Reconsidering the Police Role: a Challenge to a Challenge of a Popular Conception (original) (raw)
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The irreplaceable role of the state in policing
The question that this dissertation attempts to answer can be formulated as follows: Is there any irreplaceable role of the state in the deployment of policing? If the answer to that question is affirmative, how can this role best be characterised? The route to answering this, however, is not straightforward. Before analysing what the role of the state in policing should be, it is necessary to shed light on why this question is pertinent. In other words, before inquiry about the role of the state (if any), the current scenario of policing should be described. In order to produce a description, I have chosen the case of England and Wales, for reasons that I explain below. Two caveats, nonetheless, must be made here. First, this is not an empirical work. It is, essentially, a normative work, that is, one whose main concern is how things ought to be, not how they are. In this sense, the arguments sustained in this work are based on a normative position about the role of the state. Second, this normative approach does not mean that empirical data is dismissed. I follow the warning done by sociologist Otwin Marenin, who has advertised that within 'the theoretical structure of critical thought', the actions should be concretely specified (Marenin, 1982, p. 242). The rigorous use of England and Wales case pretends to function as pertinent evidence for the normative statements made in this work. This dissertation is divided into two large sections. The first has a predominantly empirical character. The second is essentially normative. The first section is, in turn, divided in three subsections. The first is dedicated to examine how the establishment of professional police in 1829 in England is best understood if the trajectory of the concept of police power itself is looked at. In the case of the police as institution, it represents a narrowing in the meaning of the broader concept of police power, marking a path from a science concerned with prosperity and happiness to the establishment of a 'technique of security' (Neocleous, 1998). The adoption of this historical approach is convenient, among other reasons, because the 'institutional concept' of police as 'uniformed police' is a remnant of 'the broad 'practical concept of Polizei' (Kenymeyer, 1980, p. 173), or, more briefly, because 'police officers are the police power incarnate' (Sklansky, 2006, p. 110). The second subsection analyses the historical path from 'police' to 'policing', which has been described as a reflection of the historical path from modernity to post modernity (Reiner, 1992, quoted by Newburn, 2001, p. 835).
British Journal of Criminology, 1987
POLICING has moved into the centre of political debate and controversy in Britain in the last twenty years. The time is gone when the police were "like the Royal Family . . . regarded as above politics" (in the words of Leslie Curtis, the current Chairman of the Police Federation). Stimulated by this, there has been an efflorescence of writing and research about the police. Policing has also become a topic which figures increasingly prominently in academic courses in a variety of disciplines: criminology, sociology, politics, law, history.
Shaping the subject of policing, autonomy, regulation and the police constable
1997
National tibrary Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibüographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wdlingtm Street 395. rue Wellington OttawaON K1AON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 canada Canada The author has granted a nonexclusive licence allowing the National Library of Canada to reproduce, loan, distribute or sell copies of this thesis in microform, paper or electronic formats. The author retains ownership of the copyright in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it may be printed or othenirise reproduced without the author's permission. L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive permettant à la Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou vendre des copies de cette thèse sous la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. Ni Ia thèse ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement reproduits sans son autorisation.
Police Practice and Research, 2016
What I have been asked to do today is to reflect, with you, upon the nature of policing and its development. I will do so by relating two stories. The first is a story about the processes by and through which safety is actually produced. The second is an aspirational story about how safety should be produced. As with many aspirational stories, this second story has captured imaginations, and, in doing so, has shaped the way policing has been understood .
The Role, and Functions of Police in A Modern Democratic Dispensation
IJIRT, 2022
This article considers some varieties and supports for a democratic police and briefly contrasts policing. Democratic policing should be viewed as a process and not an outcome. Societies experience a continual tension between the desire for order and liberty. There is a paradox in the fact that a democratic society needs protection both by police and from police. Given the power of new surveillance technologies, democratic societies must continually ask "how efficient do we want police to be and under what conditions is the use of these technologies appropriate. Policeman's function is in activities unrelated to crime control or law enforcement. Cumming, el al. (1965) reported that half of the calls for assistance to an urban police department may involve family crisis or other complaints of a personal or inter-personal nature. The policeman's role, unlike many other occupational roles, is ambiguous. The policeman is a friend and a protector. He assures safety on the streets and keeps the peace. You call him when you are in trouble, when your neighbors are making too much noise, or when your cat is caught in a tree. At the same time, the policeman is foe and repressor. He inhibits your freedom, tickets you when you are speeding or illegally parked, comes to your house to quiet you down when your neighbours complain about noise, investigates, and interrogates you when you are suspected of or involved in some illegal activity. There is no accepted systematic theoretical paradigm within which policing is viewed. The role and function of the police in a democratic and modern dispensation are typically assumed, and a measurable facet such as crime control is defined as the scholarly interest. Those viewed as essential policing functions and how they should be performed are products of the theoretical context within which the police are viewed, their perceived political role, and the posited character of the police organization. As a result, there are alternative versions of policing and what it is good for.
Fuzzy Thoughts: The Police and Law-And-Order Politics
The Sociological Review, 1980
T he purpose of tihis paper is to discuss aa importaat development in British and American police forces in recent yearstheir emergence as overtly political. The politidzation of the American police since die mid'i96os has reoeived a fair amount of attention.' But the development of pressure-group acdviity by the British police has not been subject to any sustained analysis.Ŵ hat must be seen as new is overt political activity by police ofiGicers. This is not to suggest that policing could ever be nonpolitical. It is, of course, a revered article of faith of British police tradition that they are and should be separate from politics. Robert Mark, for example, claims for the British police a long tradition of constitutional freedom from political interference in our operational role. Notwithstanding the heavy responsibilities for the policing of England and Wales given to the Home Secretary by the 1964 Police Act, it is important for you to understand that the police are not servants of government at any level. We do not act at the behest of a minister or any political party, not even the party in government We act on behalf of the people as a whole and the powers we exercise cannot be restricted or widened by anyone save Parliament alone.'
The Universality of the Police Culture
Acta Criminologica-The South African …, 2004
1NT1l0DUCTlQN rolice culm..., I~ Atopic \hid hloI; ~;"e" its fair share of alle-nliUfl a"d KMiny. The official ,,"lIelng imtitvtion in SouttI '" fHca.lhe (fomter) South A fric.n PoUOI! (Force) (SAP). which was .... cowally renamed as the Soulh Amean PoIiee Service (SAPS). posed I specific topic of I~ in the rt!QCtIl pNl and specifi~J)' IN d~i"8 the penods of ITWlSlrion and Onnocratisatioll, South AfrI~'s IIpIlftht:id h:""".,. (nw::W ~galion and Qpp<esIIlon) made the situation In Sovth Africa ~ptional In terms of tltt Sourh Altical! Police 's inrtrurnmuIliry I .. m1'orclng ~ h'...... . Willi the launch of SvIlU, Africa into .. denl()o;ntj(: d ispcnsalion in 18l\uuy 1990, then Slate l"JeJidmt F. w. do KJerk lII'&ed tllII puli.:e lcaoknhip &0 removelhemKl,,¢s trom the political arena, u"we do nol want you 8I\)'lT>Of1: a.~ instrum1:nu 10 reach cer1ail! political iloals" (t\'hh,nbJa 1992). The libuse of the South Afrk:an Police as an OCCUp3liOllai ftnee during the apllrtheid era mil)' ~ um against the backgound oflhcsolldarlty ofcerlaill components of rho AfiikaDeT c,.;tremi.m... SchI)n~ich (200): I) ",enliOns that ~ ... Afrikaner nallnnllll5ts believe<! thAl the only way 10 ptU\o;C\ Ihe starus and identity of the AfriUner, and 10 prevent the UOUP lionl being dominlkd by othCl' ethnic groups Of 1'lIoCeS, was TO cxerci!le JIOweI: lhl'OU¥h Clf−uo;tcrminllljoninan,thnicallyh<Jl1lOiellOlSterritory».WMoiingtnn(1992)furthermorestatesthat"(T)heAp−.rthc−idpoHl:lesofsU<:l:cS!;ivcNllliomoliitgov"mmt;nUJirw:e19411,builtlipan300year:!orcolaniaJraclClf-uo;tcrminllljon in an ,thnically h<Jl1lOiellO\lS territory ». WMoiingtnn (1992) furthermore states that "(T)he Ap-.rthc-id poHl:les ofsU<:l:cS!;i vc Nllliomoliit gov"mmt;nU Jirw:e 19411, built lipan 300 year:! or colaniaJ raclClf−uo;tcrminllljoninan,thnicallyh<Jl1lOiellOlSterritory».WMoiingtnn(1992)furthermorestatesthat"(T)heAp−.rthc−idpoHl:lesofsU<:l:cS!;ivcNllliomoliitgov"mmt;nUJirw:e19411,builtlipan300year:!orcolaniaJracll1>, B Kklpllott School of CriIIIlo l l ,hstl~ G raDd Valley Sla te Uorv, ... It)' J r-rt,"400 St,hnol...r J uHift (In n ltvte fOf' Crtln .... ka;.k:aI Sdeacq) Univenity of SOadil AtHea etreaivdy disqu;llillc<i 11M IlllIjority populatioo from the .t:;rtu. ofciti,enship. Blatk AfiicaruI ~ted • IhrcRl In Ole while power SIN~ that !he SAP ~~dllty-bou!lIll<J defend". Despite De K ll1k 's IlWvllOMlntionfildireCtivcs .od the chanc, of goals. '"The dominiUlt (thos wIttIln the polioc fore" b {remained) traditlon.llist. coBSCrVative. aod Tnirt.w11<J cl .... g,,". n.. SO<Jth A~ ~ict:, theTefore. ....,rn~inr;:d " "M!tInial" poliCII ron;c: IOCOrdlng to ManUs and ~ (1992) • ....nile the clllnanl ofthl South African Pol~ .... believed to he IIl\lq..e Itld irreGoncilable wiIh • IJI<NI: unlvKSlli C(ln<:Cprinn of police cullU1'C(s). Furthermo....,.. WtKidington (1992), emphasn.ed the inlriclcy of the Sootb AmClln oonlCllt: '"The conklll withiJl",bidl Ute SAP policed South Africa pteSeQted I fllndammtol dilemma: oontaill'", the ;nlMlII pressures akin to:l 'Third WOI"ld CI)WlIry', by methodo occepuble 10 libcnJ democf.eies such as Briuin IlIId North It i, common casc lhln the donllnlllR Sooth Alii,*, historical COIltUI or ooJorlialism remaiM 9ritish imperialism. l'heuMerlyingtWUmpOOn. th~.1s that ptlblk police !lttVi~ (>f F.nglMd lind Wale5 "rerortnCd" themselves, oc were nevcI" polk:e r _ ~Ic 10 those potk.ins the Orimh onIon~. Conlnu'y ill lhe abovementioned views. WCltheritt (1992) ...:kllowledges the ui,tencc of "pOIloc rnalpnocli.;e and .m.s-itive and abrNjw poIicin,r-in both WWllrio:"l.
European Journal of policing Studies EJPS vl 3 Issue 3
This issue of the European Journal of Policing Studies is a mixed issue, combining four very different articles. First of all, Kerry Griffiths (UK) and colleagues report on their systematic literature review (carried out in the framework of an international research project) on knowledge sharing in and between police organisations in Europe. They show that criminal intelligence and technology were at the core of this type of research and discuss the main recommendations that were formulated in these studies. Petter Gottschalk (Norway), in the second paper, focuses on another dimension of policing. He analysed investigation reports by private internal investigators and uses this analysis to discuss four problematic issues: privatization of law enforcement, disclosure, competence and limits of private investigations. Thirdly, Jannie Noppe (Belgium) contributes to the literature on the use of force by police officers. The author reports on her test of an integrative action theory that was carried out by means of a survey among Belgian police officers. This paper discusses the links between the moral support for the use of force and trust or respect for the police, but also between moral support for and the actual use of force. The fourth article, by Sara Stronks (the Netherlands) explores the function of reconciliation in police-citizens relationships. On the basis of interviews, she finds that security and compatibility are important in police-citizens relationships. The author describes how reconciliation can play an important role in relationship maintenance. This issue is concluded by a book review by Sophie Body-Gendrot on ‘Riots and Political Protest’ (Winlow, Hall, Treadwell & Briggs, 2014).