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 New York cops in 1845. During this time, police dealt with alcoholics, wayward children, thieves and smugglers just like now. It is upheld that police organizations were initiated based on the government's response to the inevitable consequences of urbanization and industrialization. Therefore, policing initiatives were actions taken by the ruling elites to bring under control the working classes and other dangerous as well as submissive individuals. Based on this, the police force is viewed as the repressive arm of the capitalists who fostered and benefited from industrialization.
In line with this, it is ascertained that police forces were formed due to the military's failure to handle civil disorder as was required. Prior to the industrial revolution, riots were common occurrences in London and American cities and often the military failed to take action out of sympathy to the rioters or it took oppressive action; treating the riots as military encounters often with disastrous results. The year 1829 saw the establishment of a formal police organization which led to the enactment of the Metropolitan Police Act. Prior to this, both Britain and America had had ordinary citizens acting as night watchmen, private merchant police, soldiers, as well as slave patrols. Due to this, Sir Robert Peel established basic rules governing the operation of the police popularly referred to as the Peelian Reform. These rules upheld that the police should be organized along military lines and under governmental control. Moreover, Peel argued that police headquarters were to be centrally located and recording keeping a necessary activity.
This method of policing was brought to America. By the mid-1800s, police forces were established in many cities, loosely based upon the Peelian principles. Four theories were used to explain the development of police departments in America. The disorder-control theory suggests that police departments developed in response to a need to suppress mob violence. The crime-control theory suggests that police departments developed in response to increases in criminal activity. The class-control theory suggests that the police were developed as a result of class-based economic exploitation. Finally, urban-dispersion theory maintains that police departments resulted, not from a need, but because other cities had them. These early efforts of policing were plagued by political corruption. Politics were found throughout the police organization. Many individuals became police officers by way of the patronage system (Swanson, Territo, & Taylor, 2011).
It was not until the Progressive Era of the late 1800s and early 1900s that politics began to fade from policing. A bureaucratic model of policing replaced the political emphasis. Efforts were made to reform policing in the twentieth century by having commissions report on the problems in policing. The Chicago Crime Commission, the Wickersham Commission, and the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice were several important investigative bodies that recommended changes. The state police did not develop as rapidly as the municipal police. The Pennsylvania State Police was created in 1905 and became the model for other states to follow. State police agencies did not exist in every state until the 1960s. The federal law enforcement agencies likewise were slow to develop. The Revenue Cutter Service and the U.S. Marshals were created in the late 1700s. The Postal Inspectors and the Secret Service followed in the mid-1800s. The FBI took on its crime-fighting role in the 1930s. Many other federal agencies were in existence by the 1990s.
Chapter 2: Policing Today
The police forces have greatly evolved from the past generation dealing with petty crimes to present force dealing with murderers, rapists as well as white-collar criminals. The ancient police never devoted their time and resources in investigating crimes committed or apprehension of persons alleged to have committed serious crimes (Schmalleger & Worrall, 2010). In these times, there was a clear distinction between patrol and detective work; patrol was carried out by the public police forces while investigative work was in the private domain. Gradually, public police officers became more involved in crime investigation and criminal apprehension to a point whereby the police were referred to as crime-fighters in the later 1960s. This police reformation took place within the context of the reform era in the American government. Therefore, police departments had to specify their functions and gather data to demonstrate...
The police ultimately sought professional status since investigating crime seemed more professional as opposed to dealing with alcoholics, delinquents and prostitutes.
The police administrator truly is in a difficult position and should recognize it as such. In line with this, the society cannot establish what the police are supposed to accomplish and how they should accomplish it (Swanson, Territo, & Taylor, 2011). On the same note, the society restricts the methods available to the police for controlling crime but still expects crime to be controlled. This makes the police officers jobs difficult and to avoid conflict with the society, they should be aware of the society's democratic values and their implications for their jobs. On the other hand, the society is supposed to know that the police are allowed to restrict freedom only so that the freedom of all can be protected and maximized. Nonetheless, the police today are faced with the problem of improving their efficiency while, at the same time, maintaining social norms and values.
Chapter 3: Intelligence, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
Protecting the American people from terrorist threats the department of Homeland Security's founding principle and highest priority. The Department of Homeland Security's counterterrorism responsibilities focus on three goals; preventing terror attacks, preventing unauthorized acquisition, importation, movement, or use of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear materials and capabilities within the United States; and besides, reducing the vulnerability of critical infrastructure and key resources, essential leadership, and major events to terrorist attacks and other hazards (Homeland Security Advisory Council, 2005). The Department of Homeland Security is mandated by the federal government to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce United State's vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do occur. Over the years, the homeland security and other intelligence agencies have been working hand in hand to detect, disrupt, and destroy terrorists and their overseas networks while at the same time protecting the nation from new terrorist attacks.
Several effective collaboration and new partnerships, coupled with new analytic and operational techniques by intelligence community members, have led to more focused intelligence products and provided timely and meaningful warning of terrorists' plans and intentions. Terrorism-related intelligence is derived by collecting, blending, analyzing, and evaluating relevant information from a broad array of sources on a continual basis. In line with this, there is no particular source for terrorism-related information since it comes from a joint-intelligence community effort; federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement authorities; other government agencies and the private sector.
In addition, Homeland Security's production of domestic intelligence has increased substantially over the last few years. The several intelligence reports and products are a representation of the agency's full breadth analytical capabilities (White, 2011). The information provides descriptions of each type of product created by the agency's intelligence enterprise as well as the classification level and instructions on how customers can obtain the products. The Homeland Security provides valuable, actionable intelligence and intelligence-related information by developing systems for the collection, analysis and production of intelligence products for stakeholders.
Chapter 4: Politics and Police Administration
American police chiefs are often appointed, either by a commission, town council or a local chief executive and serve at the pleasure of the appointing body. In such cases, the job of police chief becomes difficult since they are required to hold the position as the top law enforcement officer in the agency and part politician; part administrator, and focal point for problems in the department and in the community as well. The political aspects of police administration frequently lead to problems in effective law enforcement. National policing is a highly controversial and very important aspect of governance, and its relation to politics is both close and complex (Driscoll, 1915). There is a commonly held misconception that any buffer between the police and the political executive has the effect of creating an entirely independent and out of control police force. Due to this, police executives have constantly strived to remove the society's ambivalence between political control over the police and police independence. Inappropriate political interference is thus viewed as pressure on the police and as such the police must be on the lookout for request and demands from political and community interests.
Historically, in cities such as New York and Chicago, appointments to law enforcement positions as well as promotions were based on political patronage (Perry, 2001). Loyalty and allegiance to a politician were far…
