Читать книгу Police in America - Steven G. Brandl - Страница 131

The Philadelphia Police Department has a unique policy when it comes to rendering assistance to gunshot and stabbing victims: Instead of waiting for emergency medical services (EMS) to arrive on-scene and provide medical assistance and transportation, officers rush victims to the nearest trauma center in their squad cars, so called “scoop and run.” In 2017, one-third of Philadelphia’s 1,223 shooting victims were transported to one of the city’s five trauma centers in this manner. While this practice is not unheard of in other major cities, Philadelphia is the only city known to have made this practice standard policy, subject to officers’ consideration of proximity to a hospital, availability of EMS, and nature of victim injuries.

This practice is not without its critics. Some police officials point out that victims could be further injured during transport and typically do not receive medical care on the way to the hospital, raising liability concerns if victims do not survive. According to Philadelphia police, however, the city has never been sued over police transport of victims. Medical professionals add that less medical care during transport is made up for by faster arrival at a hospital, but they explain that this practice may not be wise if trauma centers are few and far away. Critics also highlight that police have other important responsibilities at crime scenes like finding and interviewing victims and collecting other evidence in order to solve the crime. Advocates respond that the practice may help strengthen relationships and goodwill between the community and the police and gives police officers a rare opportunity to save a life in the line of duty. As Philadelphia Police Department Captain Stephen Clark stated, “We don’t join the Police Department to watch people die.”¹

This chapter addresses the question, Why do we have the police? The answer is not as simple as it may first seem.

What is the mandate of the police? In other words, what is their purpose? What is their role in our society? Most fundamentally, why do we have the police? These seemingly simple questions have not-so-simple answers. Indeed, it takes a chapter to adequately answer them. The police have many important responsibilities; they are absolutely essential in our society. However, their mandate is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. Given their mandate, they are also inherently controversial. To attain an adequate understanding of the police in America, it is necessary to examine their major responsibilities and why their mandate is so difficult and controversial.