The Law Enforcement In England And Wales Criminology Essay

The Law En stuffment In England And Wales Criminology Essay natural jurisprudence officers ar perceived as the gatekeepers of the criminal justice system (Mendias Kehoe, 200670). They atomic number 18 in charge in ensuring safety and security of the man, encumbering curses, and apprehending offenders.Law usement in the England and Wales traces its roots back to the consanguineous policing establish in the 1800s to house protection in the communities. This form of policing flourished until increasing threats brought by terrorism compelled the government to action changes in the jurisprudence force in the 1960s. The decades following this transformation gave expression to various concepts aimed at enhancing the t i of jurisprudence service. Today, England and Wales follow a constabulary enforcement style of policing in each of their de modify forces.This paper aims to allow a critical appraisal of the policing style in the England and Wales. The next section of the p aper presents the evolution of the law of nature force. This is followed by a discussion of the different features of the England fair play enforcement. Critical appraisal is presented in the discussion section. Lastly, a conclusion is presented.Law enforcement in England and WalesAccording to Alpert and Dunham (2009), policing in England started as a private force for the elect members of society. Those who goat non afford to hire their own guards deposit on a sh ard and informal form of policing called the kin policing. populate be expected to ensure their own safety, serve as guardians of their own residential atomic number 18a, and bring forrader criminal acts to the court of law. According to Beckley (2007 938), this form of policing was employed until the 1960s when terrorism threats prompted the development of more arrogate policing st esteemgies. The Police Act of 1964 provided for the establishment of more scientific and organized law enforcement to abut the ch anging postulate of the public. Police victorism standards such as the Metropolitan Police Principles and the Association of Chief Police Officers Statement of communal Purpose and Values of 1985 were established. Various innovative changes in the practice of law force followed these developments and continued to this day. disrespect these changes, policing in England and Wales still exhibit some characteristics of its older form as testifyd by the lack of change legal philosophy system. Today, law enforcement in England and Wales consist of 43 individual county police force forces. Having this system implies diversity in policing strategies amidst the different counties (Hawdon, 2008 191). Moore (1992 107) on the different hand observed that despite all this, professional law enforcement remained the main basis of any policing strategy.Features of law enforcement in UK and WalesDas and Verma (2003 190) contend that police organizations are mold by culture, political prior ities, and immediate take of the situations surrounding them. Law enforcement in England and Wales has distinct features that separate it from other police forces in the world.ProfessionalismDas Verma (2003 204) noted that law enforcers in Europe are noted for their professionalism. They are among the best in terms of training and education. Despite this advantage, Moore (1992 110) argued that professionalism in police force is an ambivalent concept. He believes that police professionalism should not only focus on criminal laws but in like manner those laws that protect citizens from whimsical action by government agencies- including the police. Thus, the police officers emphasis on the curse control rather than the law contradicts the essence of their professional duty.Multi-functioningMcGarrell, Freilich, and Chermak (2007 143-4) contend that law enforcement has changed more than any other agency in the public bureaucracy since the 1960s. The authors added that the developmen ts in Englands police force were not only brought by threats of terrorism but similarly by the social and political changes in the past two decades. Police force had to adjust to meet the changing needs of the public. Police officers are not only expected to enforce laws but also to ensure public safety and security, investigate crimes, do job-related familiarity service, control traffic, and respond to publics call for attention (Das Verma, 2003 224).The multitude of tasks expected from the police makes it hard to measure police performance and so result to ambivalent perceptions about the force. Alpert and Dunham (2009) assert that plurality go through conflicting views of the police. They are brave crime fighters and heroes on one hand and corrupt, heartless, and brutal on the other. Public perceptions about the police are often based on selective positive and negative experiences and not on their collective performance.Beckley (2007 939) also noted the lack of centralized police organization like the National Guard or Compagnie Republicaine de Securite in the linked States and France in the UK. This function is decentralised to the various police forces. UK police officers are in charge of community policing tasks as well as specialist police duties. They look at to perform tasks from traffic supervision and community patrol to criminal investigation.Technologically advancedAccording to Swanson, Territo and Taylor (1993), police officers not only need humanity and conceptual skills but also technical skills. They have to be able to use computers analyse evidence apply management principles and perform planning, accounting and budgeting functions. The use of radios, mobile phones and vehicles in patrolling enables police to respond to calls for servicing quickly. Computers made reporting and record keeping more strong and efficient. The advancements in forensic science brought investigations to a different level. However, critics say that the us e of patrol cars instead of foot patrolling limits interaction between the community and police, thus contributing to the degradation of police and community relations.PowerWeisburd and Braga (200613) stressed the polices capability to perform their tasks without public intrusion. Despite the fact that they are established by the government and responsible to the public, they remain independent (Moore, 1992109). Alpert and Dunham (2009) contended that police officers are provided with enormous discretionary power which may not be beneficial to the public. Das and Verma (2003224) argued that the fact that the UN popular Assembly formulated the computer code of Conduct for Police Officials in 1979 attests to the authority of the police and the need to prevent guy and misuse of this power.Reactive policingMoore (1992 112) also recognised the reactive characteristic of policing. Police officers tend to rely on patrols and calls from the public to solve crimes. The advantage of this strategy is that it prevents the police from interfering in private lives of the mass without their consent. This ensures that the participation of the police in the situation is necessary, official and acceptable to the community. However, this strategy is problematic because it implies that a crime has to be committed before action can be taken. While this is an effective law enforcement strategy, it is not a good crime control method. Moore also observed that it cannot be utilised in crimes where in that location are no victims or witnesses or where victims refuse to come forward.Discussion and appraisal of the law enforcement policing found on the discussion provided above, it is apparent that the law enforcement style of policing in England and Wales has advantages and disadvantages. Although police officers in the England are cognize for their professionalism, their tendency to focus on crime prevention rather than law enforcement reflects misguided understanding of their professional duty. As a result, police legitimacy and effectiveness remains problematic. According to Moore (1992 111), there is no reading that policing has delivered in their diverse functions. He noted that there are no positive correlations between patrolling and crime prevention police crime investigations are not always fruitful response systems do not guarantee arrests and criminal punishments do not always result to rehabilitation. This shows that implementation of policies like the UN General Assemblys Code of Conduct for Police Officials and the UNDP Police Act (UNDP Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, 2003) are necessary to ensure police accountability improve efficiency and effectivity and prevent police misuse and abuse of power.The multitude of police functions makes performance evaluation difficult and inconsistent. Beckley (2007 939) noted the absence of specialised duty delegation in the UK police. Police officers are expected to be able to perform duties fro m the community patrolling to crime investigation. While this is advantageous in the overall growth of police officers, it prevents the development of specialised and quality skills that can only be learnt from constant exposure to a specific task. The multiple functions required of the police force prevent them from specializing and optimizing their potential in a given function. They are spread too thin to be efficient and effective.Technological advancements on the other hand have undoubtedly promoted the efficiency and responsiveness of the police force. They are able to provide timely response to citizen calls. However, too much reliance on technology discourages the police to depend on their own resources and hone their skills. By using vehicles instead of foot patrolling, the police loses the opportunity to mingle and join with the people. Some police officers obtain information from the internet and database records instead of going to the field. Investigation and prosecut ion transactions are relying more and more on forensic science to provide evidence. This dishonors if not eliminates the need for people participation in the process. Employment of technology reduces interaction and prevents the creation of a better and more joint relationship between police and the people. As a result, the gap between police and community expands. People are not comfortable dealing with the police and may hesitate to call for assistance or help them in their investigations.Hillyard and Tomlinson (2000 400) believe that police officers have political, legal and financial accountabilities. However, closer inspection of the police force reveals that police officers are only accountable to their professional mandates and not to anyone else (Moore, 1992 116). Despite the introduction of the value for money service in law enforcement under the Thatcher government (Long, 2004), the police force still have the discretion to decide which public concerns are important an d which are not part of the police work. They can refuse assistance if they deem the work to be irrelevant to police functions. This promotes public distrust to the police. Although there is increasing recognition of the need to enforce police accountability, the question about how and to whom they should be made accountable remains.The authority and autonomy given to the police force on the other hand creates dangers on the way police works. While the idea of a law enforcement emancipated from the government is alluring, the unrestrained power it afforded the police can be daunting. The police functions as an objective agency that protects the people from criminals and from the government abuses however, there are beliefs that the people are also susceptible to dangers from the police force itself. Organisations like the UNDP recognize the authority of the police force and how this could result to abuse and misuse of power. There is a need to draw the line between accountability an d authority between policing and coercion and between public safety and citizen liberty. Furthermore, Moore (1992 117) also argued that the lack of political regulation and public control in policing also results to their stagnation. They remain oblivious of the government and citizens views, thus they are limited by their own perceptions and mandates and fail to make appropriate improvements in their services.The UK police force is immediately perceived as an industry rather than an agency. They have become productivity-oriented (high clearance rate, high arrest rate and high productivity) rather than community-oriented. As mentioned earlier, the lack of centralised police agency in the UK gives the police force more authority and responsibility. Their involvement is not only limited to the community but to the entire nation. They have more authority than their counterparts from other countries. They have too much power and too little regulation, thus, the risk of exposure of po lice domination.Reactive policing requires the police to take action after a crime is committed. This ensures that the police are not unlawfully intruding into the lives of the citizens. However, this promotes retrospective instead of preventive action. It relies on victims and witnesses in order to enforce the suitable police action. Also, reactive policing does not ensure the apprehension of the offenders. Thus, this strategy does not help reduce crime.Another issue is the deterioration of relationship between police and the public. Negative issues like police discrimination, aggression, abuse and corruption had resulted to the publics mistrust of law enforcers. This prevents the public from cooperating with police officers in community patrols and crime investigations. They do not believe that helping the police will lead to safer and more secure community. The flow of information to the police is not as strong as it used to be. According to Moore (1992117), some people choose to period quiet than cooperate with the police to avoid retaliation from the violators. This implies not only the peoples lack of trust on the integrity of the police force but also on their capability to protect them.ConclusionThe law enforcement style of policing in the UK and Wales is both favourable and detrimental to the performance and effectivity of policing and the publics perception of the police force. It promotes professionalism of the police force. The various features of policing in England and Wales reflect the governments attempt to improve the police force and meet the changing needs of the public. The integration of various strategies such as reactive policing addresses the concern of involvement and interference. Technological advancements are unified for more efficient, effective, responsive, and up-to-date system. However, the multitude of functions makes performance evaluation problematic. Despite these imperfections, law enforcement style of policing in the UK and Wales is effective as it provides a common backdrop to the various police agencies in the said places.