Is Merger Of Police Forces Desirable And Or Inevitable?

It is without a doubt that any police department should grow to meet the needs of their constituents. In some cases the number of police officers should not exceed the number per capita of citizens, or this rule may back fire. By this I mean if the number of citizens in any given part of a city or county outweighs the number of allowed police officers, the officer may end up with a work load much greater than he or she can handle and therefore end up either transferring to another law enforcement agency or quitting the force all together because the job is getting stressful.

There are many factors that contribute to today’s American policing. Once such factor that contribute tremendously to today’s policing came in 1829 when Sir Robert Peel’s concept of policing came into effect. This would change the way policing would be performed in not only England, but the United States (U.S) and around the world. Another huge factor that impacts policing is the relationship the U.S. Government has with policing. These factors affect every policing organization in the U.S.

communities in order to achieve goals and avoid conflicts. Racism, discrimination, and miscommunication have been the cause of countless police/immigrant community confrontations, and that in return diminishes the chances of recruiting Asian-American candidates towards a career in law enforcement.

This essay will introduce two competing perspectives of policing, they are the orthodox and revisionist perspectives. This essay will then relate the orthodox and revisionist perspectives to the themes of lack of structure, industrialisation and finally hostility. It will then discuss whether the creation of the Metropolitan Police by Sir Robert Peel in 1829 was an effective solution to the changes within society as well as the challenges brought about through crime and disorder. The orthodox view is that the Metropolitan Police were, in fact, a rational decision made to adapt to the needs of the society. They argue that the establishment of the ‘new’ police was inevitable. The revisionist view would state that the ‘new’ police were not a rational decision. They believed that crime and disorder were not increasing, it was just that the ways of counting crime were largely different to previously. The revisionists also believe that the new system was in part beneficial for which to tackle issues that may have occasioned due to the new ‘dangerous class’ (Monkkonen, 1981, p147). In this essay, there will be reference made to the Brixton Riots in 1981 with a clear explanation as to how the orthodox and revisionist perspectives relate to modern policing activities.

Sir Robert Peel’s London Metropolitan Police Act and his principles of policing have helped modern day policing in many ways. By gaining the public’s trust, enabling them to call local law enforcement when help is needed,

First, between 1890 and 1930, the management of the police force was centralized. Virtually every decision had to go to the top for approval, with the goal of limiting the low-level officer’s exposure to temptation. To reinforce the hierarchy, specialized units were created to deal with such problems as drugs, youth, guns, and gangs. As Bratton described it, [The department] was divided into little fiefdoms, and some bureau chiefs didn’t even talk to each other…. Each bureau was like a silo: Information entered at the bottom and had to be delivered up the chain of command from one level to another until it reached the chief’s office.

It is without a doubt that any police department should grow to meet the needs of their constituents. In some cases the number of police officers should not exceed the number per capita of citizens, or this rule may back fire. By this I mean if the number of citizens in any given part of a city or county outweighs the number of allowed police officers, the officer may end up with a work load much greater than he or she can handle and therefore end up either transferring to another law enforcement agency or quitting the force all together because the job is getting stressful.

There are a few key similarities in policing within the United Kingdom and the United States. One of the major similarities include the administrative structure of both. Both countries assign officers/constables with areas of responsibility, some of which include specialized units (Rowland, n.d. & Potter, n.d.). These two countries are also classified as decentralized police organizations and which allows police to be closer to the community they serve and tailor to the specific needs of those people living and/or working within the community (Police, 2017). Policing styles in each country are considered to be professional organizations (Rowland, n.d. & Potter, n.d.).

In all honesty, I have never put too much thought in the idea of police forces consolidating because I never thought it was as big of an issue as it as. I was very intrigued with what I found on the internet. The first being the number of state and local-enforcement agencies that have already undergone the consolidation transition. Out of 18,000 agencies in the United States, 150 have made the change. It seems that towns and cities across the nation are all for the consolidation. Even though consolidation seems like a good idea at first, I found it to have the same recurring problem, budget inefficiently. With the many different cases I viewed online, I have found that the once estimated cost in the beginning, will double and sometimes triple

Which has encouraged the representation of a police subculture which glorifies crime fighting (Dick, 2005). There is a belief that individuals who are considered to be more authoritarian are more likely to apply for a career in policing, and these individuals are more prone to violence (Belur, 2009). Police routinely over-use coercive authority when they are encouraged to maintain a purpose of fighting the war against crime (Skolnick and Fyfe, 1993). This can further encourage other officers to believe that using force against criminals is a desirable method of controlling crime (Belur, 2009). However the United Kingdom is a country that does not condone any killing of its members, therefore the issue of police killing being deemed as legal creates friction between the public and police (McCulloch, 1989).

The dictionary definition of the police is “the organized civil force of a state, concerned with maintenance of law and order, the detection and prevention of crime, etc,” (Collins English Dictionary, 2002). This definition states the minimum of what the police actually do. Providing support for families, protecting society from criminals and responding to calls 24 hours a day 7 days a week are just some of the other roles that police have to deal with. In this essay the evolution of the police will be discussed as well as how the police are facing challenges.

Coser (1956) and Crank (2004) believe that solidarity is a product of conflict that exists between police officials and the ‘outside world’, because the officers view other groups with resentment and hostility. This conflict exists because of how the public (i.e., normal citizens, the media, courts, politicians and top ranking police officials) judge and question the manner in which the police use tactics of policing (such as the use of force) and how they conduct their day-to-day work. Central to the police culture theme of solidarity is the sense of loyalty amongst its members. Kingshott, Bailey and Wolfe (2007:page???) point out that loyalty can be misused “when a blue wall of silence protects police officers who disobey the rules.” According

Through my studies, I hope to broaden my knowledge around crime control methods by familiarising myself on leading criminological theories that are currently being used by the police. I hope that it will assist me in developing crime control methods within the department that I am currently working in. I would also like to know how criminological theories are applied in the operational police context. Politics has influenced the police force since its conception. I want to understand how the police have been changed and continue to be changed by politics, by exploring constitutional positioning of the police in the UK.

According to estimates there are about 52 police in the UK on the responsibilities and size varies. Most British police comes under the administration of the Home Ministry,

The relationship between public and private police has always been a one that is on the outskirts of each other. There is a thin line between what a private officer can and cannot do when it comes to enforcing the laws and rules on a property, there comes a point where they need the assistance of public officers who have the training and legal authority to handle a certain individual or situation. Although many of the individuals in the private sector have the same training as any public officer they cannot help in the situation because local laws set in place limit their authority. Although many states are starting to incorporate the private sector of security with the public side of it,