Various Perspectives of Policing Functions - Essay Example

?Policing Functions Paper Introduction In this paper, the proponent tries to examine various perspectives of the policing function from local, and federal organizational levels. In addition, the proponent also tries to address possible future changes in laws and the overall impact that these changes will have on the field of policing. Various perspectives of policing functions The American Law Enforcement Industry consists of the following components. At the local level, there are municipal police, country police and country sheriffs. At the state level, there are state police and Bureaus of Criminal investigator. At the Federal level, there are Federal law enforcement agencies and Military law enforcement. At the special district police level, there are those assigned in public schools, transit and college and Universities. There are also Native American Tribal Police. There are also police for private security which comprises those from private security firms and security personnel. By looking at this hierarchy and different classifications, one could actually say that policing in the US is highly decentralized, fragmented and diversified (Walker & Katz, 2008). According to Walker and Katz, this situation would eventually result to lack of coordination, then crime which could be due to fragmentation of responsibility, and displacement particularly on crimes associated with vices. There is actually a suggestion for the resolution of this problem. Walker and Katz point that consolidation maybe and option. However, they also explain that the problem with consolidation is the lack of willingness of large bureaucracies to give up their autonomy. At this point, the specific function of policing may still not enough or sufficient to address the actual need of the society from varying perspectives. On the other hand, from various perspectives, in Industry and international level, one could substantially view policing based on its mission, strategy and organizational structure (Walker & Katz, 2008). According to Walker and Katz, starting from nineteenth century and even in modern times, police got a remarkable reputation as in-charge for crime prevention, in policing the world, crime control and even in enforcing the law. Crime prevention is a utilitarian idea about policing which according to Walker and Katz is a significant quasi-military style. On the other hand, under the function of taking charge to policing the world, police falls into different classifications: public, specialized and professionals. Sheriff, constable and watch are in-charge of crime control. However, even if one could highly associate these responsibilities with policing, police are not excuse from various controversies. One of them according to Walker and Katz is the political influence and corruption associated with power that police carry among themselves due to their highly diversified functions in the US Law Enforcement Industry. From Industry perspective for instance, police have substantial authority and power to give substantial opportunity for the third party to gain with illegal activities such as gambling, prostitution and drug trafficking. Furthermore, for some ordinary people according to Walker and Katz, police are under in any way of positive or negative stereotyping. Walker and Katz elaborate negative stereotypes for police as being uneducated, untrained, prejudiced, brutal and corrupt. The positive stereotype on the other hand points police officers as heroic saints. Although Walker and Katz also point that police are not entirely different from ordinary citizens, the negative or positive stereotypes at some point must have substantial evidence from actual perspective of the society on policing. On the other hand, another important perspective on policing is that it is unsuccessful. Police agencies are bureaucratic paramilitary organizations that have traditionally responded slowly to change (Jones, 2009). In this matter, Jones believes that administrators fail to understand the complexity of their environment which has become the reason why policing institutions have become unsuccessful. Furthermore, in a certain study there is an introduction to important model for police manpower planning and scheduling at strategic level (Place, 2007). This is a significant proof that policing still requires improvement especially at its strategic level. In addition, regulatory negotiation model applied in the US Department of Justice has important implications in the context of ongoing police reform in order to ensure greater cooperation among those in-charge in the implementation process and formulation of innovative solutions for misconduct (Simmons, 2008). This emphasizes another point that policing in the US remarkably needs substantial improvement. Police establishment from a certain perspective may be a success due to its corresponding function within the society. In the case of police Basic Command Unit (BCU), policing could actually help establish core police functions at a local level as identified by the Police Superintendent’s Association (Loveday, 2007). At this point, Loveday believes that it is the function that matters for BCU visibility and not police establishment. This means fragmentation may not be necessary for as long as there is an actual application of police functions. Future changes of laws and its impact on policing One should view police legitimacy as something of intrinsic value (Tankebe, 2009). In other words, the Department of Justice must be able to implement its power just in order to promote a positive impact on policing. In this case, future changes are necessary. In the advent of technological advancement, the use of technology in policing is very important in order to enhance more and fulfill the essential task or function of every police officer. Furthermore, the law should substantially give important weight on crime analysis as criminals and law offenders have become increasingly advanced in emancipating various crimes. Finally, it would be time to treat policing as highly academic in nature. Therefore, police research would be appropriate. All of these are elemental suggestions in order to ensure policing would be more efficient in the future as it faces various reforms in the process (Walker & Katz, 2008). Conclusion Policing may have potentially gained positive or negative image for a long period of time. Reforms may be necessary in order to correct major negative feedbacks which at some point may lead to inefficient function of policing. In this case, the judicial system and emancipation of law must ensure in its reform programs to give substantial opportunity for policing to gain remarkable advantage in exercising the following: crime prevention, policing the world, crime control and law enforcement. This is to ensure that the execution of policing would substantially meet the prevailing needs of the society and in this way; this could address the potential correction of negative image of policing. References Jones, M. (2009). A complexity science view of modern police administration. Public Administration, 32, 433-457. Loveday, B. (2007). Basic Command Units (BCUs) and local authorities: Future mechanisms of police accountability and service delivery. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 9, 324-335. Place, J. (2007). Evaluating police department policy decisions using a simulation model of sworn officer deployment. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 9, 341-356. Simmons, K. C. (2008). The politics of policing: Ensuring stakeholder collaboration in the federal reform of local enforcement agencies. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 98, 489-546. Tankebe, J. (2009). Policing, procedural fairness and public behaviour: A review and critique. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 11, 8-19. Walker, S., & Katz, C. M. (2008). The Police in America. An Introduction (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Read More