The Three Eras of Policing - Essay Sample

Introduction

Policing is a complex, difficult and dynamic career that always evolves springing up hard lessons that inspire what authorities ought to know about what works and that which does not. It is a phenomenon in progress and continues to advance the balance between guarding human rights and privileges enshrined in the constitution, maintaining law and order while protecting and serving (Bond, 2016). As we know it today, policing has developed from continuous political activities, social and economic forces. Policing in America has been split into three major areas namely the Reform era, Political era and the community-based problem-solving era. Community policing is the most current era as a lot continues to change in our society. Most of the modern -western democracies are mainly based on Sir Roberts Peel's Police Force, which was founded in 1829.

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During the political era, police departments were established by the Local Government and controlled by their agencies. The State and Federal governments did not interfere much as controlling role was left to the local government. The police did much more than hunting criminals as they involved in finding shelter for the homeless, assist immigrants in securing jobs and establishing new relations with the indigenous citizens. However, the political regime was corrupt and used police officers to harass, intimidate, belittle as well as commit criminal acts against their political opponents, unpopular indigenous elements as well as immigrants who did not toe to their line. During this time there very poor accountability and oversight and emerged a lot of chaos when dealing with crime. Patrols were conducted by bicycles and in some situations by foot. Due to the use of iron fist approaches and prohibitions, organized crime became widespread as a way of reiterating to police activities. President Herbert Hoover commissioned the Wickersham inquiry in 1929 monitor police activities, the commission's report gave birth to the reform era in police matters (Walker, 2013).

In the reform era, policing was more centralized and social distance between the citizens and the police largely increased. The technology was adopted; there was the introduction of patrol cars and the introduction of the two-way radio calls which helped organize the officers more efficiently. Patrols responded to the alarms raised by the citizenry in times of distress. However, the introduction of the new technology and patrol cars created a barrier between the communities and the police. Police concentrated and dealt more with crime with the community challenges left in the hands of the local government and community-based agencies (National Institute of Justice, 2018). More notably, policing became more of a profession with better, training, pay and increasingly adopted the use of scientific means in enforcement and crime-cracking.

The community-based era of policing embraces the approach of controlling law-breaking alongside giving community-based services. The police collaborate with local communities to ensure a safe locality by establishing small units of police officers. In this era, the police direct their efforts in reestablishing relations and demonstrate that the officers' cares for the local communities they work for by raising living standards and encourage the society to work collaboratively with the police. However, in some instances, some officers assumed their roles to those of community development neglecting their core mission of maintaining law and order.

Conclusion

After analyzing the three eras, it would be prudent to point out that the reform era impacted greatly to the current policing the American societies are experiencing today. The introduction of technology, patrol cars, and adequate training was important as the police officers established a service rather than force. They can handle sophisticated crimes and other emerging crime such bioterrorism and cyber criminalities. Today, the police handle and solve crimes from an informed point rather the brutality and harassment approaches used during the political era.

References

Bond, M. (2016, January 5). Eras in American Policing. Retrieved April 18, 2018, from Criminology and Criminal Justice: https://andragogytheory.com/2016/01/05/eras-in-american-policing/

National Institute of Justice. (2018). National Institute of Justice Vol. 279

Walker, S. (2013). The engineer as progressive: The Wickersham Commission in the arc of Herbert Hoover's Life and Work. Marquette Law Review, Vol. 96 pg. 1165-1196.