The Evolution of Policing in the UK Essay

According to Pollock (2017) there are three policing styles. They are legalistic style, the watchman style, and the caretaker style. These styles describe the discretion of the typologies pf police. The legalistic style is described as discretionary enforcement, objectively enforcing without exceptions. The watchman style of policing describes the police that defines the situations as threatening or serious depending on the group or individuals then acts accordingly.

The watchman style function is to place an importance on maintaining order through informal police “intervention” and relies on threats or persuasion to resolve disputes. This style of policing is normally found in rural areas and blue- collar communities with a diverse population. Officers in a watchman style agency exercise a liberal amount of discretion to keep the order. In other words, certain crimes go unnoticed based on the seriousness of the offense.

This movement called for reform across a wide range of social problems. This reform included a change in corruption of police agencies. The reform led to the era of Professionalism which focused on crime control and a more centralized police department (Bond, 2016). The police’s relationship with the community shifted from intimate too distant in efforts to create a professional environment. Communities began to negatively change there perspectives on the police.

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.

Policing today consists of three eras. These three eras have adapted and built off one another through history (Parr, 2014). The first era started around 1840 to 1930, and is known as the Political Era. The second Era is known as the Reform Era and lasted from 1930 to 1970. The last era is called the Community-Problem Solving Era and is still being adapted and used today. The Political Era emphasizes on meeting the needs of politicians. The police were given power through the local government and the community had very little say in what happened. The police and politicians worked together to control the city and neighborhoods (Palmiotto, 2000). This was often referred to as a ward. The ward politician controlled all the police in their neighborhood. The police officers tasks included not only crime prevention and order but a lot of social service activities that involved their neighborhoods. The officers resembled the ethnic backgrounds of the neighborhoods they lived and worked in and performed their patrols gaining trust from their community (Palmiotto, 2000). This allowed positive integration of police officers leading to more public service, and the trust of the officers to stop crime when is starts.

Policing and the way they operate are truly similar as if they are hand in hand with one another. In order for operations to run smoothly and the department to be functioning as one there has to be proper training and care from the supervisors, administrators and from everyone who works together to understand that they’re a team. Everyone in the police department has to work together instead of against one another just to make sure everyone is doing their jobs by the books with no room for errors.

Policing has come a long way since the London Metropolitan Police. In the mid-1800 's policing was more about crime prevention and use of force was a rare last ditch effort to gain compliance from a suspect ( White p. 69-69 ) New technologies have changed policing from an informal neighborhood watch to a sophisticated organization.

Policing History and Function Law enforcement officers are primarily responsible for detecting and preventing crimes within the state. Their purpose is to safeguard public order; however, due to the arduous history and sometimes troubling present-day policing that has occurred in America, numerous people have negative attitudes toward police. Despite the various attitudes toward police, it is important to observe the growth of law enforcement by examining the history, laws, and functions of police in today’s society. The History of Policing in America to Present day To understand how policing has progressed and changed over time, it is important to examine the history of policing.

Since the founding of this country, to the wild west, and up to the present, the agenda of the policing bodies have been clear: to uphold and enforce the laws of our society. Of course the way they do this today had undergone changes from the first police forces of early America, law enforcement has seen trends come and go.

As the crime rates began to escalate it called for reform and a better police force. Moreover, police departments began replacing watch systems. Professionalism in policing began to emerge. The move towards professionalism included advanced technology, automobiles, and many policies and practices. Those professional standards created still have an impact on today’s policing profession.

It has been made abundantly clear in the Victorian police blue form that the existent operating model is battling to prosper with the evolving demands upon it and to meet the wider communities’ expectations. In its current form the model will fail to meet the expected augmentation and sequences of demand in the coming years. Precipitately increasing demand is motivated by extensive social, economic and environmental trends. There are various factors leading to the need for change in the way Victorian police operate. A major factor is the rapid change in technology.

Our police started out as a part of the British law enforcement system, which was used to control convicts. Police used to operate under British law, however as our country evolved and through events such as the gold rush, the police force had to change to accommodate for the changed in the country. Since the Queensland Police Force began operating under its own legislation on January 1, 1864, with only 143 employees, much has changed to bring us the police force we have now. Not only have the advances in technology increased the ability that police officers have to keep us safe, but also the many changes in the views of our society have created a diverse police force. The police play an integral role

As we learned in previous chapters of the textbook police departments have gone* through several different eras of policing the earliest time of policing the political era to the most current community policing; each of these eras of policing gravitated towards different policies regarding to diminishing crime. During the 1820s police departments followed the traditional approach to policing which was refection of a military model. The Quasi-military name derives from how police departments mimic the hierarchy structure and organization style from the military.

About one hundred and eighty six years ago modern law enforcement begun with the London Metropolitan Police district in 1829. With the creation of this new force, the British hoped to target the increasing rate of crime. Factors in this are the urban growth, unchecked immigration, increasing poverty level, radical political groups, and unsupervised juveniles. A perfect example for traditional American policing derives from principles created by the first chief of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Robert Peel. The said principles include proper training of officers, a thorough recruitment process, police headquarters that the public could access and using statistics to determine if the police are making a change in crime. (CPLLH)

The history of the Police takes us back to England, according to an article "The History of Modern Policing" by Timothy Roufa updated February 2, 2017. Citizens were responsible for maintaining law and order. People who served as constables and justice of the peace were often not paid since they volunteered. Full-time sheriff's responsibility was to keep an eye to law enforcement activities. These early roles made a significant impact to the history of the police. In the early 1700's and early 1800's in the United States and England the population increased its lead to civil unrest and riots, it was clear they needed professional form of law enforcement that will be authorized by the government. Philosopher Jeremy Bentham began to call the