Should the police have unlimited powers when dealing with crime?

As quoted from Spider-man: ‘with great power comes great responsibility.’ To determine the amount of power granted to someone, one must first determine the ability of that person to undertake the responsibility of having a certain amount of power bestowed upon them. In recent years, the number of reports on police misconduct has been on the rise. This goes to show that the police cannot be trusted with power. When one is given too much power, abuse of that power tends to occur. Although police were once perceived to be selfless law enforcers, this no longer holds true.

Take for example the recent report of a case of abuse by the police. In the U.S., a 19 year old girl was punched and kicked repeatedly while being dragged to a waiting police van. The entire scene was captured on a surveillance camera and people worldwide were shocked by the brutality of the attack. It is in the nature of every single one of us to be greedy, especially where power is concerned. People with power would naturally want more power, and in this case, the police have proven that they are unable to handle the responsibility that comes with great power.

This is especially true in developing countries. Police there tend to be corrupted as they are often tempted by bribes by syndicate bosses. Because of their low pay and poor working conditions, police readily accept these bribes as a source of extra income. They may also do their job half heartedly by ignoring evidence in crime cases because it means more work for them at the same amount of income. Thus, law enforcement there is weak and police usually close an eye on any unlawful doings. In this case, unlimited power definitely cannot be granted. Without unlimited power, police are already ignoring law and are corrupted. If unlimited power is granted, it is safe to assume that the world would be in jeopardy.

In corrupted countries, citizens fear the police more than the crooks themselves. This is because police frequently abuse their power, by assuming the role of God where they punish whoever they like, and claim they do it in the name of justice. Thus, this abuse of power defeats the purpose of the police.

In conclusion, until only the police force can be entirely made up of law abiding people with integrity, then can unlimited power be granted. However, that is unlikely to happen since we are all greedy by nature. Thus, unlimited power cannot be granted to the police.