Assignment 3: Leadership Personal Issues and the Rules of Law

Due Week 8 and worth 200 points

Law enforcement in America has seen drastic changes over the past one hundred years, from the educational requirements of officers to the interpretation of the Bill of Rights. Law enforcement officers today are expected to perform their duties at a very high level of professionalism and morality. Unfortunately, when officers don’t perform at this high level, it is their commanders who ultimately may be held responsible for their actions. Use your textbook, the Internet, and/or Strayer Library (https://research.strayer.edu) to research credible sources on the aforementioned issues as they relate to law enforcement operations and management.

Write a 5- to 7-page paper in which you explore the constraints on the police in democratic societies and assess the management and leadership challenges. Cite real-world examples to strengthen your discussion and illustrate your points. Address following in your paper:

1. Examine the change in requirements that police hiring agencies have had for potential candidates over the last 50 years and discuss the effects on law enforcement organizations. Support or critique the current requirements.
2. Examine two areas in which federal courts have placed limits on officer’s constitutional rights due to the nature of their work and explain the reasoning.
3. Identify three constraints placed on law enforcement and examine how these constraints affect how law enforcement conducts their operations.
4. Examine two current events in which police supervisors were held criminally liable for their officers’ misconduct and explain the reasons why.