Police misconduct Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Police misconduct - Essay Example Another officer then appeared, and started feeling and searching the person in question. He also said to him: "I could be a real jerk..some officers would arrest you for not liking the way you look"(ibid). Another incident happened recently in San Diego and raised a storm in the media. This was the case where several women were arrested by El Cajon police officer named William Robert Taylor who allegedly made them perform sexual acts in return for their freedom. One case was thus described: "In one instance detailed in a Feb. 3 arrest warrant, a woman Taylor detained for petty theft in September 2005 at an El Cajon department store told police that Taylor forced her to disrobe and perform a sex act in the back seat of his patrol car while he stood outside and watched" (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060329-9999-2m29taylor.html ). The victim thought she had no options but to comply. Later Taylor claimed that the woman was not prompted to perform sexual act but that she willingly did it. There was yet another incident of the similar nature involving this same officer. This was when he arrested a woman for possession of marijuana plant and petty theft and told her that if she had sex with him he would not arrest her. These last two cases involve a questionable unethical behavior on the part of the police officer. The last case is somewhat more complex. It happened in Vancouver, BC, at the drug-ridden Downtown East Side. Apparently, the number of HIV infected drug users in this area has been alarming since the 1990's, and at the time when the said incident happened, in 2002, 40% of the residents of that area were HIV infected. This is higher than anywhere in Canada. This alarming fact prompted the health officials to start a safe injection needle exchange clinic, which was to be held outside, at the corner of Main and Hastings Street, which is where the greatest number of drug users can be found usually. The police had no right or warrant to close down the clinic. However, this is precisely what they did, as they alleged that there was illegal activity happening close by. This was a blow in the face of the drug addicts using heroin as well as the health officials who were concerned about more and more people getting infected with HIV virus due to the unsafe use of contaminated needles, which is apparently the quickest way for the HIV virus to enter one's bloodstream, quicker than sex for example. As in 2003 there was a new city major elected, he started a so-called 4-pillar approach to drug use in the city, which involved harm reduction, safe needle exchange sites and methadone program, as well as counseling. The police department asked the City council for permission to place more officers in the Downtown East Side, which was refused by the City council. However, the police still went ahead and, in addition to the 20 officers that were already there, they positioned another 40 officers from other areas of the city in the Downtown East Side. This made it almost impossible for the drug users to access the safe needle exchange clinic, as they had to bypass the police to get there. As the police were arresting people for drug possession,