Paper Example on the United Kingdom Police Force

I Have Been Watching the Police for 30 Years and I Still Despair. (Graef, 2009). Is this an Accurate and Fair Sentiment to have Concerning the British Police?

In the early and the late years of the 21st and the 20th Centuries, respectively, the United Kingdom Police Force has undergone rapid changes during this period. Nonetheless, in the years before this particular period in question, the studies done by various scholars including Graef have contended that relative tranquility is implied in the years before that. Additionally, in his account, Graef highlights that since the Thatcher years, most of the police related problems have emerged owing to these changes that the force has experienced over the last 30 years. The utilization of excessive force by the law enforcement officers in the United Kingdom merits great concerns, in regard to the great dynamics that continue to exist between the police and the British citizens. Thus, regardless of these domineering changes, Graef contends that he still feels dissatisfied with the current state of the UK police force, citing that some of these inadequacies in the police force can be attributed to the heavy headed treatment of the citizens by the police. Based on the wider area policing which includes the development of the private security context concerning these profound changes experienced by the police force, a good deal of the issues facing the police force has ensued. For this reason, the primary intent of this essay is to address the sentiments highlighted by Graef in relation to the problems that the police force has continued to encounter over the past 30 years.

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Police Issues

Functions

The United Kingdom police force was created in the English Society in the 1800s. Dating back to this time, up until the present day today, the police officers in the British Model of Policing are granted certain powers that enable them to effectively and efficiently execute their duties. Regarding their primary duties, the police in the UK are obliged to protect the life and the property of the public, prevention and the detention of criminals and those committing offenses, and the preservation of peace. For this reason, the officers ensure that they exercise the powers given to them to police with an implicit consent of the public and thus the phrase Policing by consent is used as the legitimate term that describes this. Besides, while on their usual line of duty, the police and the law enforcement agents spend a significant amount of time carrying out other functions which may include terrorism prevention, protection of vulnerable individuals, and also the response to differing emergencies.

Waddington, 2007 highlights that the police are also summoned to be responsible for the situations that are characterized as Anything that ought not to be happening and in which case, someone had better do something now. Additionally, in 2010, the Greater Manchester Police carried out a 24-hour test on Twitter which depicted a graphical and a possible reality on the ground, highlighting that in general, the police are the first resort for the public. This is in the sense that, with more than one-third of the incidents happening among the public, the police are called to every day, being socially-oriented and not related to crime.

Based on the problems highlighted by Graef, some functions of the UK police are in relation to these and other problems that have happened in the police force in the last three decades. To begin with, Graef (2009), contends that some of these problems encountered by the police in these years can be substantially attributed to the fact that the said police officers are not fulfilling the perceived functions. Besides, Graef affirms that there is a broader symbolic function that the UK police are supposed to perform but instead, this is overlooked owing to the fact that the police tend to focus over on a particular function that is based on a social democratic perspective; which is merely the law enforcement function. Arguably, based on the reforms and the changes that are happening in the police force, over the past couple of decades, the police roles have consistently changed, as well. Therefore, the problem of the police neglecting and sidelining the theorized functions on the need to make good relations with the communities that they police, have emerged. Moreover, the said police functions are in relation to the problems that the police force has encountered since the 1980s, based on this very social democratic perspective of the alleged Law enforcement. In this case, the problems ensue based on the fact that the police lean too much on the Law enforcement function, which in turn acts as an ideal setback that makes the police to fail to address critical issues such as crime control inevitably. For this reason, the problems faced by the police force dating from the 1890s to the present day today, have increasingly domineered.

On the contrary, Zedner, (2004) gives a contention that opposes Graef's account of the fact that his observation of the UK police force over the last 30 years still leaves him in despair. Lucia Zedner argues that there are various ways available that can be used to address and perceive the police functions and role. In her account, Zedner highlights the good deeds that the police force has continued to perform and also contends that it is possible to align the security offered by the police with the public interests. In Zedners account, if the public decides to perceive the police force from differing perspectives, then it is possible to oppose Graefs allegation that the functions and the deeds of the police that date back to the 1980s leave him in despair. For instance, Zedner affirms that based on the roles performed by the police force, they should be regarded to as the warriors who emerge victorious in the fights against crime and also the agents that enforce and maintain social discipline. Long before the 1980s, history gives evidence to Zedners account that the police force can be associated with performing good deeds. For example, in the History of the UK police force, various Acts of Parliament, such as the 1737 Act of Parliament that was passed so as to regulate better the Night Watch of the City of London was passed. Precisely, this law was enacted to give the police the role in guarding the City of London each night; a role that they played efficiently. For this reason, and similar to the contention made by Lucia Zedner about the different role of the police, the police can be viewed positively, and as security warriors of the communities that they police.

Public Order Policing and Police use of Force and Problems

In the modern-day today, problems such as the use of force and coercion of the public by police who use force, curb the public order policing. Consequently, controversies relating to the role and the functions of the police have ensued. According to Crawshaw, Cullen & Williamson, (2008), it is due to the use of excessive and unlawful force by the police that breaches of the right to life as well as the gross violation of human rights ensue. Based on this allegation, various controversies have been brought to the attention of the public. For instance, one profound example is the 2009 G20 Summit which accused the police of having violated the rights of the citizens. In this case, the police forcefully and illegally detained innocent civilians who were later released without any charges. Besides, the London riots of 2011 give evidence to the use of force by the police while on their line of duty. Based on this scenario, mass protests were carried out at a local precinct after a police officer had allegedly shot an African American man in North London. Owing to the use of force and police negligence, the protests eventually resulted in riots which spread from London through to Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester and Sanford.

Race and Policing

Regarding the issues relating to treatment that is accorded to the ethnic minority, by the police force, the 1998 Macpherson inquiry alongside the recommendations made all addressed the harsh treatment of the ethnic minority victims by the police. This is an issue that has substantially made a significant contribution to the problems that relate to the functions of the police force. Additionally, this report also highlighted the institutions that had domineering racism in their practices which also involved the cops. This, in essence, gives evidence to the various racial discrimination issues that touch the functionalities of the police and hence contributing to the different problems that are similarly highlighted by Graef.

Police Powers

The UK Police Force has a well-stipulated code of practice that emphasizes the powers that are legally given to the police. Additionally, enshrined in this code is the dos and the don'ts of police and the law enforcement officers. The police are given the powers to stop and search individuals and even suspected vehicles (Bowling & Phillips, 2007). Nevertheless, the police have continually abused these powers and have increasingly used them to undermine and mistreat innocent citizens. With regard to the racial discrimination issues that are substantially in relation to the abuse of power by these police officers, the 1998 Macpherson report helped to address these issues and as a result, brought about civil liberties. Some of the civil rights posed by the Macpherson report were such as; freedom from unwarranted arrest and the freedom of movement (Rowe, 2007). With the liberties in mind, giving the police more powers would deny the citizens of the UK their liberties through arbitrary arrests and imprisonment. The liberties are safeguarded by making it illegal for the law enforcement officers to victimize, harass or discriminate anyone on the basis of gender, disability, age and race among others.

Occupational Culture

Better known as the Cop Culture, the police culture merits great concerns, with several ethnographic types of research substantiating that this culture can be deemed as a pernicious occupational culture. In sociology, an occupational culture can be referred to like a particular means of coping with various routine uncertainties that arise in the course of doing a particular job. Thus, while the police service tries to align changing professional standards with a new reputation as a service as opposed to force, scholars from diverse disciplines have embarked on the re-examination of a police culture together with its impacts on reform efforts (Stenning, 2009). Like any other occupation or profession, the police force is significantly impacted on by its occupational culture. Foster (2005) substantiates that based on the numerous changes and reforms experienced in the police force, it is with no doubt that the persistence of police culture serves as an adverse obstacle to change and reform. In the same vein, Foster argues that it is through the interaction of the various dimensions of the police organizational knowledge and the field of policing that the police culture results.

Reform and Police Politics

Arguably, Graefs despair approach in relation to the nature of the police force with no doubt links the problems of the police with the managerialism dimension. Dating back to the 1980s the police force and its associated politics have undergone a vast range of reforms which have significantly impacted managerialism as an important aspect of the changes experienced in policing. Scholars who are in agreement with this contention have also increasingly argued that, due to the de-subordination of the soci...