How do members of law enforcement feel about people taking the law into their own hands?

Answer 1

If you are talking about simple self defense, you are not taking the law into your own hands.

If you are talking about punishing people who have committed crimes because you think the authorities did not catch them or they were not sufficiently punished, then you are a vigilante. Which is a nice word for "no better than the scum you are hanging".

I have found that generally people who do this sort of thing often "punish" the wrong person. A number of years ago my partner and I responded to a fight in progress call at a local park. When we got there we found a group of eight young men beating and kicking the snot out of another man. We got the mob back and I recognized the man as badly brain damaged man who is often in the park with his caretaker. The mob claimed the man had attacked a woman and then tried to run off when they came to the rescue. The chased the man into a wooded area, came out the other side and found this guy and jumped him. Of course, it was not the man who attacked the woman. They nearly killed this poor guy.
When you take the law into your own hands you simply lower yourself to the same level as the scum you are grabbing.

Answer 2

I am totally against regular citizens taking the law into thier own hands in any aspect. Unless people work or have studied extensively in the criminal justice field, they don't know that much about the laws.

Laws were put in place for a reason, and there are laws that we have set in place on how to prosecute those charges on someone, and laws on how we can punish someone for commiting various crimes. The average person does not know all the ins and outs of those laws.

Answer 3

It is legal in the form of citizens arrest and/or as a measure of self-defense. In some cases, for example the killing of Martin Luther King, legal powers can be wrong and it is up to citizens to set justice.

It all falls back to doing what is best for the greater good...usually police can handle that but, when they are too slow or simply being offensive instead of helping to defend, it is citizens' job to put up that defense for themselves.

Simply put, it is a good thing as long as it lends itself to defending the greater good of society which usually, but not always, is well protected by law enforcement.

I seriously doubt a policeman would, for example, take offense at an odd case such as someone living far out in the country who was caught speeding trying to get her in-a-coma grandfather to a hospital because the nearest ambulance would take longer to get there than it would take for her to drive to the nearest hospital. There are always special cases.

Answer 4

That is what they are there for to enforce the law,
you should not do this, as it could be vigilantism.....

Answer 5

Most of them don't, but there are some who do,

Answer 6

It's illegal, will get you suspended and fired, and completely pointless.

Answer 7

they prefer to do the killing themselves.