Perspectives on Policing - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The police force is given a mandate to oversee the public relationship therefore public service function is one of the most important aspects of the function of a police. In servicing the public, the police therefore are involved in an array of activities that are meant to ensure an enabling atmosphere of life in the public. In this regard, they integrate important function like management and directing of traffic, directing tourists, attending to emergences, and other functions beyond their normal function of arresting and container law breakers.
Therefore we can say that the public needs policing in order to be effective. This shows that the police will need to effective in their work in order to deal with various issues that arise in the management of order in the public. The force will need to be well prepared and well adapted to these challenges. The public is diverse so is the problems that the police needs to address in the public. Therefore one of the most important issues that the police need to have is diversity in their training and in their composition of the force in order to address effectively all these issue. There need to have diversity in gender, training, and other aspects in order to function well. Lack of diversity may constrain their service to the public since the force will not be well prepared to cope with some of these challenges. Failure to deliver services will not be the only negative outcome of lack of diversity but it will also be compounded by bad perception by the public which many mirror the ineffectiveness of the force. (Joan 1998, P. 470)
Policing function and diversity
As we have stated diversity in the police force is one of the most important aspects that should be looked at. This is due to the effect that it's likely to have on the overall perception and the effectiveness of the police force. Lack of diversity my constitution the enforcement of also as it may be difficult to offer effective services especially to the marginalised groups. It is imperative for all communities to feel represented in the police force also have faith and feel secure. It has been shown that there is increasing malfunctioning of the police force as a result of lack of faith and mistrust between different ethnic groups depending on the way they feel represented in the force. In major cities in the world, there has been increasing conflicts between minority ethnic groups and the majority police force e.g. in the US there is increasing conflict between the white police and the Black American youths who feel that they are not represented in the police force. As a result, there may be public reluctance to give information to the police for and hence undermines the issue of communicating policing. The public or the police are also likely for decline of appear as witness due to the relationship between the two. It has been shown that some of the crimes that are committed especially in the low income areas are due to marginalisation of these areas since they are not well represented in the police force. (Spencer and Hough 2000, p. 82)
When the marginalised groups feel that they are not well represented, they may resource to criminal activities or organisation of criminal gangs which assume the role of protecting the public where police have failed. There is also a likely hold the police order will not be recognised in the ...Download file to see next pagesRead More