Reference no: EM133454037
Questions:
- Describe characteristics that define the "modern" era of policing.
- Explain how these characteristics have a distinction between historical eras of policing.
- Explain criteria that make modern day law enforcement effective.
- Choose a characteristic or criterion that is different from the one you argued.
- Explain how your colleague's position has changed your perception or understanding.
Case Study: The modern era of policing is characterized by significantly more government involvement, professionalism standards, full-time employees, proactive policing strategies, and police accountability. This accreditation provided more oversight for police departments which meant that they would have to be held to specific standards of professionalism. Further, the accreditation system has provided access to more research for police departments to evaluate the efficacy of their departmental strategies of policing. Standardized education for police officers helped establish professional standards, create requirements for continued education, and respond ethically to people and crime in the community. Through the evaluation of policing strategies, crime statistics analytics, and problem-oriented policing, officers are able to respond proactively to crime (Cox et al., 2017).
Historically, policing was a volunteer position without clearly defined duties or supervision; this started with night watchmen who would help catch criminals in the community. Night watchmen had a higher likelihood of corruption due to their close ties with the community and limited professional standards. While this evolved over time with more militant actions, the political control over policing did not create a standard that held historical police officers accountable for their unlawful acts. As technology evolved and crime trends were researched against societal issues, policing evolved to create a more ethical standardized force (Cox et al., 2017).
The criteria for modern-day law enforcement effectiveness are police accountability, strong community policing relationships, crime statistics and strategies that reflect proactive policing based on those statistics, and officers focused on being proactive within the communities in which they patrol (Cox et al., 2017). Community-oriented policing focuses on the relationship that officers can develop within the communities in which they serve. A strong community tie can create proactive strategies through these relationships. When community members recognize and trust the officers that serve the community, they are more likely to report problems within the community. This provides officers with real-time insight that can lead to increased patrols, proactive response to criminal activity in specific areas, and community resources allocated to areas that are impacted by societal issues that may drive crime, examples being homelessness, high rates of poverty, and drug abuse (Weisburg & Majimundar, 2017. p. 42-44).