The police in America

Police in America

In the United States the majority of municipal police departments are small, having about 10 or fewer officers; this makes the overall average about 25 sworn officers, not counting the civilian backups. The variation in size comes from larger, urban areas that have hundreds of personnel, campus agencies, and mid-sized urban areas. In addition, size and population of states and major urban areas varies greatly. Most of the scholarly statistics show that the larger the police force in a given area, the lower the violent crime percentage. Crime percentages do not always follow urban demographics, though. There might be more auto theft or drug related crime by percentage in larger urban areas, whereas violent or unpredictable crime statistics might be somewhat standard. Unfortunately, it is not about just a formula of population to crime. Other factors are involved: geographic area, psychographics, dispersion of housing and population. In addition, unfortunate as it may seem, there are not always enough fiscal dollars to adequately staff certain rural areas based on the tax rate and city budget. There might be a generalized formal, about 3.5 police personnel per 1,000 inhabitants, but various other factors influence how effective that might be.

Part 2- Generally, the split in the United States between sworn and non-sworn personnel in police agencies is between 25-35% non-sworn to 65-75% sworn. This trend has increased since the 1990s due to technological improvements, strengthening of support departments (crime prevention, investigation, clerical, information systems, etc.). It also stands to reason that in the larger urban areas there are more officers, but those officers also requiring more support staff. The ratios are skewed a bit after 9/11 and beefing up of Homeland security and other ancillary law enforcement agencies. Civilian agents often serve in dispatch quite effectively, and that position is needed on a national basis. Most all communications duties can be done by non-sworn officers, laboratory work, forensics, analysis, computer forensics, tracking, administrative support, etc. Non-sworn personnel can also work in traffic control, special events, basic accident or crime scene investigation, report taking, and even interviewing.

Part 3 - Most police forces are considered quasi-military organizations. For instance, they wear uniforms, carry ranks, train for and utilize weapons, and operate under a military style (top down) command structure. Instead of a war against a specific enemy, this model shows a war against crime. However, this model can be taken to an extreme, particularly in larger urban areas. Instead of just viewing the task as a war against crime, some police may see that their duties merge into "anything necessary" to combat a host of societal ills -- or the ends justify the means. Because of the type of individuals police officers in mid-to large cities often deal with, they can engender a mind-set of violence and abuse of power. Certainly, the military approach is efficient; the command style authoritarian so it can get quicker results. However, in going with more modern leadership approaches, the servant leadership, or service style might be more appropriate in many areas. This would stress community service; keeping areas safe, but referring as many problems as possible to social agencies, trying for education and partnership, and working to improve society through a more egalitarian approach in which police are integral to the community's entire philosophy.