CRJ 310 Draft 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 …show more content…
Reformers wanted to stray away from political influences and believed that policing should be in the control of police executives (Peak, 2015). While the Political era’s goal was social services, the Reform Era began to shift policing to controlling crime. In addition, the police organizations were reorganized through the study of scientific theory of administration advocated by Fredrick Taylor, which led to the development of maximizing police efficiency (Peak, 2015). To improve professionalism within police departments, O.W. Wilson began emulating what J. Edgar Hoover did with the FBI. In 1924, the FBI director began to raise eligibility standards to develop an incorruptible force. As a result, it had a direct influence on local police agencies by placing emphasis on education, training, honesty and professionalism. Professionalism in police departments came about in the form of new Technological advances and a focus on crime fighting. During this period there were three major advances in technology: two-way radio, police cars and the telephone. Unlike the problems faced during the political era, the advent of these technologies changed everything. With two-way radios, supervisors now had the capability to notify patrol officers of calls and maintain accountability. Patrol cars allowed for greater mobility, which led to officers responding to calls more efficiently. Then telephones allowed for citizens to have a direct line to the police and were encouraged to call for any problem. However, while the advances in technology greatly increased police efficiency, it had unexpected consequences. In contrast, during the political era, officers patrolled on foot, which allowed them to engage citizens and develop a relationship within the community. With the use of police cars, officers no
The population grew and ‘breakdown in law and order marched in step with the industrial revolution’ (Critchley, 1978: 21). The industrial revolution meant technological progression, better education and an increase in capital stock. As a result, the population grew, with more new people moving into the area, meaning there was less informal social control. Due to these factors, 1829 saw the introduction of the ‘New Police’ to London, the Metropolitan Police were brought in to solve the issue of crime and disorder. The poor initially feared that the introduction of the Metropolitan police would mean that they would be controlled and oppressed by the powerful to a much larger extent. By the same token, the orthodox view is that the old system was failing and that this was an effective step that had to be taken in order to respond to the diversity of this more cultured society. The working class were content as the New Police looked out for their welfare Melville Lee (1901: xxx) claimed that the New Police were ‘guardians of the weak against the strong […] designed to stand between the powerful and the weak, to prevent oppression, danger and crime’. In contrast, the revisionist view is that the New Police were necessary to cope with the needs of the modern capital class. Although, at first the New Police were treated with great hostility by everyone within society, somewhat
During the Political Era the police departments were typically established and controlled by local government agencies. The Police being ran by the Local Government means that the State and Federal government did not interfere too much. Only well established families or local political groups would get the local elected positions. Police also did a lot more during this time other than fighting the bad guys. The helped run the soup kitchens, find shelter for the homeless, and help immigrants find jobs. The problem with this Era is when corrupt political regimes started using their police powers to harass and belittle, intimidate, and commit crimes against political opponents, immigrants who wouldn’...
During the seventies in New Jersey created a program that could change life in society. This program occurred only in twenty-eight cities. Government and public officials were excited about this concept. Police officials were not so much. Foot patrol made officers walk in sleet and snow. Assigned foot patrol was a way of punishment for officers. State funding of foot patrol shut the mouths of some people. Silence stopped after the “Police Foundation”(Kelling) put foot patrol to the actual test. To contrary belief this rattled some arguments in the community an...
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.
In looking at the Kansas City Patrol Experiment, it appears that adding more police officers has little or no affect on arrests or the crime rate. Please review the study and explain why more police does not mean less crime. Due Date March 11, 2005
In the early 1900’s the Boston police were ranked among the best law enforcement groups in the world. Underneath this reputation of being one of the best in the world, the police department was having some trouble. Most of the police stations were old and deteriorating. An officer would have to many hours a week. The pay for most policemen were very low. While inflation was in much affect the policeman’s salary stayed the same. And the men were promised raises but never saw much more than they had already made. The Boston city policemen were very angry over these iss...
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.
When it comes to the political era, all policing resources had all been derived from the same source, the politicians that were in office at the time. During this era, all police had to function on foot patrol in
(Swanson, Territo and Taylor, p. 2). However, in recent years some major changes have occurred in a shorter time period. Innovations in law enforcement During the past two decades, I have observed major changes in the viewpoint of society towards police officer's as the symbol of trust and dignity, the technological advances of communication and information systems in law enforcement, and the revision of selection and hiring practices for police officers. Organizational change occurs both as a result of internal and external agents (Swanson, Territo and Taylor, p. 664).
During this period, police officials were not just selectively hand-picked by political leaders based on favoritism or status quo as before. The new potential officers were required to pass background checks and partake in civil service examinations before being hired and training expanded with the formation of police academies. Professional and competent police officials was now a goal with strong education placed on learning the penal code and case law and the correct application no matter the individual. Officers who were found to engage in behavior that constitutes bad conduct were now investigated and held accountable. The Chain of command was generally not followed in the past, was now strongly adhered to and higher ranking officials made sure lower level subordinate officers maintained a professional demeanor and appearance at all times. This required officers to keep polished shoes and brass along with neatly trimmed hair and behave in a more structured and commanding military style way. Unlike the political era, this new era held the ideology that police professionals would now keep a detached relationship with the public, much like the military, in efforts to provide an unbiased, objective approach in their duties and application of the law. Playing favorites towards certain individuals or groups and receiving payoffs like their predecessors was strongly discouraged and inexcusable. This era brought about much change to the profession and closely resembled the structure and model of the
Some of the most important historical developments that Beckett (1997) attributed to the politicization of criminal justice practices and policies were beginning with the civil rights movement. There was a tremendous amount of discourse occurring during this time about whether or not African Americans should have the same rights as whites. As well as, the thought that many African Americans were responsible for the increase in crime. Therefore, in the political sector we saw a power struggle between the Democrats and the Republicans. The Republicans wanted to portray the issues that crime and drug use were increasing rapidly due to the way the African Americans were raised.
A common style of police leadership is a more bureaucratic style where the leader manages “by the book”, everything must be done in accordance with pre-written policies and procedures (Cordner & Scarborough, 2010). When a certain problem or concern isn’t covered by the book the leader refers to the next level for a decision. This style removes the ability of the leader to manage and forces a strict accordance to the “book”. This style can be very effective when dealing with dangerous situations which can be a common occurrence in police work.
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.
In the beginning the police were used in order to control free slaves and enforce Jim Crow laws. After that era was over, the police then moved on to control “dangerous classes” which were immigrants, the poor and African Americans .
Throughout the course this semester we have examined numerous issues, policies and procedures that affect the way law enforcement officers behave, carry out their duties and interact with the public at large and segments of the public on a smaller scale. New technological advances are developed to prevent crime and to enhance the performance of law enforcement officers. However we all know very little regarding why and how some advances are accepted, and the penalties of technology drove solutions to the matter of crime. In this essay we will examine new technological advances developed within law enforcement and how they affect the daily performances and routines for the officers working today.