Community Policing: A Community Analysis

Ethics and the Evolution of Police Policing in this present day is defined as an individual or group of individual who prevent and detect crime within a community. Policing compares in many ways. They all attempt to provide services, keep the peace and reduce crime. Policing has evolved into something much more than what it used to be. Within this essay are the many different perspectives and how ethics were learned.

Humans needed police because people are inherently dangerous. For whatever reason police were needed to keep order in society. Originally known as peace officers police usually just helped out in the neighborhood and had the job of keeping the peace within society. In the beginning peace officers would walk around and make sure that people were not involving themselves in domestic disputes. Police officers would also do their best to make sure that people weren’t out in the streets being drunken idiots. In the more rural areas of the colonies the sheriff was the main law enforcement figure. Appointed by the governor, sheriffs’ duties included serving legal documents such as writs, appearing in court, and collecting taxes.

Police subculture may, however, be changed through external pressures, such as new hiring practices, investigations into police corruption or misuse of authority, and commission reports that create pressures for police reform” (Schmalleger, 2015, p. 243). The integration of new technology, both on the side of the public (think Facebook Live and smart phone video recordings) are already making a huge impact questioning the regular negative behaviors of policing. I also believe that situational training of officers, and stronger consequences for officers who demonstrate poor behaviors, need to be in place and upheld by leadership. Frankly, it should not just be the judicial system that puts an impactful spotlight on bad behavior, but internal processes which give no excuse for poor

The main purpose of this type of policing is to create a set of programs and formulate different strategies designed to bring the police officers and the public closer together. The intention is to gain more trust and cooperation between the police officers and the public. Not only that, but also gives a chance for the community to provide feedback and ultimately be heard by the police. This type of policing has been implemented in different ways, including having police officers get out of their vehicles and walk around different neighborhoods. The thought was to have the public see that these police officers are around to help and ultimately care (Siegel, 2017).

The role of policing in our culture can be categorized in two broad models; crime fighter or public services role. These two models view policing in different ways as seen by society as a whole. The views of policing at stated by Pollack (2017), in with the crime fighter model focus on the “presumption is that criminals (who are different from the rest of us) are the enemy and police officers are the soldiers in a war on crime” (p.116). This view by police and society helps to formulate the style of policing they utilize leaning more towards force and not viewing all members of society as equal. The public servant view of policing described by Pollack (2017) as the “presumptions are different and include the idea that criminals are not so different from us and, in fact, may be our sons and daughters” (p. 116).

Describe the mechanisms by which the British Police are held to account and explain why these are important in maintaining their operational independence. This essay will describe the mechanisms by which the British Police are held to account, and will touch upon the paradox of police governance, the balance of unwanted coercion of police, financial stewardship and police legitimacy. This essay will also divulge into a discussion on the topic; is policing political? There will be an argument for and against, and the advantages and disadvantages to both sides will be conversed to achieve an accurate conclusion. In addition this essay will start by portraying the significance of Police Accountability.

Policing has been around a long time, ever since the 19th century to be more specific. In that span of time between the 19th century and today, policing has gone through many changes, to lead us to the state of policing we are in today, which is now a complete 180 from how it used to be. Way back when the first settlers came to America, communities actually policed themselves. They believed that this was the most effective way to uphold the law, or whatever they called it back then. They had many ways to keep people in line such as public disapproval, shunning, and even public humiliation.

According a study conducted by Chaney and Robertson, American’s attitudes about police officers have changed dramatically in the past ten years. Their study, which appeared in The Journal of African American Studies, suggests that instead of feeling safe and protected by police, many citizens actually feel animosity towards police officers, and are mistrustful and suspicious towards them (Chaney and Robertson 480). This situation seems almost impossible to rectify, especially since law enforcement is given the authority and the privilege to use force not only by the law, but also by society. In order to allow law enforcement officers this power, the public must completely trust those who are protecting them, and must believe that police are using force responsibly and ethically. People naturally assume that the police are well-trained to use force appropriately and fairly without prejudices.

Officers abuse their power and most of the time get away with it which is not right, they are figures that the public trust to enforce the laws and keep them

The US Department of Justice has stated that one way of lessening this tension is implementing a system of community policing where police are more involved with the community and work together to lessen the crime and fear of it in a community. (Community Policing Defined, 2008) A goal set fourth by the Community Orientated Policing Services is "Developing effective systems and tools to prevent and respond to bias-based policing can help law enforcement maintain that mutual trust and respect." (Bias-Based Policing, n.d) The trust in officers and the respect of good behavior is needed in this method. The country needs to be able to trust it officers and make them care about the community they are policing.

The police officer 's authority role, is to “fight crimes, maintain order and provide social services”

The police are expected to maintain social order in society so that the government can work towards the country’s goal without any hindrance. However, this is also a flaw in itself. With the system and control agents put into place by those with power, it also ensures that control and scrutiny is focused solely on the society and not on the system and the powerful individuals in it, therefore allowing possible cases of crime and deviance to go unpunished. There is simply no incentive for the social control agents to investigate the institution which created them in the first place.

As mentioned, early methods of policing included little more then local neighborhood watches. Before this, it was basically every man for himself. People were expected to follow local ordinances and, in turn, essentially take the law into their own hands whenever they were wrong by someone else. If someone murdered a family member, the victim’s family had every right to do the same to the offender. There generally wasn’t much merit placed in evidence, either.

There are good police officers who still believe in what is right. But the ones who do take the lives of innocent victims and disobey their code of conduct makes other police officers who do, do their job look bad. Those police officers who goes against their conduct make other police officers look bad especially white officers who have no intention of killing someone over that person's race. Many people use to look up to the police and view them as perfect role models who follows the law and always do the right thing but now many of those who use to look up to officers now fear them and take caution with every move they make because they fear for their lives. And that problem is not okay because citizens should not fear law enforcement because their race is not white.

From a time immorial the police have been a very intrigal part of the our social life. Be it the gupta period or the shivajian era, or the dark times of the east india company. Police has been omni present in the social order. One can not overlook the importance of police in the peaceful wellbeing of the state. But with the change in the attitude of the state towords its citizens the roll of police has also changed.