Communication Barriers in Law Enforcement Law Essay

Communication Barriers in Law Enforcement
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Communication Barriers in Law Enforcement
Introduction
Law enforcement is the act of bringing calmness and sanity by relevant policing authorities in situations triggered by the unrest between citizens or a particular group of people. In most scenarios, law enforcement officers act on the front line to ensure there is safety, peace, and tranquility of the people they are mandated to protect within their areas of jurisdiction (Menifield, Shin & Strother, 2019). However, law enforcement, just like any other activity, faces challenges such as communication barriers and resistance. In recent days, worldwide protests have been experienced pioneered by the minorities in various communities as a result of clashes by law enforcement officers (Menifield, Shin & Strother, 2019). These protests can be tracked down to ineffective communication that resulted in the escalation of issues at hand, prompting a call for justice by the racial or ethnic minority groups. This paper seeks to describe some communication barriers in the law enforcement field and possible remedies to some of these barriers.
Communication Barriers in Law Enforcement
The departmental status system is one of the major barriers to effective communication with law enforcement. Communication between different ranks is done through a chain of intermediaries. There exists a slow flow of information from one hierarchy to the other due to restrictions imposed by the departmental status system. In this setup, communication from top officials is easier as compared to upward communication from subordinates (Blažič & Klobučar, 2020). Considering that most offenses are reported at the junior level, communication from the top officials regarding the necessary action takes time, sabotaging law enforcement actions.
Secondly, different backgrounds, education levels, and individual experiences create communication barriers in law enforcement. Enforcement officers are drawn from different backgrounds with different educational levels that impact their way of reasoning and approaching different matters. There are high chances that enforcement officers possess different knowledge regarding various scenarios due to their religious beliefs, traditions, and political affiliations, leading to major hindrance in law enforcement (Menifield, Shin & Strother, 2019). On rare occasions, enforcement officers may conceal vital information regarding offenses committed by people related to them or individuals with whom they share certain beliefs in terms of religion and political affiliations (Menifield, Shin & Strother, 2019). Such actions are prone to happen when individuals who serve in law enforcement are drawn from minority groups in a foreign country.
Junior enforcement officers may hold back information from their bosses with the fears of the outcomes from disseminating such information (Hughes, 2020). This serves as another major barrier to communication with law enforcement. Subordinate officers hold back information because of the perceived feedback from their bosses. Generally, transmitting information has consequences, and junior staff are likely to process the information at their disposal to ascertain the possible outcome for transmitting such information (Alang, McAlpine & Hardeman, 2020). If the possibilities that the outcome will be unpleasant, then most enforcement officers choose to hold back the information.
Lastly, psychological barriers like stage fear, phobia, and depression affect communication with law enforcement. The personalities in law enforcement face different situations that need them to express themselves to the subjects of law (Hickey et al., 2020). On some occasions, such as in demonstrations, there is a need for dialogue between the protesters and the law enforcement officers, which require contented individuals who can articulate their...