The police forces of the United States of America have been always regarded as a pillar of the United States civil society. There is a strong opinion among the United States and worlds’ scientific luminaries in the field of criminal law that the model of the United States law enforcement forces is ideal. However, the evolution of the United States police departments significantly affected the developments of civil society, ethnic communities and social classes of the United States. In particular, it is extensively reported that social and racial minorities of the USA, in particular homosexuals, people of Hispanic or Afro-American origin are considerably more vulnerable to police-related problems. This paper focuses on the connection between the development of police forces, its internal and external structures and the affect exercised on the social structures of the United States.
First and foremost, both state and federal police forces are aimed at providing law enforcement service while in other countries this function is normally fulfilled by separate agencies. Numerous abuses are reported to have taken place when this function is implemented. For instance, Afro-Americans are always reported to be treated with excessive atrocity and abuses by police inspectors and investigators. The same problem is known to be connected with those of homosexual orientation and other minorities. Ultimately, this problem resulted in the permanent terror inspired to these categories of the United States citizens that they can be mistreated when apprehended by the police.
Secondly, a long history of the policy of racial segregation in the Unites States of America resulted into the ingrained belief that colored people do not enjoy the privilege of the presumption of innocence. To illustrate, when a black skinned United States citizen is apprehended by the police patrol in the Unites States of America, he or she has 80% chance of being imprisoned, condemned and sentenced. Following this assumption, black skinned Americans are reported to be traditionally afraid of intercourse with the law enforcement detachments of the United States of America. Moreover, various researches reported that while the defendant is charged with serious accusations as first degree murders, grand larcenies, aggravated robberies or rapes, racial disparities play a significant role in charging and imposing of the death penalty by the grand jury or by the judge.
The third element of the intercourse between the United States police and the United States community is the fact that under the law, the United States police forces of both federal and state level are obliged to exercise the function of order maintenance. In other words, the evolution of the United States police institutions suggests that the police forces in the United States are not separated from both the highway police and the patrol detachments. This situation is fertile for prospective abuses and violations of the law. The transgressions perpetrated by the officers are veiled by the colleagues of the senior level. Moreover, the recently conducted surveys indicate that the communities of Hispanic or Afro-American origin are more vulnerable to the police brutality.
To summarize, it becomes evident that although the police forces of the United States of America are effective deterrents against the organized crime, the citizens of this country of Hispanic or Afro-American origin have the feeling that they are afraid and often discriminated by the police forces rather than enjoying the feeling that they are protected by them. Unless the drastic strategy aimed at eradicating this heinous situation is taken, the police of the United States are likely to lose its credibility and be disrespected and undervalues by its own citizens.