Beyond the “Ferguson Effect” on Crime: Examining its Influence on Law Enforcement Personnel

The purpose of the current study is to examine the influence tensions over high-profile officer-involved shootings have had on Atlanta police officers’ ability to do their jobs and whether these impacts vary by officer race. Data was collected between August and October of 2016. A total of 241 police officers across six zones completed the self-administered survey. Findings indicate that while white officers, on average, felt the impacts of recent tensions surrounding officer-involved shootings more strongly, non-white officers were more likely to say they would leave policing if offered a better paying job in another field. This study provides insight into racial differences in the impacts of recent tensions and protests over fatal officer-involved shootings.

Accountability of Law Enforcement Personnel for Human Rights Violations in Cameroon: Trends and Challenges

Law enforcement personnel are critically important in both the security and criminal justice sectors. Unlike ordinary citizens, they possess the broad powers needed to perform the tasks in these sectors: for example, they possess the power to arrest and detain; to search premises and seize items; to interrogate individuals; to stop assemblies; to check and even to restrict the movements of people during certain times; and to use force and firearms in specific circumstances. In exercising such powers, they are required to act independently and judiciously. Also, they must stay within the remit of the law. Such powers, however, render them prone to committing human rights abuses since by their very nature, they interfere with the civil and political rights of individuals. In instances of violations they are expected to be held accountable. Accountability for law enforcement for human rights violations evokes and entails the notions of lawfulness and legitimacy. As legitimacy touches on the public perception of law enforcement personnel, it becomes vital to explore what mechanisms are put in place to ensure accountability as well as possible challenges that hamper it. Examining the notion of the accountability of law enforcement personnel in the context of Cameroon, this paper argues that selective accountability has been the trend which puts the country at quite a distance from its international human rights obligations. Informed by empirical evidence from credible governmental bodies, the paper identifies and assesses the legal framework on accountability, touching on a few instances of selective accountability, and argues that if lawfulness and legitimacy are to be the cornerstones of accountability, then a comprehensive approach must be considered, including the de-politicisation of law enforcement units in Cameroon.

Antecedents and Consequents of Multiculturalism and Social Diversity among Law Enforcement Workplace in Metro Manila

This study describes the antecedents and consequents of multiculturalism and social diversity, and the perceptions of law enforcement personnel towards the consequents of multiculturalism and social diversity in the law enforcement workplace. This quantitative descriptive research determined the perceptions of 100 law enforcement personnel from the purposively selected law enforcement workplaces in Metro Manila. Data were analyzed using frequency and percentage distribution, mean and rank. The majority of the respondents recognized the utmost importance of multiculturalism and social diversity in a Law Enforcement workplace. Managing diversity in the law enforcement workplace means creating conditions that maximize the potential of its personnel to enhance organizational performance; and Multiculturalism promotes the integration of different cultures and the sharing of one's ideas and perspectives that lead to innovations have the highest mean scores of 3.75, respectively. On the other hand, Inclusive organizations can screen out highly prejudiced individuals and will find it easy to manage diverse employees with a mean score of 2.69. It can be gleaned that the majority of the respondents perceived that employing a culturally diverse law enforcement workforce has positive consequences to its people, workplace culture, and organizational climate. Therefore, law enforcement officers should support heterogeneous workplace advocacies, and that policymakers should reinvigorate the rigor of existing policies to sustain multicultural and social diversity in the entire organization.