the author, the roles of the police seem to have changed with time as has been shown in the increased militarization of the various forces. It seems like the police forces are getting ready for a war that is unknown to the public (Balko, 2013).

The current militarization of the police forces has had numerous effects not only on the entire law enforcement bodies but also on the society at large. The author claims that gone are the days when the police forces perceived the society as a vulnerable party that needed their protection. Today, however, the perception has changed. The police forces view the society as just another enemy that is ready to attack (Dinsmor, 2000).

Government Role.

The inclusion of forces such as the SWAT teams to handle simple law-breaking cases has led to reduced trust from the public to the police forces (Balko, 2013). Why use excessive force to handle simple cases? Why use military grade training and weapons on the police when the country has a military force in place? are the roles of the various police forces changing with time without the knowledge of the public? How has the current militarization of the police forces affected the society at large? These are some of the issues that have been brought out clearly in the book by the author. Response planning is the most significant function in the entire and effective criminal justice system, and the most important part of the criminal justice system is the police department. (Walker, 1992)

However, it is possible only with the presence of a systematic accordance of the police departments at the local level and the federal level. It is necessary that the police department at all levels have the standard operating processes and procedures to align the criminal justice system effectively to keep the law and order situation in an orderly manner.

In this event, the evolved system of NIMS has helped the police system to better bring the procedures in line with the federal level. NIMS, the National Incident Management System has been a great tool to keep not only the check and balance but also to keep the standardized procedures at all levels in which the tribal, local and federal levels are involved. According to Sheptycki (1995), this system is a tool to have better communication strategies among all the levels of governments and respective police departments.

NIMS is an outstanding system that has been evolved strategically by the Homeland Security Department which provides the logistic support to the police department and the basic concepts of Criminal Justice System. This has helped to develop a comprehensive and in-depth understanding between the police departments at local and federal levels. The logistic and conceptual support provided by NIMS has made the police departments to come closer at various levels which allowed them to combat terrorism specifically and other crimes strategically. The most important task in this execution is the response planning and style which has been improved from the time NIMS has been incorporated (Savelsberg et al., 2004).

Criminal Justice Agencies.

Criminal justice is made up of local, state and federal agencies who work in tandem to minimize or eliminate crime in the United States (Surette, 2014). They all have the same role of processing the needs of defendants, suspects as well as the convicted offenders and they work under the framework that is provided by the legislature, judiciary and the executive branches of the United States. The legislature makes laws both at the federal and the state level while the judiciary makes sure that those laws are enforced by making judgments to those who break the rules (Surette, 2014). The local law enforcement agencies in the criminal justice comprise of the local police and the sheriffs. These agents are the ones closer to the citizens of the United States and they are aware of exactly what is going on among the citizens.

When they suspect a criminal activity that has taken place they are the first group to rush to that incident. They interrogate the suspects and other people who were there when the incident occurred and make a report of the same. When the case is simple, they arrest the suspects and take them to court for judgment. When the case becomes hard to them, they forward the written report to the state agencies who then takes over the case from them (Perri el al., 2009). The state agencies then make their own report with the information that they have, make arrests and take the suspects to the court to be charged for their mistakes.

When the incident is serious and crosses over from one state to another, they forward the case along with the written reports to the federal agencies who cut across the states to look for the suspects. They again make their own report concerning the case and the main suspects make arrests and take the suspects to the federal courts (Cole et al., 2016). The federal agencies include the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the secret services such as the CIA.

Conclusion.

The book has explained the various issues that affect the society today as far as the militarization of the police forces is concerned. In an opinion, the author has brought out the issue of the militarization of the police forces and the possible erosion of the trust between the police forces and the society. It is an effective book in that the author has remained true to his thesis. Following the strengths and the weaknesses of the book, the strengths have more weight than the weaknesses, therefore, the book can be recommended to others. (McElreath et al., 2013)

Since the author claims that the current militarization of the police forces has led to increased suffering and reduced value for the society, the various pieces of evidence as portrayed in the book support the author's thesis. Additionally, the book provides supplemental information on the subject matter making it effective in responding to the author`s thesis. The book be a vital source of information with respect to the current situation in the country as far as law enforcement is concerned (Balko, 2013).

Through the book, one can predict the future of law enforcement in the country. From a personal point of view, the current militarization of the police forces has led to many factors. While combating drug and the other crimes has been effective, the way the police forces are using their power is questionable. The case where the police stormed the house of a suspect in Columbia and killed a dog is an instance of misuse of power. The police should have such power only if they portray that they can utilize it to the benefit of the society as opposed to viewing the society as the enemy.