Policing In America

Community relations also play a major role in the modernization of policing. The interactions among different police departments and communities allow for effective policing. Many of Vollmer’s ideas came from his associates, from police experiences in other countries, and from academic sources. Vollmer recognized the potential of these ideas and unified them into a working whole, using his energy and dedication to set a pattern for police reform that continues to this day.

Are we headed backwards with our policing today? A question I have asked myself frequently while preparing this paper. Of the three eras of policing I will discuss the Community Era and the Political Era. The political era lasted about 90 years, starting from 1840 going through 1930. The purpose during this era was to protect and serve the public in the safest, and most productive way known, kind of like today, but a different style. Let us look at this style resembling todays era. Officers familiarize themselves with the community by the way they patrolled, they did a style by foot, called a beat. While patrolling by foot they did things to give back to the community like taking out garbage, helping to keep the community nice and clean and getting to know the local business owners.

In the early stages of the development of policing in the United States there were a lot of issues, concerns and problems with how police forces functioned through the entire country. All these Issues were noticed and changes within police departments began to take place. Before any changes were implemented American Police Departments fell directly under the influence of each state specific partisan government. Fortunately, America was able to stray away from the corruptions of how police officers were selected into their position because of their political preferences and also, how departments functioned, and other exploitations from law enforcement agencies throughout the country.

One thing I realized after learning about police reform efforts in Chicago was that this process may have started with revolutionary ideas and passion and determination, but truly changing the police infrastructure requires stamina and the willingness to endure countless mistakes and attempt to fix them along the way. The grand idea itself, i.e. justice for those who experienced discrimination and brutality as a result of unjust policing practices, is powerful. Reformers and activists should never forget that. However, as the countless court rulings against the efforts of reformers and the repeated acquittals of policemen have shown, relying on an idea alone is not pragmatic or practical, and it is up to the activists to garner continued interest

Rather than placing much trust and dependence upon police officers to help maintain a sense of order and safety within communities, many younger generations have correlated police officers with the term corrupt. In a nutshell, the flawed behavior of a minority of our nation’s officers has resulted in a perplex domino effect which has profoundly impacted their image to many individuals. Consequently what has emerged is a complex domino effect which has generally triggered irrational behavior in average individuals and subsequent reprimand from law enforcement officials which has unfortunately done little justice to their already notorious reputation.

Every aspect of modern society grew into what we know now as civilized. The American Police organization history and evolution can be explained by detailing the 3 eras of American policing. The Political Era, the Reform Era and the Community Integration Era.

Throughout the years executives from the police department has been trying to find strategies to improve policing in our society. According to the history there are three eras of policing; the political era, the reform era and lastly the problem solving era in which we are in today. The political era began in the early 19th century (1840’s – 1900’s) and was dominated by the local political leaders which opened the door of corruption through politics. During this time the community along with politicians demanded foot patrol as a method to control disorder. In the late 19th and 20th century the reform era took place, the prohibition had a major impact during this era because it led to the organized crime and revolutionary groups to arise and

The late 1800’s and early 1900’s policing in the United States closely resembled the development of policing in England where the act of policing was community-based and informal. It was known as the political era because most police officers worked with politicians who put them into positions of power. Furthermore, the politicians were mostly upper, middle-class Caucasian males who appointed people to be in civil service jobs based on their patronage, political association, and the amount of money they contributed to their political campaign. The officer’s contributions led them to key positions in police departments, and in an effort to keep their political positions, politicians used the police to encourage citizens to vote for them.

After reviewing the facts of the Rixton case study I assessed the primary issues were pertaining to the development of two distinct subcultures in the police department and lack of authority from the city’s police chief. Due to the police chief’s hands-off approach to leadership, officers are unaware of his policies and procedures, and they conducted police functions utilizing their own discretion (Cordner, 2016). Let us examine how the Rixton Police Department’s organizational dysfunction allowed for these actions to occur beginning with their chief of police.

For example, “In the 1920s, led by Berkeley, California police chief, August Vollmer and O.W. Wilson, police began to professionalize, adopt new technologies, and place emphasis on training and professional qualifications of new hires” (“Criminal Justice”, para 32). Still, this process was very slow to develop and even non-existent in some areas. There was also a lack of respect between the police and the community, and agencies were led by highly autocratic leaders. However, in the mid 20th century, advancements in technology had a significant impact on policing. “The result of these new technologies was a complex and contradictory change in police-citizen contacts.

I chose to do this second paper on the militarization of American police departments. This will lend to the thesis Greg and I intend to submit for our final presentation – so we are beginning our research now. As discussed in class, the militarization of police departments is leading American police departments – city or small towns – to act like occupational forces. This is due to several different factors ranging from the availability of weaponry and tanks, to the training of the police departments, to the accessibility of locating crime by advanced surveillance and tracking systems. To further our exploration, Greg and I chose two episodes of the HBO show Vice to watch and elaborate on. For our final presentation we will incorporate these as well as a book Greg has read and some interesting research we will find online. Not only is the militarization of police departments a controversial subject, the consequences of such a transition of our police is detrimental to many. The episode of Vice, and something we are all aware of and have discussed extensively in our courses, reference that the consequences are felt far more severely on the African American population and in low income areas. The two episodes of vice interview several different people about the effects this has on them individually and their communities. These effects, in turn, lead to lack of faith in law enforcement.

True professionalism in policing is viewed as a recognized indicator and predictor of police effectiveness nationwide (Walker, 2011, pp. 122-123). The professional model of policing, as proposed by the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice (1967) and the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals (1973), as well as the National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement (1931), are the cornerstones of the concept of police professionalism today. The movement towards professionalism is to encourage higher standards of selection for police officers, including more formal education and training procedures. Professionalization includes: 1.

Although in attempt to professionalize police, the professional model failed. One factor helped police improve their record in dealing with crime: information (Kelling, Moore, 1988, p. 10). The community policing era came about after information (i.e. official reports, research and social changes) noted that police were poorly trained, led and

In 1922, when August Vollmer was president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, he addressed the annual convention held that year in San Francisco. His address was entitled “Aims and Ideals of the Police.” In this address, he outlined a number of reforms he wanted to see in policing, which included:

During the early days of American law enforcement, there were very few guidelines, or policies in place that governed the police forces (Bohm, 2010). It was not uncommon for police officers to pay for their appointments through political connections, which led to the widespread corruption that was common during this time frame. It was not until the early 1900s that the movement began to reform police departments, and to try and put an end to this corruption. One of these movements was led by August Vollmer.