Policing Policies in the USA and the UK - Coursework Example

Download file to see previous pages Why are the police so important in the development of democratic societies? The police are different from any other government entity. Of all government functions, the policing function is arguably the most visible, the most immediate, and the most intimately involved with the well-being of individuals and the health of the communities.

(Travis 1998, p2)
Police represent a vital arm of the government and are primarily responsible for the maintenance of law and order within the political boundaries of a country. The organization, the underlying philosophy, and the way police approach their task reflect the approach to governance that the country has especially towards its citizens. Conversely, the attitude of the community towards the police also affects the way the police approach their job. Regardless of the way the policing function is organized the result is what is important. The essential questions to ask are:
 
a) Whether the policy is effective in crime reduction? and,
b) Do the police meet the needs of the society whose interest it serves?
While it is widely agreed that the functions of the police embrace much more than crime investigation and control as also that police are not the only institution that is responsible for crime abatement, this essay considers only the role of the police in fighting crime. At the end of the 1980s, the change in societal environment, and the demographics of crime and drug abuse clearly indicated that the traditional police practices were inadequate to control crime (Greenwood et al 1977; Kelling et al 1974).

Two decades of rising crime led to a gradual erosion of public confidence in the institution (Crank & Langworthy 1992) and demanded the use of innovative practices to meet the requirements of society. While the American police adopted the ‘zero-tolerance approach that continued to trend toward the use of force to keep the streets clean, the British police, except for a few disastrous experiments with ‘zero tolerance’ gravitated towards the more liberal approach.

A comparison of police systems and practices in America and Britain helps understand the cultural and operational philosophical differences between the two and the impact they have on their effectiveness. The analysis and discussion in this report are limited to police organizations in urban and metropolitan areas with rural policing specifically excluded.

This report explores the different constructs that earlier research suggests in terms of defining ‘models’ and ‘styles’ of police service provision. Using these, the recent historical developments of the actual practices in America and Britain and their evolution help exploration of the effectiveness of the police in two democratic countries that essentially abide by the same guiding principles of governance.

Researchers and social scientists use ‘models’ to describe, understand, and classify police setups. Using eight descriptors, Ponsaers (2001) reduces the multitude of earlier typologies to four distinct ‘police models’, viz. Military-bureaucratic, Lawful Policing, Community Oriented Policing, and Private-Public Policing. ...Download file to see next pages Read More