Lecture 4: The Police Role, Function and Effects
Beyond the Simplistic Mythologies: Breadth and Over-Breadth?
Discuss: Common perceptions specific to the police function:
= the police function/role is “omnibus”
A recap of original-intentions: The Peel Tradition of Community Policing
prevention of crime via the preservation of public ‘tranquillity’
Here, public support is key ~ enforcement and catching criminals are explicitly downplayed as evidence of failure.
Discussion: The Peelian Principles
Since the 1990’s police forces had turned away from a ‘community based’ approach toward the ‘crime control model’ ~ currently we have many principles operating in tandem and sometimes at cross-purposes.
The 2000’s Broken Windows, Zero Tolerance (including stop and search) and Community Policing: Effective?
Populist Conceptions of the Police Role: (note: I’ll be circulating the most current Angus Reid data on the public perceptions of policing in Canada for you to look over.)
a) Media representations of policing offer a distorted view of the policing function by highlighting/exaggerating the prevalence of crime
What does the empirical research say?
Outcome: confidence remains relatively high for police as emergency order responders – with a view to public welfare but not necessarily with the capacities to fundamentally ‘cut crime.’
“The craft of good police-work is use the background possibility of legitimate force so skilfully that it never needs to be foregrounded.” Meaning?
Take-away: Popular notions of the police as crime-fighters do not accord with what the police actually do.
6) Final notes on decreasing rates of crime ……
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