American Policing Roles (Dempsey & Forst, 2016) The role of American policing is extremely complicated in today’s society. Throughout the years the role of police have changed immensely and will continue to change to fit the society. “Anyone attempting to construct a workable definition of the police role will typically come away with old images shattered and a new found appreciation for the intricacies of police work” advised by Herman Goldstein (Dempsey & Forst, 2016). There are two major views of the role of the police that exist: crime fighting and order maintenance. The first major view of the role of the police is crime fighting which is the action to reduce the incidence of crime (Oxford, 2016). Although the movies and television show police engaging in daily gunfights, car chases, and acts of violence it is not reality. Police may not spend the most of their time crime fighting it still is an important role for them. The public only hears of crime fighting because the news emphasizes on this aspect of the job. It is said that police also overemphasize on their role as crime fighters and underplay their responsibility in keeping the peace and providing social services to the community (Dempsey & Forst, 2016). Remembered as the Father of Policing, Sir Robert Peel created the organization of police in 1829. Known today as “Bobbies,” the first organized police units were conceived of the police role as a conspicuous community-oriented patrol aimed more for prevention and deterrence than enforcement (Dempsey & Forst, 2016). The early American settlers brought Peel’s ideas of policing role with them, but with all the constitutional laws the police role extended from maintaining order to enforcing the law. The second major view of the role of police is order maintainers with keeping the peace and offering social services to the community (Dempsey & Forst, 2016). This role of police is the fundamental function of the police. Police need to effectively maintain order throughout society to secure compliance without control it is challenging to maintain social order. Research shows that it is not enough for society to comply with the law, society has to actively aid the efforts of the police to fight crime (Fagan & Tyler, 2004). The cooperation of the community is needed to maintain order. A great example would be Wilson and Kelling’s broken windows theory. The broken windows theory suggests that if a deteriorated community is acceptable without a solution than crime escalate (Dempsey & Forst, 2016). Broken window is based on the theory if nobody cares more crime is feared. This theory has been proven that if the community is cleaned up repeatedly the “riffraff” eventually moves on (Scheider, 2009). Results can be seen in any city in the United States, the communities that are deteriorated are suffering from neglect. These communities that consist of broken windows, abandoned cars, graffiti, and neglected buildings leaves the police in the position of responding to “low-level” calls. “Low-Level” calls
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Today the police struggle with homicide, shootings, robberies, and other violent offenses. Since the mid 19th century, policing has gone through three eras. The Political era of policing was troubled by political influence. The political influences cause the police to be ineffective and relied on foot patrol. Although police provided social services to the community it caused police to lose the order maintenance and the respect of the community. The police had an intimate relationship with communities, bribery was common, and politicians used positions of the police to reward their supporters. This era of policing was known as inefficient due to all the corruption (Lambert, …show more content…
In the 19th century, American police mimicked the “watchman style.” The police ignored small offenses and maintained order through their personal authority rather than by arresting (Galeota, 1968). Today police behave like watchmen by exercising a great deal of discretion and ignoring minor violations. Police particularly handle juveniles and traffic violations with discretion. The watchmen police use persuasion and threats when dealing with disruptive people instead of formal arrests (Dempsey & Forst, 2016). The watchmen style is mostly on order maintenance due to the police department focusing on keeping the peace in the community and discretion (Depth Tutorials,
Today the police struggle with homicide, shootings, robberies, and other violent offenses. Since the mid 19th century, policing has gone through three eras. The Political era of policing was troubled by political influence. The political influences cause the police to be ineffective and relied on foot patrol. Although police provided social services to the community it caused police to lose the order maintenance and the respect of the community. The police had an intimate relationship with communities, bribery was common, and politicians used positions of the police to reward their supporters. This era of policing was known as inefficient due to all the corruption (Lambert, …show more content…
In the 19th century, American police mimicked the “watchman style.” The police ignored small offenses and maintained order through their personal authority rather than by arresting (Galeota, 1968). Today police behave like watchmen by exercising a great deal of discretion and ignoring minor violations. Police particularly handle juveniles and traffic violations with discretion. The watchmen police use persuasion and threats when dealing with disruptive people instead of formal arrests (Dempsey & Forst, 2016). The watchmen style is mostly on order maintenance due to the police department focusing on keeping the peace in the community and discretion (Depth Tutorials,