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Role Conflict: How It Impacts US Law Enforcement Today 1 Role conflict is a hot topic frequently discussed by scholars in the law enforcement field today. Many articles have been written in regard to the subject and it is taught to law enforcement students in order to spread awareness and to promote thinking about the possible answers. Understanding role conflict is important to the law enforcement field because there is confusion among society about what exactly the most important job a police officer has today should be. There is also believed to be confusion among the police officers themselves about what their main purpose is. This topic is an important one to look into because it is important for officers to fully understand and prioritize …show more content…
Their tasks included street cleaning, fire watches and even worked as jailors. With the beginning of the 1900 came a reform movement called the progressive model of policing, this began a new era of modern law enforcement. Police then were made full-time employees and still maintained many responsibilities. Their roles now are to prevent crime and maintain order and control. However, then one of their main functions was to provide new immigrants with lodging and assist them in finding work. (Https://ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/114213.pdf)
An article on DiscoverPolicing.org describes the role of sworn officers as “dealing with community based problems rather than specific crimes or incidents is the core of police work.” This would mean that their most important job is maintaining the community as a whole and dealing with the safety and welfare of the people within it. It goes on to explain that while crime fighting is part of the job, it is not a very common one; therefore it is not the most important and vital role police officers posses. This type of policing is a community minded style. However, an article in the Houston Chronicle (work/chron.com) says that the top two most crucial tasks of a law enforcement officer are 1 to serve and protect, and 2 to investigate crimes. This is a slightly different outlook focusing more on crime and arrests in order to protect the community. The article states that what makes crime and arrests most important, is the need to keep drugs off of the streets and out of the hands of civilians. That in its self should be a number one priority for
To begin with, their jobs were not only the sort of jobs that we would associated with the police today. They also had to do many other things. ordinary, menial tasks such as lighting the night lamps, calling out the time and watching for fires, amongst many other public services. they had to carry out, which they had taken over from the... ... middle of paper ...
It is a myth to believe that an officers job is spend fighting dangerous crimes, in reality officers spend more time handing smaller cases. For example, police officers spend a lot of time doing daily tasks such as giving speeding tickets and being mediators in disputes (Kappeler & Potter, 2005). Handing out speeding tickers and handling minor disputes are far from fighting crime. Police officers spend more time doing preventive measures (Kappeler & Potter, 2005). Preventive measures involve officers intervening to prevent further altercations. Victor Kappeler and Gary Potter discussed the myth of crime fighting as invalid and misleading notions of an officer’s employment.
What is the purpose of police officers? Are they here to provide safety for the people or are they here to just mess up their lives? All around the country the statement “protect and serve” can be seen on any police vehicle and any police building. But more often times than not the question arises, who are they truly protecting? Themselves or the helpless citizens of The United States of America. Over the past century crimes rates have sky rocketed; although these crimes are not being committed by your everyday criminals they 're being committed by the police officers that are suppose to be protecting the people. The reasoning behind these crimes remains unknown, but, there are always two sides to every story.
Law enforcement has many roles in the criminal justice process. The duties preformed by police officers include traffic citations, criminal investigations, emergency response, and crime prevention. Police officers are here to enforce all laws that are set by the government. When police officers encounter
Law enforcement is an important element of the United States’ system of criminal justice apart from the corrections and the courts. It is one of the major functions of the various governmental agencies of police. It is therefore concerned with police service or functions of police departments. In this paper, the author analyzes at law enforcement and related issues. Specifically, the author discusses law enforcement, theoretical understanding of the different models of policing as well as policing styles. The author also looks at the question of stress associated with the life of a police officer and how such stress affects them. This is a purely theoretical discussion based on secondary sources of information. Time and resources constraints could not allow for a more empirical, experimental fieldwork research. The materials relied upon are mainly journal articles from respectable academic journals and databases.
The police are usually charged with the great responsibility of ensuring that citizens are living quality lives that are free of crime and fear. In order to perform this duty effectively, the police need accurate and deeper knowledge of the citizens and issues they encounter in their daily lives. This knowledge will not be easy to come by if the police work independently from the citizens. Over the last several decades, police agencies have been working to gain the respect and the cooperation of the communities they serve. Community Oriented Policing was introduced to bring a closer working relationship between the citizens and the police.
Society impacts ethical behavior of law enforcement by holding them to a higher standard of expectation. Police officers act as protectors and liaisons in highly stressful situations with the power to make decisions over society. Holding this position requires trust and the ability to lead by example. Police officers may have to be able to recognize the ethical dilemmas, decide the
Steven Seagal once said , “It is a lot harder now to be an Police Officer than what it used to be.” When I was six years old my family and I had got into really bad accident, a Police Officer pulled out my mother, brother and me before the car caught on fire. He could have saved the younger man in the other car, but he made the decision to save my family. Ever since then I have always admired Police Officers and their service. The career of a Police Officer is a eye opening and amazing experience ,because you 'll come in contact with parts of society that you never knew existed . The research will describe the career of a Police Officer, what is required to become a successful, and the impact this career has on society.
Community oriented policing has been around for over 30 years, and promotes and supports organizational strategies to address the causes, and reduce the fear of crime and social disorder through problem solving tactics. The way community policing works is it requires the police and citizens to work together to increase safety for the public. Each community policing program is different depending on the needs of the community. There have been five consistent key elements of an effective community oriented policing program: Adopting community service as the overarching philosophy of the organization, making an institutional commitment to community policing that is internalized throughout the command structure, emphasizing geographically decentralized models of policing that stress services tailored to the needs of individual communities rather than a one-size-fits-all approach for the entire jurisdiction, empowering citizens to act in partnership with the police on issues of crime and more broadly defined social problems, for example, quality-of-life issues, and using problem-oriented or problem-solving approaches involving police personnel working with community members. Community oriented policing has improved the public’s perception of the police in a huge way. Community policing builds more relationships with the
Community based policing can best be defined as, 'a collaborative effort between the police and the community that identifies problems of crime and disorder and involves all elements of the community in the search for solutions to these problems' (Sykes). Community based policing is the idea that the role of the police is not that of catching 'bad guys,' but more that of serving the public. In order for community based policing to have an effect, the presence of crime isn?t needed, in fact it?s often more effective without the involvement of crime, ?Modern police departments are frequently called upon to help citizens resolve a vast array of personal problems--many of which involve no law-breaking activity? (Schmalleger). The role of the police officer in community based policing, is to have an active part in the community. This can be something as simple as stopping in at a school just to talk to the kids, or...
Many departments now meet regularly with neighborhood groups, allow citizens to participate in citizen police academies, and conduct forums to give citizens a better understanding of the duties of police officers and their actions. Some police departments require and encourage officers to get out of their patrol vehicle and initiate positive contact with the people on their beats (Shusta, Levine, Wong, Olson, & Harris, 2011). All of these efforts are important and relevant to community policing, which helps to remove and diminish negative images of police officers. Citizens are more willing to work hand in hand with police officers who are approachable, engaged, and take ownership of the neighborhoods they serve, which is what community policing is all about.
Community policing allows officers to be actively involved on the streets alongside the community. Their focus is not only to solve crimes but to interact with the people in their neighborhood, establish a rapport with them. This initiative has gained popularity within recent years as the police and leaders of the community pursue more significant ways to promote public safety and to enrich the quality of life of their community members. The police and the citizens often come in contact with each other for a multitude of reasons other than criminal purposes. Police officers often engage in community service by providing an abundance of information for those in need, and they offer educational services at schools and outreach
To conclude, Community policing represents a major development in the history of American law enforcement, but the extent to which this approach is a success and dominates contemporary policing remains a source of debate. In my point of view, community policing is good for communities. It has challenged the traditional concept of the police as crime-fighters by drawing attention to the complexities of the police role and function. In addition to the police officer hard work; citizens can also make a difference and contribute to make neighborhoods a better place to live. For instance, citizens can hold community meetings to talk about concerns and agree on solutions help organize healthy activities for children in your neighborhood, join or starting a neighborhood crime watch program, and talk to your community police officers and share information and concerns.
All roles within local, state, and federal agencies provide what we have made of law enforcement today. The levels within the department are effective in the support of their own and effective uses of personnel. Departments are further finding ways to operate more effectively and make the funding of their departments go further. The different roles and training that go into the officers and the multiple forms of patrolling is a time honored tradition that has adapted over time and offered a safer approach to apprehending today’s criminal.
When you think of police what does it mean to you? The responsibility of a police officer is to protect the public and to serve the community. Also, they detect and to prevent crime, police officers strive to maintain the law. New police officers work with the general duty as patrol divisions, that provides a range of experiences and assignments. The General duty of policing involves patrolling in assigned areas to enforce laws, protect public safety, and arrest criminal suspects either by car, foot, bicycle, or in some cases, horse. Police officers can also do some of the following: they Investigate accidents and crime scenes; to secure evidence and interview any witnesses; they collect notes and reports; they can provide emergency assistance to victims an disaster, crime, and accidents;