Posted: December 6th, 2022

Relations of the Settlement Agreement to the Fourth Amendment

Relations of the Settlement Agreement to the Fourth Amendment and Police/Community Relations
The DOJ and the LASD are collaborating in reforming policing in the Antelope Valley.

Please read following information regarding the History of this project and current changes taking place. Familiarize yourself with the attached files that relate to the progress in this endeavor and the changes taking place in your community.

http://www.la-sheriff.org/s2/page_render.aspx?pagename=avc_detail_09 (Links to an external site.)

http://www.antelopevalleysettlementmonitoring.info/ (Links to an external site.)

LASD SA Summary for Website.pdfPreview the document

http://www.antelopevalleysettlementmonitoring.info/content/documents/reports/10 Semi-Annual Report, June 2020.pdf (Links to an external site.)

Write a 3 -page paper, dbl spaced paper in APA format how this Settlement Agreement relates to the 4th Amendment and Police / Community Relations.

How This Settlement Agreement Relates to the 4th Amendment and Police / Community Relations.
The Fourth Amendment in the American Constitution grants its people the right to be secure in their individuality, houses, papers, and effect from unreasonable searches and seizure by the government. While the Fourth Amendment does not offer a guarantee against all searches and seizures, the government can only conduct searches and seizures which have demonstrated reasonability in the eyes of the law (United States Courts, 2020). For a particular type of search or seizure to be deemed reasonable, the court needs to balance two fundamental interests; one end is the extrusion of a person’s Fourth Amendment rights while the other end, the legitimate government interests such as ensuring the public safety of their citizens.
This Settlement Agreement entered by The United States, the County of Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (“LASD”) was created to ensure that the law enforcement activities abide by the United States constitution and respective laws as they seek to uphold public and deputy safety, and promotes public confidence in LASD and its deputies (United States District Court For The Central District Of California). . To this effect, in their adherence to the Fourth Amendment, the Settlement agreement has stipulated in the third section that the LAPD has agreed to ensure that the investigatory stops, seizures, and searches are done as per the rights, privileges, and immunities secured or availed by the country’s constitution. Their conduct must be part of an effective crime prevention strategy instead of being part of the counter-productive divisions between the police department and the community. The respective police officers must have reasonable suspicion, which is referred to as probable cause by the Fourth amendment, before engaging in investigatory stops or detentions (United States District Court For The Central District Of California).
The agreement also states that the Antelope Valley deputies will undergo extensive training to ensure that they have the right knowledge and skills needed to conduct themselves during these situations (United States District Court For The Central District Of California). The learning will encompass how to introduce themselves while initiating contact with a civilian reasonably and practically, articulating the reason for the investigator stop or detention promptly, deciding appropriate when the investigatory stop or detention is not necessary for appropriate action to be done, and being professional and courteous while interacting with civilians. The officers are also not going to use traits such as race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, disability, among others, as a determining factor in how they conduct their searches and seizures (United States District Court For The Central District Of California). Therefore, the settlement agreement encompasses giving guidelines to the department and its deputies on acknowledging and ensuring their conduct adhere to the Fourth Amendment constitutional rights.
Police agencies and respective communities are required to cultivate strong relationships of mutual trust since they are fundamental in providing and maintaining public safety in conjunction with effective policing (Community Relations Services Toolkit for Policing., n.d.). Law enforcement officers depend on their relations with respective communities to obtain information on crimes happening within their neighborhoods. The two stakeholders will also interact and collaborate in coming up with solutions to the crime and disorder challenges happening in their fields. The willingness of communities yo trust the law enforcement depends on whether they believe the latter is a reflection of community values and improvise the tenets of procedural justice and legitimacy in their operations (Community Relations Services Toolkit for Policing. n.d.). The conduct of law enforcement as they deal with crime and public safety issues determine what kind of relations they have with their communities.
The Settlement agreement has also considered the importance of better relations between the police and its communities. Therefore, they have provided guidelines that will see these relationships cultivated (United States District Court For The Central District Of California). . One of them is through bias-free policing where they ensure that the public members receive equal protection with no form of bias based on race, color, ethnicity among other characteristics. Therefore, a deputy is not required to initiate an investigatory stop nor conduct other field contacts due to a person’s actual or perceived immigration status.
The agreement also stimulates its commitment to undertake effective communications and offer timely and meaningful access to law enforcement services to all community members regardless of any limitations. Considering the limitations would include speaking challenges, reading challenges, writing problems, or even a problem in understanding English the common language, The LAST will hence develop and implement the language Helpance plan and policies that comply with Title VII Act of 1964, ensuring all personnel takes reasonable measures of providing timely meaningful language Helpance services and incorporating requirements related to bias-free policing and equal protection. These are some of the measures that demonstrate the stakeholders’ commitment to ensuring that all individuals receive their police services regardless of their limitations. Community members will be more willing to work with departments that demonstrate this kind of commitment.
Apart from these policies laid out in the Settlement Agreement, the stakeholders have also awarded particular individuals and the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) with the responsibility of monitoring their operations and ensuring that the agreement stays in line with the Fourth Amendment and is on the path of better police/community relations (National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 2020).

References
Community Relations Services Toolkit for Policing. (n.d.). Importance of Police-Community Relationships and Resources for Further Reading. Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/crs/file/836486/download#
National Council on Crime & Delinquency. (2020). Monitoring of the Antelope Valley settlement agreement. Retrieved from https://www.antelopevalleysettlementmonitoring.info/
United States Courts. (2020). What does the Fourth Amendment mean? Retrieved from https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/about-educational-outreach/activity-resources/what-does-0
United States District Court For The Central District Of California. The United States Of America. Plaintiff, v. The County Of Los Angeles And The Los Angeles County Sheriff’sdepartment. Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/file/414706/download

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