The Decline of Law Enforcement and Systemic Processes for Reform

Throughout the last half-century, the world has seen law enforcement evolve. However, this evolution has brought about changes that do not appear to be sufficient in keeping with the socio-economic, cultural, social, or societal changes that have taken place. Throughout 2020, the world became a melting pot for change. Not only were we trying to survive the global pandemic COVID-19, but an outcry could be heard worldwide for radical changes to be made to law enforcement. No longer is it acceptable to be reactive to the needs within our communities. What is needed is a proactive approach. For this reason, the current system needs to be picked apart to find what fits and what does not. The world needs the ability to respect the words and the meaning of to "protect and serve." Moreover, those men and women who have dedicated their lives to law enforcement and corrections need to breathe new life and live these words with their purpose at the forefront of their minds before reacting to a call. This book analyzes current issues that are present in the law enforcement and corrections systems. Furthermore, it considers creating and modifying existing jurisdictional policies or procedures to better serve the frontline officers and equip them with the foresight needed to protect those within their communities. It presents solutions that have been utilized by many private sector organizations and are now beginning to be adopted by public sector organizations as guidance in troubleshooting issues as they arise. Finally, it draws from current real-world law enforcement and corrections examples to provide understanding as to how many of these tools can better serve the people that these organizations have sworn to protect. This book comes at a time when society is calling for major changes in law enforcement. However, without further understanding of what went wrong, we cannot move forward or achieve reachable goals. This book takes that deeper dive into understanding where we went wrong in our policies and procedures.