Police Operations

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Police Operations
The role of police as it pertains to the Constitution
The police have a primary role in protecting the citizens of the country. They are charged with the responsibility to ensure that law and order is maintained according to what is dictated in the Constitution as well as the agencies they are in.
To start with, before an officer may be genuinely considered as one, he must take an oath according to the Constitution and the respective states that they come from. Their first allegiance is to the Constitution which is a representation of the people’s wishes. Hence, it can be said that a police officer’s role is to protect the Constitution.
Secondly, the police have a responsibility to make lawful arrests. The 4th amendment provides that there will be no unwarranted searches by the police (Carmen, 1). This is a protection mechanism for the citizens but a role for the police.
Additionally, the police also have the role of ensuring that any liberty curtailed is justified. This is to mean that no individual shall be placed in jail without being charged as in accordance with the 5th amendment. This amendment also covers the procedure that ought to be followed while making arrests, that is, informing the arrestee of the offense they are suspected of, their right to an advocate and to be charged within 72 hours (Institute, 1).
The police also have a responsibility to protect arrestees from giving evidence against themselves.

This role also extends to them not forcing the arrestees to testify against themselves.
Functions of the police agencies
Police agencies exist in every state. Every state has its own police departments, which are also differentiated according to the functions they are expected to perform, for instance, the homicide department is in charge of dealing with murders.
As a general rule, the federal government also has police agencies, for instance, the “Federal Bureau of Investigation” (FBI) which deals with offenses that are considered to be against the country. Such offenses include terrorist activities among others.
Hence, the role of police agencies is to ensure that that the police are kept in check, that all the procedures dictated in the Constitution are followed. This includes due process all the way to fair trial. As part of the role, the agencies at either level, that is state and federal, also ensure that evidence collected during investigations is protected from unauthorized personnel.
Role of Police and Community
The police and the community are connected by the fact that both have the function of ensuring that there is security and peace. For the police to have an easy job, the community has to convey information of any security threats, and for the community to enjoy Constitutional right to protection and freedom, the police must discharge their responsibilities. Additionally, the Constitution under the 2nd amendment guarantees the right to own and carry arms. The spirit behind this was to have the community help the police in preventing any crimes from happening on the ground; as a result, some states encourage citizen to conduct arrests.
How the police protect citizen’s constitutional rights
As earlier stated, the Constitutional amendments dictate the manner in which the police ought to deal with citizens. Hence, in the protection of such rights, the police ensure that they only conduct warranted searches, that arrested persons are read their rights at the point of arrest, they are charged in due time and that they do not incriminate themselves (Carmen, 1).
Moreover, the police protect the citizen’s rights by ensuring that their liberty is not curtailed and that they are protected from any harm.
Types of searches and interrogation techniques
There are two types of searches that the police engage in; these are those that involve warrants and those that do not. The former involves cognizable offenses for instance murder, while the other involves non-cognizable offenses.
As to the interrogation techniques, the police employ a number of them, for example, the traditional technique which involves torture but is frowned upon as the Bill of Rights guarantees the right against torture. The others include the Reid technique which is basically based on studying an individual’s body language, “the good cop bad cop” which involves two police officers, and as the name suggests, one being the bad one and another builds a rapport and tries to get information.
Probable cause and how it affects the police
This can be defined as reasonable ground. This means that for the police to arrest or search anyone, there must be reasonable reasons for the same. As such, it is stipulated that for any warranty to be issued to the police, he or she should show that there is concrete basis.
References
Carmen. “Law Enforcement and the United States Constitution,” 30 April 2013. Web. 23 December 2016. <www.utahstatetrooper.com>
Institute, Bill of Rights. “Constitution of the United States of America (1787),” n.d. Web. 23 December 2016. <billofrightsinstitute.org>