Future of Policing

Future of Policing

The future of policing is fairly clear in what direction it is heading. It has been slowly reforming to meet the needs of the people, reduce crime, and make policing more efficient. Some of the reforms that will probably take place in the future include, better educated police officers and police managers, consolidation of police departments to save on money and resources, upgraded technology, race and gender equality, better testing techniques to recruit and promote within the department, and improved proactive planning techniques. One of these proactive tools that will surely become more widely used and implemented better is community policing. It has been evolving since its first introduction into the police world and will see more reforms in the future. Compstat should also become more widely used by almost all police departments to make those in charge more accountable and for improved crime mapping.

Current economic and political trends will affect how, and if, certain reforms take place. Some trends like the increased costs for medical services will affect officer’s salaries and benefits, while the growth of inexpensive technology with instant communication through cell phones and personal computers will improve response time and distribution of information quickly and effectively. Changes population demographics, with the increase in the cultural and ethic diversity of the population will create more of need for career equality. This will also be pushed forward by the immigration of more highly educated professionals from third world countries. Increased multinational organized crime activity will create a bigger need for better communication between countries and joint efforts to stop it. Increased concerns with crimes committed by violent juveniles and individuals with modern weapons, terrorism and threats against our infrastructure will also shape the way policing reforms to solve these increased threats. Because of greater concern with terrorism, more resources will be allocated to homeland security. These are resources that could have helped domestic crimes and police management and will have to compensate for. Even smart credit cards, DNA identification and global positioning systems will all help shape the new policing model.

One of the main problems facing most police departments is using cost-eff...

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...epend on them to find the individual or to crack down on the group. A great example of this is in Israel, with fighting militant groups like Hamas. Groups like this receive funds from other countries all around the world that support terrorism. An international police force could more easily gather information on the group and also serve as a barrier between the Israelis and Palestinians. This organization would be much like the United Nations, but instead of politics and an army it would be a world police force that could actually go in and arrest individuals and put them on trial in front of the world.

Finally, the future of policing seems to already be headed in a good direction, focusing on improved communication between departments and with the public. The strong emphasis on community policing will help people feel more comfortable with the police and not as their own society. Some reforms need to be more focused on though, like the international police force, because of recent events like September 11th. Overall policing will seem to remain the same because the transition will be slow and gradually take effect, but it will always be improving in any way that it can.