Examples Of Role Conflict In Law Enforcement

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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

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