American Policing Roles (Dempsey & Forst, 2016) The role of American policing is extremely complicated in today’s society. Throughout the years the role of police have changed immensely and will continue to change to fit the society. “Anyone attempting to construct a workable definition of the police role will typically come away with old images shattered and a new found appreciation for the intricacies of police work” advised by Herman Goldstein (Dempsey & Forst, 2016). There are two major views of the role of the police that exist: crime fighting and order maintenance. The first major view of the role of the police is crime fighting which is the action to reduce the incidence of crime (Oxford, 2016). Although the movies and television
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Today the police struggle with homicide, shootings, robberies, and other violent offenses. Since the mid 19th century, policing has gone through three eras. The Political era of policing was troubled by political influence. The political influences cause the police to be ineffective and relied on foot patrol. Although police provided social services to the community it caused police to lose the order maintenance and the respect of the community. The police had an intimate relationship with communities, bribery was common, and politicians used positions of the police to reward their supporters. This era of policing was known as inefficient due to all the corruption (Lambert, …show more content…
In the 19th century, American police mimicked the “watchman style.” The police ignored small offenses and maintained order through their personal authority rather than by arresting (Galeota, 1968). Today police behave like watchmen by exercising a great deal of discretion and ignoring minor violations. Police particularly handle juveniles and traffic violations with discretion. The watchmen police use persuasion and threats when dealing with disruptive people instead of formal arrests (Dempsey & Forst, 2016). The watchmen style is mostly on order maintenance due to the police department focusing on keeping the peace in the community and discretion (Depth Tutorials,
Today the police struggle with homicide, shootings, robberies, and other violent offenses. Since the mid 19th century, policing has gone through three eras. The Political era of policing was troubled by political influence. The political influences cause the police to be ineffective and relied on foot patrol. Although police provided social services to the community it caused police to lose the order maintenance and the respect of the community. The police had an intimate relationship with communities, bribery was common, and politicians used positions of the police to reward their supporters. This era of policing was known as inefficient due to all the corruption (Lambert, …show more content…
In the 19th century, American police mimicked the “watchman style.” The police ignored small offenses and maintained order through their personal authority rather than by arresting (Galeota, 1968). Today police behave like watchmen by exercising a great deal of discretion and ignoring minor violations. Police particularly handle juveniles and traffic violations with discretion. The watchmen police use persuasion and threats when dealing with disruptive people instead of formal arrests (Dempsey & Forst, 2016). The watchmen style is mostly on order maintenance due to the police department focusing on keeping the peace in the community and discretion (Depth Tutorials,