Police Work Evolves: Changes in Structure, Leadership, Policy, Culture, and Technology - Essay Sample

Introduction

Since 1960, several changes have occurred in the field of police work, law enforcement agencies have evolved rapidly because of the challenges and threats that they face as they try to deal with insecurity. The profession of policing is responding with several changes in some of the areas like the structure, leadership, policy, culture, and technology.

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Currently, most of the police departments are adopting some of the following changes:

Increase in the Use of Technology

Technology is becoming very critical when it comes to policing since it ensures the security and the safety of the public. It enables the law enforces to be more proactive, and also it creates a means of transparency. Since criminals are also using technology to facilitate crimes, police are, therefore, embracing the technology in order to ensure that they are becoming effective while dealing with these crimes.

Opening up Opportunities for Women in Law Enforcement Agencies

In the early 1960s, women were rarely considered when it comes to the enrollments of the police. A very low percentage of women were serving as police officers. Currently, there is a large number of women in the service, and it has contributed a lot to the security sector. (Lander 2016) According to recent studies, female police officers have been found to be skillful in communication, cooperation with the public, dealing with violence, and conflict resolution. The enrollment of women in the service, therefore, has largely influenced the reduction of crimes.

Embracing Good Leadership Styles

As part of the changes, there has also been the evolution in terms of the styles portrayed since it has been gradually changing. Law enforcement agencies are moving from the previous authoritative style, which had dominated the field for a long time and now embracing the use of inclusive approach, which is empowering them rather than just commanding.

Community-Oriented Policing

Community policing, which started in the year 1994, has been found to be crucial in policing because it involves both the police and the community. Police have to ensure that they build trust and mutual understanding between them and the member of the community. This is essential since it ensures safety in society because of the responsibility taken by the member of the society.

Changes in the Demographics of Police Forces

According to America's police departments, the racial gap has been addressed in the past few years. Although the majority are still whites, most of the police departments are continuously increasing the number of other races in the service. (Hall & Perry,2016) The diversity that has been witnessed in these departments, therefore, has been found to be increasing the credibility, especially in community policing, and hence department are encouraged to continue enrolling other races in the police departments. These changes have been found to be effective due to the fact that the law is always applied the same way regardless of the race of the officer in charge.

The Societal Issues Facing Law Enforcement

One of the societal problems that face law enforcers is cultural diversity. Some of the cultures and norms of the people may not agree totally with the laws of the land, and this has been a big challenge when the police are enforcing the law. Learning the cultures of various people, therefore, has been considered as one of the ways of dealing with this issue because when the police are aware and understand the culture of the people living in their jurisdictions, it becomes easy for them to enforce the law. Another issue is the allegation that some of the police officers act on biases and stereotypes. (Lee, Eck & Corsaro, 2016). In New York city for and many parts of the United States of America, for instance, are expressing a great concern in regards to the overrepresentation of one race and unusual arrest of one race by law enforcement agencies. Another issue is politics. The challenge that the police here face is the issue of narrative that is driven by various parties cornering their opponents. It is giving law enforcement agencies a hard time determining the truth of the narratives, and some of them sometimes lean on one side of a particular political agender. Increasing technology is also a bog challenge. Most of the crimes that are currently committed are related to technology and media.

The Societal Issues Facing Law Enforcement

Police reflect the community they serve when it comes to the level of crime that is witnessed in that community. Since it has been established that mutual respect and a good relationship between the police and the member of the community is essential when it comes to the community policing, then when there is a good relationship between the two parties, crime reduces because police are even able to get information linked to crime from the community and thus help in dealing with those issues.

How have the roles of women and minorities changed over time?

The roles of women and minorities have changed over time; for instance, when it comes to police departments, there is a significant increase in the number of women as well as minorities. The increase in these types of groups of people has led to increased progress when dealing with various crimes. It has also brought a good image in society hence reducing some of the minor crimes that are related to the inferiority and discrimination of other people in most of the civilized societies.

How have the changes made in police work been positive, and how have they been negative?

It has been positive in a way that it has contributed to lowering the rate of crimes since the changes have enabled law enforcement agencies to compact the rate of crime, especially when it comes to the use of technology.

The changes have also been negative in a way that some of the people are arrested unusually due to the unequal application of the law by some of the officers in the police departments. The group that has encountered these types of arrest are usually nonwhites.

How have the changes made in police work been positive, and how have they been negative?

In events whereby suspects are arrested, but when they are taken to a court of law, but they are released due to lack of solid evidence presented, this has prompted law enforcement agencies to come up with some changes that will ensure that when suspects are arrested, they have sufficient evidence that will secure a conviction in courts.

References

Hall, A. V., Hall, E. V., & Perry, J. L. (2016). Black and blue: Exploring racial bias and law enforcement in the killings of unarmed black male civilians. American Psychologist, 71(3), 175.

Lander, I. (2016). Doing the Right Masculinities Right: The Police Force as Gendered Practices 1. In Masculinities in the Criminological Field (pp. 71-88). Routledge.

Lee, Y., Eck, J. E., & Corsaro, N. (2016). Conclusions from the history of research into the effects of police force size on crime-1968 through 2013: A historical systematic review. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 12(3), 431-451.