First era: establishment of metropolitan police
The Metropolitan Police act was enforced in 1829 and paved way for the then Home Secretary, Robert Peel, to establish the first police force (Emsley, 1996). With its headquarters at the Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan police comprised of 17 divisions with a total of 2,448 constables, supervised by four inspectors. The head of the force was the Home Secretary. This formed the first era of policing in the United Kingdom.
Weaknesses of the first era
This era encountered numerous challenges as it would be expected of a starter initiative. First were the high levels of distrust from the locals on the idea of uniformed police. Citizens believed the force was set up to arrest government critics. The government was experiencing numerous oppositions, expressed through protests, riots, and free speech. Citizens felt it was within their human rights to demonstrate to stop the implementation of the then unpopular Poor Laws. They perceived the force was keen to derail their democracy and liberation. This distrust, therefore, resulted in a sluggish pace towards the implementation of the force in other regions. The public also believed the professional police force was too expensive and would contribute to an increase in taxation. There was also little co-operation between counties and boroughs towards the establishment of a police force in their regions. In 1835, the Municipal Corporation Act was signed into law, allowing all Borough Councils to start up and manage their police units. Two years later, only 93 of the 170 boroughs had implemented the directive. The Rural Constabulary Act was passed in 1839, allowing all the 54 counties in England to establish a professional police force. The implementation was also so slow, that by 1848, only 36 counties had a police force in place (Emsley, 1996).
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Another challenge experienced in the initial era of policing was the lack of proper national guidelines and inspections. There were no centrally established formalities to address issues, such as remuneration, work ethics, responsibilities and particulars of employment of the police officers. This made the institution a dilapidated force. Lack of regulations also contributed to a high rate of turnover within the force. Officers were frequently dismissed summarily due to misconduct such as absenteeism and drunkenness. It’s remembered that the first officer of the force, with code number one, was dismissed after four hours of service.
There was a lack of proper and adequate weaponry and ammunition. The first officers were only allowed to carry a bludgeon and a rattle. This exposed police officers to possible attacks during riots and demonstrations, considering that the police to public ratio was approximately one to every thousand people.
Strength of the first era
Despite the challenges, the London police unit was showing effectiveness by the 1840s. First was the notable decrease in crime within the city. There was also an increase in crime detection and bursting of planned crime as the force intensified their efforts towards the prevention of crime, compared to punishing criminals.
Second era: nationwide police force
The second era of policing came after the establishment of the Police Act of 1856 (Reiner, 1992). The act set up national regulations and auditing bodies and made it mandatory for all the boroughs to establish their forces through the enactment of the County Borough Police Act.
Strengths of second era
The strength of the new era was that it was no longer optional for counties to establish forces but a national requirement. As a result, there was a police force in all the 54 counties of England and all regions of Wales. Scotland achieved the same feat a year later through the enactment of the General Police Act of Scotland 1857. It was also not within the mandate of the different geographical units to manage forces as per their regulations. The national government was taking over the control and streamlining of all the states’ forces. The welfare of officers was, therefore, catered for and their duties and responsibilities were nationally elaborated. A national inspection system that was being used in the education system was also deployed to keep the force on the track. The effective technique of crime detection was deployed countrywide and was boosted by the establishment of the Criminal Investigation department in 1877. Another development was the initiation of the National Crime Record which was a big step towards tracing criminals. The record was even more useful when the force incorporated telegram communication technology between forces (Reiner, 1992).
Weakness of second era
The main undoing of this era was that there still existed disparities in remunerations and working conditions between officers. This dejected the less paid officers and those working under harsh conditions.
Current Issues facing law enforcement and their impact on social order
Balancing between ethical behaviors and law enforcement remains a modern-day challenge in policing. It’s common to have situations where a single race of persons appear to be notoriously criminal in a given region. To combat such crime, officers have to target the specific race. However, targeting of a race would appear unethical and a show of racism. The same challenge is when officers use technological advancement that seems to be unethical and a violation of human rights. Examples are tracking of phone calls and movements of persons believed to be criminals (Siegel & Worrall, 2019).
Underfunding is one of the main issues that currently continue to derail the police service. A 2018 parliamentary report by the Home Affairs committee, chaired by Right Honorable Yvette Cooper, acknowledges that the police force is under strain to execute its duties with a budget that can not sufficiently fund their activities. The second issue is the use of outdated technology by an understaffed force. There is always a changing trend in online fraud, and this ought to be outsmarted by a force with the most modern technology and skilled personnel. However, the forces still use old technology and are highly understaffed due to recruitment and retention challenges. These two issues have contributed to an increase in crime. The parliamentary committee reports that between 2010 and 2018, crime rose by 32% and charges decreased by 26% (Home Affairs Committee Report, 2018).
Law enforcement in the next five years
In the next five years, law enforcement will be struggling to catch up with the technological advancements with an effort of matching trends in crime. The gap will be bigger since the current pace of the force is slower. The force will, therefore, need robust measures to outwit the emerging trends.
The future of policing
The future of policing lies in technological advancement. Street policing will reduce as technology takes the stage in the detection and prevention of crime. Underfunding will remain the main challenge faced by the force. Technological advancements will dictate that more funds be put into research and acquisition of resources. The wage bill of officers will also increase significantly since the force will have to hire experts in different fields of technology. Retention of experts in the police field will also be a challenge since such skilled personnel would easily find better working conditions in the private sector
Role of public in cooperation with the police
The public, upon realizing that crime is on the increase, will be obliged to cooperate with the police in two major ways. Political hurdles that require public participation towards an increase in police funding will be supported by the public for the improvement of their security. Technological experts from the public will, as a way of giving back to the community, take up skilled positions in the forces and volunteer their expertise in combating crime
References
Emsley, C. (1996). Crime and society in England 1750-1900 . London and New York: Longman.
Home Affairs Committee Report. (2018). Policing for the future. 10 th Report of Session 2017-19. Published by the House of Commons, 25 th October 2018.
Reiner, R. (1992). Police Research in the United Kingdom: A Critical Review. Crime and Justice, 15 , 435-508. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1147623
Siegel, L. J., & Worrall, J. L. (2019). Essentials of criminal justice. Boston, MA : Cengage
