Functions of Uniformed Police Officers - Research Paper Example

? FUNCTIONS OF UNIFORMED POLICE OFFICERS By here] To [your here] came here Due paper here Uniformed PoliceOfficers The role of police department in maintaining law and order situation can never be denied. Police department not only makes all efforts to avert and detect crimes but also implements and imposes the law of a country. Some of the major powers of a uniformed police officer include arresting, detaining, and investigating criminals who do violent and criminal acts either in public or privates places. Other authorities are to maintain peace and security in their respective areas. A uniformed police officer performs many functions, such as, traffic control, crime prevention, and implementation of law. In this paper, we will describe crime prevention, which is one of the most important functions of a uniformed police officer. Crime Prevention Lab (2010) states, “Many crime prevention programs rely heavily on police activity” (p. 85). Crime prevention is an attempt to either prevent the crimes or reduce the level of criminal acts. Reducing the risk of being a victim is the basic objective of crime prevention. Gilling (1997) states, “Crime prevention incorporates not only the practices of the entire criminal justice system, but also those of many other social and public policies” (p. 2). A uniformed police officer reduces the crime rate and disorderly situations implementing effective crime prevention strategies. Crime prevention is a function, which involves deploying protective people, prevention policies, and strategies (Hayes, 1997). These strategies are implemented in various judicial and extra judicial settings. It is one of the prime responsibilities of a uniform police officer to take proper measures to reduce the level of crimes in the country because crimes and violence not only make the lives of people insecure but also proves to be a risk for economy of a country. Implementation of crime prevention strategies plays a great role in the successful prevention and reduction of crime levels in a country. Sherman (2002) states, “Comprehensive crime prevention strategies frequently involve the mobilization of community members to participate actively in planning and implementing prevention activities” (p. 168). These strategies not only help the government in reducing the level of crimes but also help in generating the sense of security in the public living in any specific society. Crime prevention is a skill-based activity (Arrington, 2007, p. 27). The ultimate goal of crime prevention is to provide people with trustworthy security by eradicating crimes from the society. In order to achieve the goal of crime prevention, uniform police officers put an end to those specific factors or opportunities, which enable a criminal to get involved in any specific criminal activity. The main goal of crime prevention is not only to secure the lives and properties of the public but also to eliminate those reasons, which act as the root cause for the unlawful activities. It is one of the main goals of uniformed police officers to reduce or remove the opportunities for criminals from the country, and this goal can be achieved by increasing the desire among the public to act as the contributor to the improvement of society. Uniformed police officers create fear of punishment in the minds of criminals in order to prevent them from getting involved in any sort of criminal activity. Fear of punishment cannot be injected in the minds of criminals rather it is created by taking such steps, which should practically detain the criminals in order to create a risky environment for criminals. Crime rate in small part of a country puts a negative and fearful impact on whole country. People avoid going to those areas where there is no protection of life and property because security is always the first priority for every individual. It is the major responsibility of the uniformed police officers to apply such crime prevention strategies, which should effectively remove the element of fear from the minds of the public. Without the implementation of successful crime prevention strategies, no government can ever be successful because trust and belief of the public in the government act as the foundation of a successful government, and a government fails when it becomes unsuccessful in achieving the trust of people by providing them with required level of safety and security. Therefore, it is very important for the government to give powers to the uniformed police officers to let them act appropriately to ensure the safety and security of the public. Importance of crime prevention can never be denied. It is very important to implement effective crime prevention strategies to reduce crimes in the society. The main benefit, which comes from the implementation of crime prevention strategies, is the removal of the fear of crimes and violence from the minds of the people. Another major benefit is that of rise of economy. If we want to reduce the level of crime rate, we must implement a well-planned crime prevention strategy to achieve desirable results. Crime investigation is one of the sub-functions of uniformed police officers. Some of the core duties of a criminal investigator include collecting evidences, analyzing evidences, making reports based on evidences, and providing reports to the concerned authorities. Criminal investigators perform different types of tasks based on their areas of specialization. Some investigators are experts in covert surveillance operations whereas some are specialists in crime scene investigations. Criminal investigators hold great importance in the criminal justice system of a country. The examine all aspects of crimes using different methods, such as, collecting evidences from targeted places, tracing phone calls, performing background checks of the criminals, and analyzing collected evidences. They not only examine details of crimes using fingerprints, samples, and interviews but also help judges make appropriate judgments through their findings. Professional responsibilities of uniformed police officers are not limited to any specific crime. They carry out investigations for almost all types of crimes, which may include, murders, kidnapping, robberies, harassment, child abuse, bank related matters, and technological crimes. Therefore, we can say that criminal investigators play an effective role in strengthening foundations of the criminal justice system of a country. Crime prevention also has a direct impact on the rise of economy of any specific country. As we know that economy of a country rises when foreign and local people invest in the projects of that specific country. Therefore, when the level of security will be high in a country, investors will not be hesitated in investing in the projects of that country. Crime prevention is the most important function of a uniformed police officer because it secures lives of the people. Although traffic control and SWAT functions are critical for a safe and secure society, but if we compare it with traffic control function or the role of SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics), we come to know that the importance of crime prevention overshadows the functions of traffic control or SWAT. The reason is that traffic control only deals with the management of traffic issues whereas crime prevention deals with violence and threats to the lives of people. On the other hand, if we talk about SWAT function, we come to know that SWAT teams work to deal with some specific situations and emergencies whereas crime prevention deals with all sorts of crime related issues in any specific society or a country. Therefore, we can say that crime prevention is the most important function of the uniformed police officers. Conclusion Summing it up, the role of police department in maintaining law and order situation can never be denied. Crime prevention is the most important function of a uniformed police officer. Crime prevention should be one of the prime responsibilities of the government of any country because it not only makes the lives and properties of the public secure but also puts a positive impact on the economy of a country. Crimes prevention is more important than any other function of police because it not only deals with the safety of people but also maintains the law and order situation of a country. References Arrington, R. (2007). Crime Prevention: The Law Enforcement Officer’s Practical Guide. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Gilling, D. (1997). Crime Prevention: Theory, Policy, and Politics. London: UCL Press. Hayes, R. (1997). Retail Crime Control: A New Operational Strategy. Security Journal, 8(3), 225-232. Lab, S. (2010). Crime Prevention: Approaches, Practices and Evaluations (7th ed.). U.S.A: Matthew Bender & Company, Inc. Sherman, L. (2002). Evidence-Based Crime Prevention. Oxon, OX: Routledge. Read More