Comparison of the characteristics of reform and political eras of policing

Comparison of the policing traits during the reform and political periods

Political eras placed a strong emphasis on the close ties and interactions that law enforcement had with the communities they served while on foot patrol with little command structure supervision. However, during the reform period, things changed, and police officers received patrol vehicles, two-way radios, and telephones in addition to being put under close command by their command bosses, which effectively increased both their safety and the safety of the general public.

The political period was also marked by a strong political influence, with officers largely deferring to local government officials for directives and favors. There were a lot of corruption and intimidation cases whereby the term “Do you know who I am?” became a common norm among the influential families who did what pleases them due to their position in government. However, during the reform era, things changed for the better, and it was accompanied by little state interference since it was majorly aimed at establishing professional standards in the police department, whereby officers on duty only received orders from a chain of commands in the departments.

Due to lack of centralized system during the political era, there were no requirements for one to become a police officer since the selection into the training academy was done majorly by connections and favors. However, this changed during the reform era whereby qualifications became compulsory for any aspiring officer due to the developed centralized system.

During the political era, police officers participated in duties like assisting the homeless individuals and also taking them to places where they could find shelters and even participated in community services like environmental cleaning. Thus, due to these activities, the public developed a little respect for them, and in retaliation they harassed the community members. However, after the reform era was established whereby police duties were changed and placed under strict supervision by their bosses in the centralized system, policies like ticketing were used, and police were limited to using force towards the public.

Skills and knowledge that police trainees receive during their academy training

Traffic accident investigation skills, which will make them understand how to deal with those involved in accidents and deciding who is wrong and right.

They are taken through the ethics and integrity topics to assist them in solving problems

Legal education on the constitution, traffic, and juvenile law procedures

Communication skills

Report writing skills

Computer skills

Patrol procedures

First aid skills

Firearm skills, defense tactics, and use of force

These skills and knowledge are what guides a good relationship that exists between the law enforcers and the community members. They assist officers in a better understanding of the community dynamics that they serve thus improving their ability to show respect and courtesy to also other people in their work setting. For example, police officers training regarding on ethics assist in making sound judgments, especially in conflicts. Their training on how to use weapons, defense tactics, and force also help in protecting the citizens in case war arises. They improve the relationship between the community and the officers themselves; hence, when problems arise, solutions are found easily ("Training / Academy Life").

Community policing

Community policing is a management approach that involves officers coming into partnership with members of the community in coming up with the solution to the problems by dealing with the critical problems, which contributed to the crime being committed in the first place. It usually betters the relationship between police and the members of the communities that they serve.

Differences between community policing and traditional policing

In community policing, the responsibility of maintaining peace and solving problems is a shared endeavor between the police and the community while in traditional policing, the duty of ensuring the public is safe is seen as the responsibility of the officers alone ("What Is Traditional Policing and What Does It Involve?").

Community policing is both reactive and proactive since it usually about more than a crime whereby it views crime as a result of other problems that are underlying. Officers’ duties often involve addressing and coming up with solutions to the problems before they develop into crimes possibly together with assistance from the public. On the other hand, traditional policing is reactive since officers usually respond to numerous problems as they develop and does not consider crime as a result of other core problems. For instance, community policing ensures that officers usually are responsible for moving homeless people out of the streets into shelters while taking action to resolve homelessness issue. However, in traditional policing, officers may transfer the homeless individuals out of the streets into shelters but will not try to find the solution to the problem itself.

The significant rudiments of evaluation and implementation community policing and problem-solving phases

Scanning

This refers to the identification and prioritization of problems. The key objectives of scanning are basically to identify the problem, establish the particular nature of the problem, determine the level of seriousness of the identified problem, and determine the baseline measures. In this phase, an inclusive list of stakeholders involved in the selected problem is always identified. Problems can be seen as two or more incidents that are similar in one way or another, and that is the police and community concern. Problems can be a special event, type of behavior, persons, or a place; thus, it is the duty of the police together with the community to identify and prioritize them ("Community Policing Defined").

Analysis

This phase is the foundation of the whole process of problem solving Its goals are basically to create a common understanding of the problems dynamics, create limits of current responses understanding, develop a correlation, and establish the cause and effect understanding. In this phase, it is vital to find out about all the crime triangle aspects by asking yourself who? How? Where? Why? And Why not? Concerning the offenders, victims, and the crime location.

Response

This phase involves establishing and implementation of strategies that will address problems identified by looking for strategic responses, which are both broad and uninhibited. The response should be directed towards the particular issue. The objective of the response always ranges from either considerably reducing the issue, reducing the damage caused by the issue, eliminating it, or improving the community cohesion quality ("Community Policing Defined").

Assessment

This phase attempts to establish if the strategies used in the response were effectual by comprehending if the issue was typically rejected and if the particular response played a role in the rejection. The information received usually assists in gathering the data, which builds the knowledge for the future and even in the current efforts. If the responses created are not sufficient, the information that was collected during the analysis is usually reviewed. New information is usually gathered before new solutions are established and tested. This whole process is usually a circular since additional analysis, scanning, or even responses may be needed.

Five qualities, which undercover and detectives need to hold

Sense of Ethics

Personnel who enforce the law must try their best to act ethically as a way of doing the right things in life. They must try to follow proper values and principles as guides to their daily actions and also abide by the Constitution. Detectives and undercover officers should always consider ethical behavior promotion as a top priority. When it comes to responding to calls, they should always have back up officers to hold them accountable for any event. They should also ensure that their colleagues do not give in to any pressure that may make them violate any ethical standards thus showing a sense of ethics (Capps, Larry E.).

Knowledge and Respect of Laws

Those applying for undercover and detective officers’ positions must always comprehend and adhere to state and federal laws. The Constitution is the legal document that tends to guide every law enforcement personnel. The officers should always abide by this rule since they are the custodians of the Constitution. All officers must have knowledge of criminal laws and procedures since that is what they have to pass through the police academy to carry out their duties according to the law. New officers usually have a challenge in dealing with the laws, however, with time they get used to them.

Communication skills

Recruiters must always concentrate on every applicant’s non-verbal and verbal communication abilities. Even though writing skills are critical and determine their performance in examination, it is their ability to connect with citizens face to face when carrying out their duties that matter a lot. Officers usually spend most of their time talking to suspects, witnesses, and complainants at large than they do tactical encounters engagement, even though all the officers’ contacts involve some proper communications.

Humility

This is not usually a sign of weakness but respect to other people. Typically, people who are humble do not brag off. They tend to have full confidence in their abilities and thus do not need to boast about it. Officers usually serve the public by ensuring every one abides by the law; hence, the majority of them who are humble always tend to receive a lot trust and respect from the citizens.

Controlled temper

This character trait is essential for officers since it is the key to proper enforcement of the law. It comprises of self-discipline and demands a lot of confidence, competence, and emotional maturity. Officers who cannot control their tempers are not fit to handle very well a variety of people in the society (Capps, Larry E.). When the officers meet individuals, who cannot control their tempers, resolving a problem becomes a challenge. And if the officers themselves cannot control their temper in handling the cases then the result becomes undesirable.

One of the most significant traits among the five is knowledge and respect the law. The Constitution is the foundation of any good governance and leadership in our society. Hence, as an officer, it is critical for any of them to pay respect to the laws to enforce the law in a right manner. Without the laws, there would be no cases due to lack of knowing what is good or bad and our country would have been in chaos during this time since some officers are used to taking advantage of the situation by overstepping their boundaries like harassing people without proper reason. However, due to the training on knowledge and respect to the laws whereby officers are taught about the legal matters and how to become good custodians of the law, our safety is protected by the great morals that they receive during their training.

Works Cited

"Training / Academy Life." Discoverpolicing.Org, 2017, http://discoverpolicing.org/what_does_take/?fa=training_academy_life.

"What Is Traditional Policing And What Does It Involve?." The Balance, 2017, https://www.thebalance.com/traditional-policing-974687.

Capps, Larry E. "Perspective: Characteristics Of An Ideal Police Officer." FBI, 2014, https://leb.fbi.gov/2014/december/perspective-characteristics-of-an-ideal-police-officer.

"Community Policing Defined." Ci.Paradise-Valley.Az.Us, 2012, http://www.ci.paradise-valley.az.us/DocumentCenter/View/3004.