There are many Discourse communities in the world. Any community that has a unique way to communicate or has their own unique beliefs, values and goals can be considered a Discourse community. Some common Discourse communities include schools, workplaces, sports teams and clubs. A Discourse community of a sports team is very different from that of a workplace. A workplace Discourse community is going to be much more professional and live by a tighter set of rules. On the other hand a Discourse community of a sports team will be more laid back and their goal is just to win games where as a workplace Discourse community’s goal is to make money and for the workers it’s often just to make it to the weekend. The main goal of this Discourse community however, is often just to make it home to their families safe and sound.
The local police Discourse community consists of Municipal Police, County Sheriffs and State Police. The goals of local police departments often times include, “get the police department involved in the community”, “traffic safety”, “emphasize public service”, and “create a better quality of life for residents”. Local police departments spend most of their time enforcing traffic laws and participating in community programs that give knowledge to the community about the laws and how to obey all of the laws and to stay safe. Examples of these programs would be the DARE program which teaches children that they should not use drugs and that if they don’t the police will not have to arrest them. This is part of what many departments call community oriented policing. “Community-Oriented Policing (COP) is a philosophy whereby members of the police department establish partnerships with members of the community with the purpose of identifying and solving problems”. This community oriented policing helps the local police create bonds with the people they serve and builds trust between the officers and the citizens. I asked the local police officers of the area where I’m from in Mississippi to conduct a few interviews. My main goal was to ask some questions. I asked most importantly to me about the rights they have and how they are different from what we have as the people. I also asked about there day to day life on the job as an officer of the law.
Local police serve as an important barrier between the crime doers in the community and those who abide by the law and are just trying to live their lives in peace and safety. They are the front lines of are safety at home. While they play an important role in arresting and prosecuting criminals, developing quality connections with those in the community can be the greatest source for solving these crimes that everyone in the community wants solved.
Law enforcement officer have a lot of power to do many things that any normal citizen does not have. However, the thing wrong with society nowadays is that they fail to realize how many rights they have because of laws, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution and many other documents. Since most people fail to realize these things they give the officers more power to get away with things that they shouldn’t. As a citizen it is important to know what rights one has so when there is ever an encounter with the police, one knows how far the officer can go without violating ones rights.
One right that everyone knows about is their Miranda Right. The reason this all came about was because of the court case Miranda v. Arizona. As written in the article ‘Miranda Rights: What happens if the police don’t read your rights. The fact is that if your Miranda rights are not read to you, then anything you say to the cops is not admissible in court. However, there are exceptions to the law and it is important to know when police are and when police are not supposed to read you the Miranda Rights.
Miranda rights are supposed to be read whenever someone is in custody and they are being questioned with things that the officers or prosecutors may want to use against them in court. The exception to not reading Miranda and still using what was said in court is if later on that person is charged with a crime or if that person somehow blurts out a confession before they can read them. Something else that many might not know is that you generally do not have to answer an officer’s questions because the Fifth Amendment gives us the right to remain silent. The officer must actually have probable cause to arrest you not just a ‘gut feeling’. The only times when not under arrest where you are technically supposed to answer them is during a traffic stop or during loitering. If an officer feels you are loitering and have ‘reasonable suspicion’ they are allowed to stop and frisk you without it being a violation of your rights.
Most people that get away with a crime committed is usually because of a fault in the process while getting arrested or in trial. It is important to understand what rights apply to you and what to do if someone deprives you of them or violates them. More people need to understand what is going on and learn what they need to know instead of just complaining and continuously exclaiming how flawed our justice system is. In all reality there aren’t many flaws, everyone involved in this justice system tries to make sure they follow every rule of due process just to make sure that these ‘rights’ we have are not taken away from anyone, whether they are a criminal or not.
To be in law enforcement one must be very dedicated and understand that what they do can at times be dangerous. Regardless of how dangerous the job may be there are benefits that may sway one to believe it is a good idea to become part of law enforcement. The pros and cons of being a law enforcement officer all come down to where they work, some cities pay differently and operate their sector differently because of where they are located meaning they have to accommodate to their city’s needs.
