Police Powers and the Media
The media and the police force
have been intertwined since the beginning of societies. Whether it be a police force of the
contemporary order or the exacting force of a government body implementing
capital punishment, the media has played a large role in the public’s
accessibility to the legal ramifications of the justice system.
This is a video shot off a mobile phone in the USA with the title cops
behavingbadly.flv.[1]
Posted on YouTube this video promotes an anti-police authority mentality which
is reflected in the numerous posts left bellow this clip.
The comments posted
below this clip generally read with three distinct perspectives. The first
being that of distain for the police actions taken, that of praise for the
police and the third category is that of criticism of those comments which
praised the actions taken.
Unlike the classical days of
authority implementation when legal authority was not questioned the mass media
has presented society two deceptive perspectives which constantly collide and
ignite social tension. Published in the Journal of Criminal Justice are many
articles which look at the fictitious depiction of police and the findings of
recent “research suggesting that images of
policing created unrealistic public expectations about real policing and
disappointment when police did not perform like their media portrayals”[2] The second perspective is
that of situational sources such as the internet and other such platforms which
allow for individualised and non-regulated images of police to be distributed.
“Findings for contextual variables reveal that, regardless of whether contact
was voluntary or involuntary, an individual's perception of unsatisfactory or
unfair treatment decreased the probability of positive perceptions.”[3]
These two presentations of police
activity present a conflicting and unrealistic model of which authority cannot
adhere. The fictitious perspectives of good cops overcoming all in their quest
to uphold the law presents a standard which reality is then compared against.
This unobtainable standard is then placed against perceptions of police
indiscretions and unsatisfactory actions to highlight just how far the police
are from the unobtainable and socially desired standard of the fictitiously
constructed media-police.
Societies require social cohesion
for the betterment of their circumstances, but paradoxically it would appear
that the institutions involved with the organising and implementation of
measures required for such social cohesions are the centre of media attention.
The focus placed upon the police force within contemporary socio-climates is
that of an abstract nature to which the vilification of their presence is an
inevitable by product. The media in its both customised nature as well as its
counterpart of being entirely socially accessible for both editation and
consumption provides the perfect platform for overwhelming of any individual
institution- such as that of the law enforcement agency of any community.
It is the freedom of opinion that
defines the democratic states of the world and yet it is also the freedom such
opinion which holds back the productivity of societies. The double edged sword
which is democratic freedoms; allows for the spreading of slander, ignorance
and misconceptions as well as the provides citizens the freedom to exist in a
state which recognises the individuality of each citizen.
A police force is only as strong
as the citizens which it is created from. Not to say that I am advocating a
communist, fascist or any other dictatorship styled governance, but to look at
the benefits that such a model of government has on law enforcement. The rights
of citizens and the power of the legal system are at the mercy of one another
and it is the mass media and its influence which appear to now hold a firm
grasp over the direction such sway will go.
[1] FlipsideJedi's
channel (2012). cops behaving badly.flv. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_oIb51CdHY.
Last Accessed Date:22/05/2014.
[2] Kenneth,
D. & Zawilskib, V. (2007).Public perceptions of police misconduct and
discrimination: Examining the impact of media consumption. Journal of Criminal
Justice. 35(2), 194.
[3]
Correia, M. E; Reiseg, M. D & Lovrich, N. P. (1996) Public perceptions of
State Police: An Analysis of Individual-Level and Contextual Variables. Journal
of Criminal Justice. 24(1), 25.
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