Policing

Policing
Policing is depicted as a way of crime control, “Policing refers to organized forms of order
maintenance, peace keeping, rule or law enforcement, crime investigation, and other forms of
investigations and information brokering” (Jones and Newburn 1998). The Police Force plays a major
role of crime prevention in our society, as illustrated by Newburn “the role of the police is
concentrated on the maintenance of law and order and the prevention and detection of offences”
(Newburn 2008). Although police plays a major part, and holds more power than that of the other
professionals, they are not the only organization involved in policing.
Principles of policing
The police has a very important role to play in a democratic set up of a government.They must win the
confidence of the public. The principles underlying policing in a free,permissive and participatory
democracy may be summarized as follows
 Rights based policing-such as the police will follow different rules of human rights
organization(human rights commission,UDHR,CRC1974)
 Proportionate use of force-unnecessary force can’t be imposed.
 Protection against torture and upholding dignity.
 Due process law-Every citizen will have due process right.
 The police will involve in community participation
 To contribute towards winning faith of the people
 Facilitate access to justice to all without discrimination
 Secure the rule of law based on the norms of accountability
 Police should be recognizable
 Fairness
Methods of Policing
Problem Oriented Policing
Throughout history, there has been research done to improve the effectiveness of policing. Many
professionals came forth and introduced different concepts in the improvement of policing. The
concept of problem-oriented policing, also know as "POP", was introduced by professor
Herman Goldstein. His concept to policing was based on a pro-active response, rather than the typical
re-active response that was followed for many years. His idea was to examine and analyze recurring
crime and disorder issues that harm communities, in hopes to prevent or deter them in the future. It
takes police a step beyond just handling an incident to finding symptoms that contribute to a certain
crime or problem. Many law enforcement agencies have adopted the problem-oriented policing
concept and studies have proven it to be effective. SARA
As Goldstein's concept spread among law enforcement agencies looking to improve the effectiveness
of policing, the SARA model was developed as a problem-solving method in problem-oriented
policing. SARA stands for scanning, analysis, response, and assessment. (Center for Problem-Oriented
policing) Scanning consists of identifying the recurring problem of concern and identifying the
consequences of the problem for the community & the police. Analysis is learning the problem's
causes, scope, and effects. This consists of identifying data and conditions that precede and
accompany the problem. Response is acting to alleviate the problem, which includes brainstorming for
new interventions, outlining a plan and carrying it out. And last but not least, assessment is
determining whether the response worked. This process consists of obtaining pre and post response
data and analyzing it to determine if the objectives were attained.
How are problems identified and addressed?
Problems are identified by the community as recurring incidents or matters of concern. Problems are
addressed with a four step process known as the SARA Model.
 Scanning: Problems are identified.

 Analysis: Questions are asked to learn everything possible about the problem.

 Response: Based on careful analysis, a custom-made response to the problem is tried.

 Assessment: The response is evaluated to see if the problem was solved or reduced.
Examples of Problem Oriented Policing
 The police, community and City Council worked to attack drug and gang problems in the
Skyline and Meadowbrook community. Those efforts led to an organized community
association, and a reduction in criminal activity.

 A trolley station was the location of gang fights, violent crimes, and narcotic activity. A squad
of officers collected information to show the local transit board that the design of the station
contributed to crime. Based on the careful work of the officers, the board agreed to provide
funds to redesign the station.

 Calls of narcotic activity at an 80-unit apartment complex alerted officers to try a problem
solving approach. Working with residents, the on-site manager, the management company, the
Housing Commission, and other police units, the officers were able to evict problem residen
Traditional Policing:
Within a traditional policing model, the police officer would respond when a call came in that a crime
occurred. Once the officer responded to the crime, the officer would then take a report and hand the
investigation off to a detective. At this point, the officer would go back to his patrol car and wait for
another call to come in that a crime had occurred.
The officer has little interaction with the citizens within a community and can end up responding to
crimes at various points in the city. The officer does not know hardly anyone in the areas where he is
responding nor do the citizens really know the officers.
Also under this type of policing, there is nothing in place to try to prevent crime from occurring. It is
just a supply and demand sort of policing system.
You have seen the police shows were a crime took place and no witnesses are talking. Well in this
police shows this is the type of policing model that is being used.
Problem Solving Policing:
Within this model there is an emphasis on trying and prevent crime from happening. This policing
model has detectives watching for patterns in crimes to help understand when and how crimes are
being committed. Once they have a pattern they will search for waysin which to help prevent crimes
from continuing to happen in those areas
This model has more of a proactive stance than the traditional policing models do. Police shows such
as the Profiler that shows FBI agents looking for a pattern to try to catch a criminal are showing this
form of policing.
Policing styles: Reactive versus proactive policing
The three main patrol functions within traditional reactive policing are routine patrol, immediate
response to calls, and follow-up investigations (Cordner & Sheehan, 1999: 385-394). Reactive
policing can be defined as the police responding to specific requests from individuals or groups in the
community which encompasses "immediate response to calls" and "follow-up investigations".
However, the rationale for routine patrol is not as straightforward. Traditional thinking suggests that
the mere presence of a police vehicle will act as a deterrent to crime (Trojanowicz et al., 2002).
According to Crank (1998), routine or random preventative patrol is by definition reactive policing.
There is no initiative on the part of the officer or the organization to target a specific area or problem
within the geographical patrol district. However, it can also be argued that routine patrol is required in
order to facilitate response in a timely manner to dispatch calls.
In contrast, proactive policing involves the "police, acting on their own initiative, [to] develop
information about crime and strategies for its suppression" (Crank, 1998: 244-245). This can also be
interpreted in a myriad of ways. For example, an officer responding reactively to a dispatched call
could, nonetheless, resolve the issue proactively by mediating between the parties or using informal
action. Similarly, in contrast to routine patrol, directed patrol involves police officers being instructed
to monitor specific areas that are identified through problem or crime analysis when they are not
responding to dispatch calls (McKenna, 1998). Directed patrol is more proactive than random
preventative patrol; however, it still lacks the component of problem oriented policing which engages
the community in resolving crime issues. One American study found that proactive policing resulted
in more arrests, detention and filing of reports than reactive policing (Seagrave, 1997). Possible
reasons suggested were the need for more forceful action to gain "legitimacy and control" as well as
officers having made a decision beforehand which prompted a proactive mobilization (Seagrave,
1997: 148). This finding appears to be counterintuitive to what one would expect when officers
employ problem-oriented policing. Thus, these findings suggest a need to distinguish clearly between
proactive mobilization and problem-oriented policing practices (Section 7.3 below

Policing

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Policing

How are problems identified and addressed?

 Scanning: Problems are identified.

Examples of Problem Oriented Policing

Policing styles: Reactive versus proactive policing

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