History and growth
‘It is clear that the private security industry has experienced substantial growth, particularly if one compares the size of the industry in 1950 with that in 1995. In 1950 there were a dozen or so companies involved in the provision of security services and products; now there are thousands, in what could be described as a multi-billion industry (George and Button : 30).’ Policing is now being widely offered by institutions other than the state, most importantly by private companies on a commercial basis and by communities on a volunteer basis (Bayley and Shearing, 1996).’ According to South, Jones and Newburn, private security industry in Britain has grown from the post war years from a few specialised firms catering for the rich folk to a multi-billion pound industry (South, 1988; Jones and Newburn1998). Johnston echoes the fact that there has been a significant increase in private forms of policing over the years in South Africa and many countries including Western democracies and other societies in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa (Johnston, 1992).
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With reference to the orthodox and revisionist perspectives, assess the statement that ‘the establishment of the Metropolitan Police in 1829 was a rational solution to changes in society and the associated challenges of crime and disorder’. Use a contemporary example to demonstrate how these perspectives can be useful in interpreting modern policing activities.
The modern police agencies have grown and developed since the early 1600s to become an increasingly organized group that endeavors to prevent crime while preserving the rights and professionalism of citizens. Generally, modern policing in the United has been shaped by the early English police styles (“The History of the Police”, n.d.). This is primarily because the first organized policing agencies were witnessed in the early 1800s but exper...
There is a wide range of legislation available that serves to govern the police’s use of statutory stop and search powers. Below I will briefly outline the powers each legislation provides the police with, before commenting on how these powers fight criminal activity within the United Kingdom. It is important to note that despite the wide range of legislation available to legitimise the stop and search powers of police, the Police and Criminal Evidence’s 1984 Code A of practice is the main legislation that collectively regulates stop and searches conducted by police constables in the United Kingdom. Additionally, I will also briefly outline the pieces of legislation relating to Terrorism in the United Kingdom.
The 2002 crime figures for England and Wales comprised of two separate reports, brought together for the first time: (i) Crime statistics recorded by constabularies and (ii) The British Crime Survey (BCS), based on 33,000 interviews. The BCS is regarded as a more reliable measure of actual levels of crime because it includes experiences of crime that go unreported. The British crime survey of 2002 revealed:
The need for the police and the public to work together was recognized as far back as the 19th century. In 1829, the Metropolitan Police of London was established by Sir Robert Peel. Peel worked in many areas of government during his career striving to pass legislation to reform child labor laws and other statutes to help protect working Londoners. However, he is recalled by many as the “Founder of Modern Policing” (Jones, 2004). During his time as British Home Secretary, Peel took on lowering London’s rising crime rate, in addition to reforming the criminal code of the time. Peel’s police force was uniformed and its members were taken from the people it served. He believed this, along with strict discipline, was a key to keeping law and order in the streets of London (Jones, 2004).
There are still issues with the post-Gaddafi Libya however there are numerous ways of fixing these problems. The main problems that need to be fixed are the security sector and the private sector. In order to fix the security sector, the government needs to employ the National Guard to h...
The Criminal Justice System, a framework the British government set up to manage the treatment of culprits, has three principle objectives to accomplish social request, these are, (1) implementing criminal law, (2) keeping up peace in the general public, and (3) helping casualties. This may appear to be a well-considered framework, yet like some other association, there are blemishes, and one of the real imperfections is separation, and the predisposition that originates from segregation.
Kleck, Gary. “Crime Control Through the Private Use of Armed Force,” Social Problems, 35.1 (1988): 1-21. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.
Within the simplistic tone of the label ‘different models of the criminal justice system’, lies the discrepant debate on individual rights versus the containment of crime that has been the at the centre of criminal justice for decades. Models of justice have been described as mere ‘perspectives’ on criminal justice (Davies, Croall, Tyrer et al, 2010: 25), however it becomes increasingly evident that their effect on policy is significant. For example, it can be argued that favouring one model, such as crime control, over the other is a contributory factor to the 35,000 miscarriages of justice that occurred between 1995-2005 (Naughton, 2005). I...
American policing originated from early English law and is profoundly influenced by its history. Early law enforcement in England took on two forms of policing, one of which heavily influenced modern policing and it is known as the watch (Potter, 2013). The watch consisted, at first, of volunteers which had to patrol the streets for any kind of disorder including crime and fire. After men attempted to get out of volunteering by paying others, it became a paid professional position (Walker & Katz, 2012). The three eras of policing in America are shaped by these early ideas and practices of law enforcement. Throughout time, sufficient improvements and advancements have been made from the political era to the professional era and finally the community era which attempts to eliminate corruption, hire qualified officers and create an overall effective law enforcement system.
When George Orwell wrote his acclaimed novel “Nineteen Eighty Four” in 1949, even he would be surprised at how things he wrote then would become part of society 60 years on. Results of the “Big Brother” effect which he predicted in his novel are now to be seen frequently in our daily newspapers. With the crime rate in Ireland, particularly the alarming increase in burglaries, home-owners are becoming more and more worried. Thousands of people are investing in high-tech security systems to protect their houses from being burgled. With S.S.I.A.’s still maturing at the moment, electronic gates, high fences, motion sensors and C.C.T.V. cameras in particular are popping up in communities around the country. These systems are installed to deter thieves from entering people’s homes but home-owners don’t seem to realise that by having such high security, they are literally telling people that they have something to protect. Apart from this, these systems also have side effects on the people who have them installed. Gone is the feeling of neighbourliness and community that rural Ireland boasted about for so many years. With the increasing number of ribbon developments in rural areas, things are getting to a stage where people have never even met their neighbours. Sturdy doors and strong gates may keep unwanted visitors out but they also discourage people from “popping round for a chat.” One has to wonder where this is going to end. It has been proven that over 55% of people who installed house alarms in 2005 did so after being burgled themselves.
Oliver, W. (2006). The Fourth Era of Policing: Homeland Security. International Review of Law, Computers & Technology, 20(1/2), 49-62. Doi: 10.1080/13600860600579696
Kleck, G. “Crime control through the private use of armed force.” Social Problems (1988): 35:1-21
...T., Reiner, R. (2012) ‘Policing the Police’ in The Official Handbook of Criminology. Ed. By Maguire, M., Morgan, R., Reiner, R. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 806- 838
The past decade has seen a proliferation of law enforcement security cameras in public areas, with central London having more cameras than any other city. In cities like New York, Los Angeles, and central London, cameras can be found at almost every intersection. Terrorist attacks have been a major basis for this significant increase in law enforcement security cameras; however, privacy advocates, along with many of the public, feel that it’s an invasion of privacy. People are concerned that all this video surveillance, which is continuously expanding, has created a “Big Brother” society, where people are constantly watched. This creates paranoia and unease for people that just want to go about living there private lives, without feeling that their every move is being watched. The increased presence of surveillance cameras is almost compared to George Orwell’s novel from 1984, where he imagined a future in which people would be monitored and controlled by the government. One question that needs to be asked is: does the benefits of law enforcement security cameras outweigh the negative sides to it? Although the invasion of privacy is a serious argument against law enforcement cameras; nevertheless, it should be seen as a valuable tool to help fight crime. As long as surveillance cameras are in public places and not in people's homes, privacy advocates should not be concerned.