Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
¶ … Lessons of Police Force
A History of the United States Police Force
The story of the American experience is one of principled laws that reflect the values of our society. Laws establish the boundaries of permissible conduct that guides particular aspects of interactions between individuals. While the military is generally tasked with countering large scale and organized external threats, the modern police force accomplishes the bulk of maintaining order and security at the local level.
The history of the police force demonstrates three primary themes illustrating that its duties are both reactive and proactive, the size and scope of the organization is an adaptation of the local community, and the unique role in upholding justice entails a greater expectation of virtuous conduct. Recognizing the themes that characterize the history of the police force demonstrate that the future will encompass change, yet the guiding principles of the past enhance us with the wisdom to adapt while avoiding previous errors.
From Ad Hoc to Permanent Force
Just as the story of America is one of a nation emerging from a sparsely populated wilderness frontier to a complex, yet organized, society of laws, so too is the evolution of the police force that upholds our customs. British settlers and colonial rule ensured that many systems of the old world were...
The local sheriff represented the nation's first form of law enforcement, and was a direct transplant of Great Britain (Sabeth). Additionally, night watches represented an ad hoc response to ensuring the safety of people and property from intermittent threats. Both the night watches and sheriffs were primarily reactive, and charged with fighting crime as it materialized.
As cities grew from clusters of settled farms and rural villages, so did disruptions and threats to peace, and a need was recognized for a more permanent and proactive response. In 1833, the city of Philadelphia formed the nation's first police department to address both the reactive and proactive needs of large and complex cities (Walker & Katz, 2008).
Reactive to Proactive
The establishment of the first police departments represented a fundamental shift in function, in which the reactive task of fighting crime was no longer the primary objective. The fact that the police force was now responsive 24 hours a day enhanced its capabilities to not only respond after crimes were committed, but the mere public presence of officers served a peace keeping role to deter crime and reinforce local customs. The police force retained the duty to fight crime, however the function was enlarged to encompass "law enforcement."
Enforcing…
Works Cited
Walker, S., & Katz, C.M. (2008). The Police in America: An Introduction (6th Edition). New York, New York: McGraw-HIll.
Answers.com. (2012). Who said that with great power comes great responsibility? Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_said_that_with_great_power_comes_great_responsibility#ixzz26x2sMR5B" target="_blank" REL="NOFOLLOW">http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_said_that_with_great_power_comes_great_responsibility#ixzz26x2sMR5B. Retrieved September 19, 2012, from Answers.com Web site: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_said_that_with_great_power_comes_great_responsibility
Kilgannon, C. (2010, January 22). Serpico on Serpico. Retrieved September 18, 2012, from New York Times Web site: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/nyregion/24serpico.html?pagewanted=all
Sabeth, D. (n.d.). The Evolution of American Policing. Retrieved September 8, 2012, from American Federation of Police & Concerned Citizens: http://www.aphf.org/hist.html
The fact that it is neither arbitrary nor motivated by atavistic animosity in a vacuum distinguishes this type of infringement from those that are absolutely impermissible in principle. Conclusion: In a wider perspective, the issue of police profiling is merely one type of constitutionally impermissible tactics that may require re-evaluation under the exigent circumstances posed by the prospect of continued domestic terrorism. More than one renowned legal authority (Dershowitz 2002) has
Militarization of Police The 21st century has provided in a very short time, major changes to the way society interacts and operates. Governmental structures and institutional principles have also greatly swayed in recent decades. It is apparent that the world is drastically changing and evolving into a new form of culture and society that presents many problems and issues, especially in cases of the law and law enforcement. The law is changing
Police History Analyze the relationship between the U.S. government and the policing organizations throughout the United States. The relationship between the U.S. government and policing organizations is loosely coordinated. This means that local agencies will determine what personnel they hire and how different resources are utilized. In some cases, the various departments work for specific entities such as: colleges / universities or transit departments. Evidence of this can be seen with observations
Police Administration; Structures, Processes, And Behaviors 8th Edition The Evolution of Police Administration Over the centuries, police administration has evolved in several important respects including how police have been organized and what they considered their core strategy for providing value to the communities they serve (Perry, 2001). It is argued that the present police work is not very different from previous police work performed by the London Bobbies in 1829 and the
Police Function The Functions of Policing at the Local, State and Federal Levels The functions of police work are highly complex and filled with myriad unpredictable challenges. Officers must place their safety and their lives at risk every day in the interests of maintaining order, protecting the pubic and apprehending law-breakers. The result is an occupation that is filled with stressors, pressures and dangers. One way that the structure of modern police-work
Policing Policies Analysis This study seeks to strengthen the practice of policing by demonstrating the effectiveness of the problem-oriented policing. The information provided herein is useful to practitioners as it compares problem-oriented policing against community-oriented policing. Practitioners will be able to create much robust policing intervention when addressing real life situations within the field by grasping the theoretical mechanisms (Hess & Orthmann, 2011). In addition, by linking academic theories to policing,