Era Of Policing Essay

Introduction Policing has undergone major changes in the past century, policing has transitioned between three different eras during that time; from the political era to the reform era to the current era of community policing. Each of the eras was designed to police what believed the most effective strategy for society at the time. Each of these eras had there positive aspects and there negative aspects. Currently policing is in the community era, where police organizations are experiencing completely foreign problems. The three most important trends and issues policing is experience today are demographic changes, new technology and the changing of societal values. These problems are not new for policing; throughout the eras policing has dealt with varying degree of these problems, however, the degree which these trends and issues are changing are completely foreign. The eras of policing have different ways to address the trends and issues in policing today. To find out which era would better address these trends and issues in policing today, understanding the eras are necessary.
Political Era …show more content…
Foot patrol helped transition to the community era of policing. The citizens still approved of foot patrol by officers, while certain cities wanted more foot patrol available. It was also found the obtaining information from citizens was an effective way to relieve citizens’ fear. The best way to obtain information is by developing a rapport with people. Police departments realizing the distain the public had towards officers during the previous era decided to go to a community-based approach focusing on police officers developing relationships with the community. This entailed trying to gain trust with citizens, therefore, would help the officers be able to police more