This paper explores the emerging trends and issues in police management driven by globalization, with a focus on Canadian law enforcement. It traces the shift from the monopoly of public policing to a more diverse, post-modern governance model, then examines the specific challenges globalization poses for law enforcement managers: computer-based crimes, transnational organized crime, increased crime organization, human trafficking, identity theft, knowledge and information crimes, rising crime rates, and the broader negative societal impacts of crime. The paper concludes by detailing the strategic responses adopted by Canadian law enforcement agencies, including new legislation, intelligence-led policing, integrated cross-border operations, community policing models, and cooperation agreements with European police forces.
Throughout history, police management has experienced numerous changes driven by significant shifts in society. Emerging trends have contributed to the development of new policing governance, which has had considerable implications for police management. Towards the end of the 20th century, governmental police reforms contributed to what some described as an end to public policing — a claim regarded as extrapolated to a certain extreme. However, in light of recent changes, it is evident that public policing has not come to an end; rather, the monopoly of public policing has ended. As a result, the dominance of public policing that characterized the 19th and 20th centuries is no longer a feature of the modern era. The emerging diverse totality of public policing instead reflects the so-called post-modern period.
Nonetheless, the new public policing governance can be considered a transitional and embryonic consequence of conflicting pressures whose forms are yet to fully develop. The emergence of new policing governance has become more prevalent in recent years to an extent that it is seemingly difficult to predict the future of police management (Cope, Leishman & Starie, 1997, p. 457). The emergence of new public policing is one of the most outstanding global trends in public administration. While its spread in Western governments has been uneven, the development of new public management has been a major form of restructuring. Among the other significant emerging trends in police management is the impact of globalization on law enforcement managers.
Generally, globalization reflects the ongoing interdependence of global society, incorporating the significant regionalization or globalization of activities previously managed within a single-country context. Through globalization, states and societies have not only promoted increased interconnectedness but have also facilitated greater interdependence. Ongoing globalization may result in either uniformity or diversity based on local, national, and regional situations. Since globalization has contributed to the development of a global marketplace, states have been forced to restructure themselves and their societies in order to remain competitive.
One of the major changes brought about by globalization is police management reform, a significant aspect of law enforcement. These new police reforms have in turn contributed to the emergence of a new policing order. These trends have been witnessed across wider developments in law enforcement, including centralization, decentralization, and privatization, all of which shape governance. The restructuring of policing has therefore incorporated both centralization and decentralization. Consequently, police exercise superior managerial and operational self-sufficiency within an ever-increasing centralized policy and financial framework. Policing is increasingly centralized through steering while being continually decentralized through rowing.
In relation to crime, advancements in telecommunications driven by globalization have contributed to the growing irrelevance of national borders (Predicting Crime, 2012). This is primarily because of factors associated with increased globalization such as global trade, immigration, travel, and technological advancements. The irrelevance of national borders with regard to crime is evident in the fact that the Internet has become a major vehicle for transnational crimes. The development and widespread use of the Internet has allowed criminals from various countries to coordinate with relative ease by overcoming geographical restrictions. As a result, many offenses can be carried out without the perpetrator ever having entered the jurisdiction where the offense took place.
The ever-increasing volumes of trade will continue to multiply opportunities for organized crime and smuggling while lessening the risks involved in such activities. Therefore, the globalization of commerce and markets can be considered one of the major factors driving change and influencing the criminal environment. This is primarily because globalization has enhanced opportunities for transnational crime groups and sophisticated criminals. Moreover, crimes related to illegal immigration — especially migrant smuggling — will continue to increase because of significant growth in global migration. This crime will also be fueled by the ongoing desire and ability for both domestic and international mobility of people, families, and social groupings. Generally, transnational crime groups are also expected to continue capitalizing on the inherently local and national nature of law enforcement.
In light of increased globalization, one of the most important aspects of an evolving legal and domestic culture is linked to front-line social control. In the Canadian law enforcement context, public police have played a crucial role in civil order and the character of Canadian society. Canadian law enforcement and public police have served as an integral policy instrument of national development and an important arm of the state, beyond the evident functions of crime control (Forcese, 2002, p. 5). Canadian law enforcement has also served to represent the legitimacy and impersonality of the justice system — serving practical and symbolic functions that have contributed to legitimating impersonal law.
Generally, Canadian police have been contracted and regulated by senior governments, bound by regulation and contract, and have acted as representatives of the nation. The initial model of Canadian policing had its origins in the colonial police model, which served as a direct agent of the federal state. However, the policing model in the country has continued to evolve in order to cope with the numerous changes in Canadian society. Throughout the nation's history, the Canadian population has changed tremendously, becoming progressively more heterogeneous. These changes included massive European immigration and significant trans-border migration to and from the United States.
During this period, the legislative mandate of the federal parliament and provincial legislatures was represented and enforced by police officers, particularly in the course of population mobility such as the settlement of the North and West regions of the country. Police forces were used to represent and enforce federal authority because police presence in society brought control, sovereignty, and a fixed legal ethic. As a result, police intervention was an expression and reflection of the rational and formal application of state bureaucracy. The police forces contributed to the achievement of direct control and a culture of order and rule of law. This in turn enabled the country to experience controlled settlement and social development unlike the model in the United States, achieved in part through explicitly accepting and restricting the nature and conduct of deviance and crime.
"Eight distinct crime challenges from globalization"
"Seven strategic responses to globalization-driven crime"
The law enforcement agencies, personnel, and managers have experienced numerous challenges because of increased globalization, which has provided criminals with new opportunities to develop and carry out new forms of crime. Some of the major challenges include increased organization of crime, rising crime rates, and the huge negative impacts of crime on society and the economy. As Canadian police agencies have been affected by these developments, they have responded by adopting new strategies, tools, legislation, and collaborative frameworks — ranging from intelligence-led policing and community engagement models to international cooperation agreements — in order to address the evolving criminal landscape of the 21st century.
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