An Analysis of how President Barack Obama Views Crime and Social Issues Affecting Law Enforcement.

An Analysis of how President Barack Obama Views Crime and Social Issues Affecting Law Enforcement.

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Abstract

Issues related to crime and social injustices are part of the persistent reasons for the misunderstandings between law enforcers and the public. Although most people fail to associate to crime and social injustice to the need of African-Americans to try to match the social standards displayed by the Americans, it poses a strong argument as to the rise in crime. Personal perspectives consider this condition as a developed culture among the Africans-Americans to act in the rationale that produces violent results. Law enforcers do not make it any easier since their basis of action is solidly grounded on retaliation to the African-Americans through violent forms. Criminals undergoing the justice system offer very little insight on the conditions they are subjected through racial discrimination and brutality. As the President, Barack Obama tries to intervene by sensitizing and stressing on the importance of a just system that acts within the maxims offered by the federal law.

An Analysis of how President Barack Obama Views Crime and Social Issues Affecting Law Enforcement

It is important to note that crime and social issues exist in different forms across different settings. These issues affect how law enforcers apply their jurisdiction in countering the effects of such crimes. Owing to these effects, different people have different perceptions of how issues arising from crime and social differences hinder law enforcers from performing acts of justice. One of the people whose opinions have gained fame on the methods they use to spearhead justice through law enforcement is President Barack Obama. The president’s fame and effect on advocating for justice by offering his views and sensitizing on crime and social issues that seem to affect the delivery of law enforcement proves to be of great importance to the people. President Barack Obama’s ability to advocate for laws and policies that offer a sense of equality and fair treatment for victims and perpetrators of crime and social degradation provides great insight on how to improve the law and justice system.

Literature Review

Evidently, African-Americans have always faced unfair treatment in the hands of the law. In the article Obama: Police Acted “Stupidly” in Gates Case, McPhee discusses the unjust treatment Gates received when he was arrested and later released with lack of evidence (McPhee, 2009). The local justice system shows no competence in offering appropriate verdict as discussed by Cohen in his article Obama: “Trayvon Martin could have been me” (Cohen, 2013). Similarly, in the article Obama declares personal investment in change after Ferguson, Lee describes experiences presented to the president owing to the unreasonable shooting of a young African-American in Ferguson (Lee, 2014).

The events relayed through an article by Noble, Police want Obama to cool rhetoric blamed for shows the result of the unfair treatment and discrimination based on racial issues being gang related wars and death of law enforcers stirring up contradiction on reasons for the presidents favor. Encarnacao in the article Horror Show has cop union boycotting Obama show the reaction of law enforcers to President Barack Obama’s speech on justice concentrating only on the African-Americans (Encarnacao, 2015). Police therefore view the president’s support as a racial move inclined on one side and ignoring the other.

As much as criminals go through a rehabilitation process, it is not an assurance that they will succeed after being released. In the article President Obama for the prisoners, O.R describes how the president intends to cater for the prisoners through job training and education to help them acquire meaning in life (O.R, 2015). To enforce this, the president offered to develop a task force that would oversee all the strategic implementations and ensure the law acts under full jurisdiction without favor. Similarly, the article In Speech to Nation’s Police Chiefs, President Obama Walks Fine Blue Line, Donnelly discusses how President Obama relays a message on how the diverging differences between the police and community has grown due to racial discrimination (Donnelly, 2015).

The article Remarks by the President after Meeting with Task Force on 21st Century Policing highlights the different approaches that the task force considered to prevent African-American racial discrimination in respect to law and justice (Remarks by the President, 2015). Before his election to the presidential seat, President Barack Obama, offered different agendas, which he would concentrate on effecting after his election. In the article Barack Obama on Crime, the different changes he would make are clearly highlighted with focus kept on improving ex-convict life and alienating racial discrimination in the law and justice system (Barack Obama on Crime, 2008).

Discussion

In his bid to sensitize on how crime and social justice affects law enforcement, President Barack Obama presents different agendas on the methods of approach by law enforcers to ensure justice when exposed to different cases. Firstly, the president identifies that people are subjected to different justice systems based on their race, wealth, or social status in the society. Similarly, there is a difference of how law enforcers approach cases owing to the persistent corrupt status of the justice system. This is evidenced by the increase number of criminals who pass through the criminal system such as probation and jails. Most people face consequences that do not fit the context of their crime. Therefore, according to the president, it is important for the justice system and law enforcers to act in utmost proportionality especially when dealing with cases of different races.

By taking into account the persistent rise in criminal activities and social issues such as discrimination, the president developed different forms of approach to ensuring that the law enforcers understand how they should respond to such issues. The views presented during different speeches offered by President Barack Obama during the different events provide substantial reasoning towards improving law enforcement. Through these talks and speeches, the president’s agenda tends to affect law enforcers different where they have to change or improve on how they implement the law. However to do this, it will take a great deal of input from the public and law enforcement officers to ensure that the people in charge of offering justice act in the  required maxims as much as there are differences in the social status..

            President Barack Obama before presidency offered different agendas of consideration once he was elected as president. The president noted that once offenders had served their time in prison or had undergone the probationary system, they had no starting point. Evidently, with this form of perception by the public would render the ex-offenders jobless without guidance. The result of this would be to return to their previous ways of crime considering they were more fruitful although dangerous. The president offered great insight in advocating for a job training strategy that would incorporate the ex-convicts (Barack Obama on Crime, 2008). From the argument posed by the president, the increasing rate of poverty and crime owes to the fact that people lack enough skills to tackle different jobs. Moreover, many employees require people with the necessary skills in the job to enable organizational and company success. By doing this, criminal activities will reduce and law enforcement procedures will prove effective since the possibility of bulk cases will be eliminated.

Over the years, the rise in criminal gang wars has caused any deaths in different states such as Illinois (Barack Obama on Crime, 2008). Law enforcers find it difficult to apprehend criminals owing to the lack of knowledge of the diversity of the gangs and the lack of enough law enforcers in rural areas. Most families tend to ignore the importance of educating the child on the importance of avoiding bad company and being involved in education. The president’s views on increasing crime tend to focus on the role of the families, the local police, and the education system (Barack Obama on Crime, 2008). It is important that parents and families take responsibility of their families by ensuring that they offer the necessary advice and ensure formal education is availed to the children. It is through this that the children will avoid gangs and crimes. Schools need to acquire enough funds through the government to ensure that people who are willing to acquire formal education and secure a bright future are incorporated regardless of their background and race.

It is possible to encounter a gun among gangs regarding it as a protection weapon. Similarly, gunshots are so common that failure to hear one during the night raises questions. Study has shown that most guns operating in the streets by gangs belonged to officers who lost the guns. Most of the murders of such officers remain unsolved due to lack of evidence. Confiscating such weapons provides room for the revival and proper closure of such cases. Through this justice is served. Therefore, it is the duty of the law enforcers to ensure that they confiscate any guns in the hands of unlicensed criminals to assist in maintaining law and order in the streets. By doing this, the police will eliminate solid perception from the people that guns are the only solution to ensuring safety and that failure to acquire a gun show a sign of weakness.

Engaged in an interview with the press during a speech, President Barack Obama offered his views regarding the death of Tryvon Martin who was allegedly shot by George Zimmerman (Cohen, 2013). In the interview, the president shed light on the various experiences of African-Americans by law enforcers while carrying out regular activities in America. He noted that over the years, the law has always associated crime based on racial grounds arguing that the African-Americans were always suspects in case of criminal offences. More often, it is possible to find African-Americans with their own streets and stores owing to a fact that they cannot commit criminal acts to members of a similar race (Lee, 2014). In this respect, the staunch perception creates a difference in cases that criminal activities took place in streets belonging to other races. According to the local and state laws on criminal justice, the prevalent nature of judgment is based on racial factors in the different cases.

The president then offered insight that criminals persecuted against on unfair grounds can seek federal verdict. The federal criminal justice system applies international laws and policies while coming up with a jurisdiction. In this case, it would be impossible to offer judgment on racial basis. Equality and proportionality of judgment makes the federal system the most preferred form of action for most contradictory cases. Through the comments given by the president, people learnt how to approach the justice system through consideration and dialogue (Cohen, 2013). As much as critics opposed the move of sensitization on law enforcement based on racial lines as a method of racial support on individual level, the step was applauded by most people. His advice to the local and state law enforcers to work with the federal agencies was aimed at ensuring dialogue and evaluation of any criminal based prosecution to avail the required verdict.

While in a bid to support fairness in the law enforcement system, President Barack Obama tried to sensitize the public that division leads to more harm than good. The president focused on constraining the difference between the police and members of the community and different races during a speech to the International Association of Police Chiefs in Chicago (Donnelly, 2015). In his speech, the president issued an instance where the law enforcers in a bid to confiscate weapons from African-Americans, shot and killed the suspects. His argument was because the suspects were of different race and the perception created in the society regards the African-Americans as criminals by nature. As much as it is the role of the enforcers to restore and maintain law and order by providing a safe environment the polo ice could have tried a different method of approach to confiscate the criminals.

As much as the president offered incentives on how law enforcement aims at bridging the contradicting issues in justice, there have not been any laws implemented to cover the purchase and licensing of guns (Donnelly, 2015). The president rather concentrated on how they could enforce the existing laws to reach a wider range of people on the importance of instituting judgment based on the pertaining evidence. The argument based in the speech is quite convincing considering the systematic process that a bill goes through before it becomes a law. Although it would be a long-term strategy, the grace period before implementation would incur a rise in the criminal activities related to gun murder. However, concentrating on the existing laws would ensure that law is contextually enforced at all costs before embarking on developing new legislations. Laws focusing on drugs, education, and the employment sector can be enforced to provide a scapegoat for people who do not wish to pursue crime. Such issues affect how law enforcement is carried out.

According to Bacon, Obama referred to racial discrimination as a practice that has developed a solid base in the society (Bacon, 2015). Evidently, recent police killings especially on the African-American race have engulfed the society owing to the developed perception. This owes to the fact that the blacks are considered as the minorities therefore are constantly discriminated against. The main argument posed in reasoning to the African-American criminal allegation is based on status issues. As they strive to improve their status of living and ensure their voices heard, it is possible to be shunned off and ignored therefore resulting to violent events. The president strongly condemned any form of discrimination based on race insisting that they are all equals. The Americans consider the African-American systems and cultures as traditional and inapplicable therefore stirring rage among the people. In his speech, the president highlighted that he is not the president of the blacks but a universal president (Bacon, 2015).

Although the president talks more about racial discrimination and social injustice critics, believe that President Obama does little to effect policies that enable fair treatment and law enforcement (Bacon, 2015). However, one of the agendas the president issued before his election focused on banning racial profiling and stigmatizations that will eliminate disparities in the justice system. This owes to the fact that African-Americans are considered as the prime suspects during any criminal act and are more likely to be searched or interrogated. Nonetheless, whites undergo minimal interrogation and search which is based on racial lines. Furthermore, law enforcers tend to use brutal force on the African-Americans oblivious of their arrest rights. Some go to extents of being framed to admit committing a criminal offence. This reduces the confidence in the law enforcement sector that causes retaliation and violence among blacks.

Effects of the Agenda to Law Enforcers

The impact of President Barack Obama’s views to the law enforcers offered great insight on how they need to respond to issues of crime and social discrimination. The effect of these views may be seen in practice when police officers, investigative agents, and judges act in their jurisdiction to ensure fair judgment. This agenda makes it easier for law enforcers to do their jobs by offering direct guidelines and consequences to offenders and the public on the outcomes of their activities. .In this respect, criminals should expect a certain form of treatment excluding brutality regardless of their differences in regard to race and social status.

Conclusion

Law enforcement is affected by criminal and social issues. The effects date back before President Barack Obama stepped into office as most of his agendas focus on instituting changes on how law and order was carried out by the police. The major issues noted by the president were racial based owing to the fact that African-Americans received different treatment in pursuit of justice. According to the research above, it is clear that most prisons are overpopulated with the African-American race most arguing that the verdict was unfair and based on racial lines. However, the agenda covered by the president ensures that law and order is fairly implemented regardless of the different ideologies. This would make the job of the police and investigative agencies easy to carry out.

Reference

Bacon, P. Jr. (2015, 1 3). In Wake of Police Shootings, Obama Speaks More Bluntly About Race. Retrieved 11 8, 2015, from NBC News: http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/barack-obama/wake-police-shootings-obama-speaks-more-bluntly-about-race-n278616

Barack Obama on Crime. (2008, 7 12). Retrieved 11 8, 2015, from On the Issues: http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Barack_Obama_Crime.htm

Cohen, T. (2013, 07 19). Obama: “Trayvon Martin could have been me”. Retrieved 11 08, 2015, from CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/19/politics/obama-zimmerman/

Donnelly, K. (2015, 10 27). In Speech to Nation’s Police Chiefs, President Obama Walks Fine Blue Line. Retrieved 11 8, 2015, from NBC News: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/speech-nations-police-chiefs-obama-walks-fine-blue-line-n452471

Encarnacao, J. (2015, 9 7). “Horror Show” has cop union boycotting Obama. Retrieved 11 8, 2015, from Boston Herald: http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2015/09/horror_show_has_cop_union_boycotting_obama

Lee, T. (2014, 12 1). Obama declares personal investment in change after Ferguson. Retrieved 11 8, 2015, from MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/obama-declares-personal-investment-change-after-ferguson

McPhee, M. (2009, 07 22). Obama: Police Acted “Stupidly” in Gates Case. Retrieved 11 8, 2015, from ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=8148986&page=1

Noble, A. (2015, 8 31). Police want Obama to cool rhetoric blamed for violence. Retrieved 11 8, 2015, from The Washington Times: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/31/police-wait-for-obama-support-as-rhetoric-turns-ag/?page=all

O.R. (2015, 7 16). President Obama for the prisoners. Retrieved 11 8, 2015, from The Economist: http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2015/07/criminal-justice-reform

Remarks by the President after Meeting with Task Force on 21st Century Policing. (2015, 3 2). Retrieved 11 8, 2015, from The White House: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/03/02/remarks-president-after-meeting-task-force-21st-century-policing