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The evolution of policing in America
History of policing
The evolution of policing
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A look back on the beginning on policing in America can give us insight to modern day issues within policing since majority of our issues and ideas are not new and have existed since the beginning of policing. Evolution of policing within America is based on prior events that shaped the way we police in modern day. All ideas and issues are traced back to an earlier time in our history which helps us better understand issues and ideas of modern day better. From the roots of modern policing, we started with similar ideas as the English policing system in the colonies with a sheriff, constable and a town watch. Eventually, America found issues with this system as England did and had to evolve to withstand populations, civil disorders, and increase of crime. Tensions rose due to growth of immigrants competing for jobs against Native Americans. Thus, become the “Year of Riots” in 1834 which brought larger cities to accept and establish a new London-style police department which took many years due to the process of city and state legislature. Preventive patrol was the number one idea America took from London since it was found police presence does effect individuals’ behaviors. However, the …show more content…
The job was tough since most endured all weather for 2-6 hours walking to patrol their area with another 6 hours spent at the station. At this time, technology was underdeveloped which meant leaving the station for patrol without a form of communication or supervision. With this new policing method, crime drastically declined since the switch to controlling criminal behaviors. Nevertheless, police officers and corruption began with this new era since little to no supervision was given to an officer patrolling on duty. Many officers allowed individuals to continue committing illegal acts for a small price considered “police
The English Police experience influenced American policing through their practice of keeping city streets clean as well as establishing the good order and discipline of its residents. One the main ways they were able to accomplish this was through deterrence which is still used to this day. The mere presence of a police officer or officers would deter residents from getting out of line and prevent them from doing "unseemly behavior" in public places. The establishment of the police meant an active group patrolling the streets on the lookout for breaches of the moral code as well as common-law crimes, thus extending the authority of the state into the daily lives of the
Policing is a very difficult, complex and dynamic field of endeavor that is always evolves as hard lessons teach us what we need to know about what works and what don’t work. There are three different Era’s in America’s policing: The Political Era, The Reform Era, and The Community Problem Solving Era. A lot has changed in the way that policing works over the years in the United States.
According to Kelling, Pate, Dieckman, & Brown (1974), patrol is the “backbone” of police work. This belief is based around the premise that the mere presence of police officers on patrol prohibits criminal activity. Despite increasing budgets and the availability of more officers on the streets, crime rates still rose with the expanding metropolitan populations (Kelling et al., 1974). A one year experiment to determine the effectiveness of routine preventive patrol would be conducted, beginning on the first day of October 1972, and ending on the last day of September 1973.
Random patrol is not a sign of poor management. Random patrol strategies are based on the principle that police officer presence in an area provides a general preventive effect and an idea of crime and that, afterward, the resident’s terror of crime is abridged by that same police officer presence. It would be likely, as an outcome, that crimes that would normally take place in equally public places, such as personal property offenses or common street crimes, would be more pointedly impacted by preventive police officers patrolling practices, whereas offenses typically committed in relative isolation would be less vulnerable to the deterrence effects of preventive police patrolling.
These changes have manifested both positive and negative reverberations in the way we perform our job. Police officials have contemplated for years over the key to maintaining a positive image for their organization. Unfortunately, several incidents in the past years have altered society's perception of police in some communities. Police in America are no longer strangers to innovation born of scandal.
The Political Era of policing occurred in the early 1800’s and lasted until the 1930’s, and was under the direct influence of the local government and politicians. There were benefits of political influence; police departments began to develop intimate relationships within their communities offering a wide array of services to citizens. For example, the police worked soup kitchens and provided temporary housing for immigrants searching for work (Peak, 2015). In addition to providing an array of services to the community, officers were integrated into neighborhoods, which helped to prevent and contain riots. Typically, officers were assigned to neighborhoods where they lived or had the same ethnic background. Police departments
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.
A critical examination of police departments across the United States would show that while law enforcement agencies do common work, few agencies utilize the identical same strategy to tackle crime and disorder problems within their communities. Many agencies still deploy a traditional response model to address routine and emergency calls for service. The response model places a high emphasis on fast response times to calls for service and effective investigations which result in arrest and prosecution. However, more and more agencies are implementing variations of new strategies to deal with crime and disorder issues within their jurisdictions. Some of these newer strategies include community-policing, hot-spot policing and
Both of these articles were focused on the Strategy of Policing, but the author’s approaches to the ‘hot topics,’ couldn’t be more difficult. Williams and Murphy focused on the different eras of policing, and how the racial conflicts have overlapped policing efforts. Whereas, Kelling and Moore focused on how police have evolved with the eras. The articles were dramatically different, however, the policing eras: Political, Reform, and Community Orientated eras were influenced largely as the main focuses for each academic article.
Describe the various "styles of policing" discussed in this chapter. Which do you think are the most popular today? Which do you think are the most effective? Due Date March 11, 2005
The New Zealand Police is the lead agency responsible for helping the community to decrease or reduce crime, corruption and improve the responsibility of safety and protection in New Zealand. There is a need to make changes to the police culture in order to improve the performance of their organisation. However there are three fundamental errors that need to be addressed which will be discussed in this essay. Firstly, there is a lack of an established sense of urgency which has the potential to jeopardize the future of the organization. Secondly is, not creating a powerful enough guiding coalition which means there is a lack of communication which resulted in an absence of leadership and teamwork from frontline staff to national headquarters. Finally, an undercommunicating the vision by a factor of ten that organisation leader needs to communicate visions and strategies. These three errors are relevant as they are pivotal in the implementation of a managing change programme. Recommendations are also provided to improve on how the New Zealand Police can be enhanced within a management perspective.
Ever since the beginning of mankind, there have been those who pursue a more felonious lifestyle. Those who seek to obtain something from nothing, not by the sweat of their own brow, but by the labor and hard work of others. People who scheme, lie, cheat, steal, and even kill to take what does not belong to them. If left alone, the actions of these individuals and the results reaped would spread across the world like a deadly cancer with no hope of a cure or relieving treatment. Fortunately, such a force of opposition exists in the world today. The police have and will continue to combat those who intend to unrightfully and criminally take from or hurt others. Police signify safety, peace, and order and without
Police is one of the significant departments that protects the citizens, enforces laws, catches the criminals, and diminishes crimes. Throughout the history, governments have developed the police power, and they have increased the amount of departments in each cities. Policing in the United States also has changed through the eras, Political (1840s-1920s), Professional (1930s-1970s), and Community (1970-Present) eras. And each of these eras have its own aspects on the way of its legitimacy, function, organization, relationship, demand, tactics, and outcomes.
In my community policing appears to be the surface focus. In judging the value of police strategies in keeping crime intact, however one should not be misled by the eloquence or merely expressed allegiance to the goal one must keep one 's eye out for the effectiveness of achieving the goal. Crime fighters rely mostly on three factors which are the motorized patrol, fast response to calls and investigation of crimes. Over the past years police responsiveness has been intensified by connecting police to citizens by radios, matching police officers schedules and location.
Technology is modifying the way police departments function. It is crucial for law enforcement agencies to stay up-to-date with continuing technological evolutions. In this essay, I will identify four trends in technology as they relate to police operations. I will describe the future police operation models of the four trends in technology that I have chosen. I will describe in detail the impact that the use of these technology items has on law enforcement agencies and the public.