The Principles of Community Policing

Chapter three of the coursebook expounds on the principles of community policing, determination of punishment, and philosophy under common law and police functions. The chapter also discusses policing models, and differences in policing in the U.K. and U.S. and requirements to be police in the two countries. Lastly, it provides an insight into the Royal Canadian Mounted police approach to policing. The chapters start by highlighting the key terms like community policing, corporal punishment, deterrence, the federal government, incapacitation, rehabilitation, and retribution. The first subtopic deals with policing in common law countries. It shows the history and definition of the term police, their functions, and case law. The next subsection is deviance control or civil order control, which is the two major duties of police. It shows that police reinforce community values, protect and perform public order control. Some of the policing models discussed in the chapter are the civil police model, state police, the quasi-military, and the martial law model. The chapter shows that U.S. and U.K. have a decentralized police organization with a civil model. The U.S. heavily borrowed from the U.K., and its structure has three levels; local, state as well as federal. In 2006, the U.S. had 581,000 employees who included 452,000 sworn personnel. 

The U.S. has continued to enhance the number of police, as shown in the subsection current policing. Similarly, it shows the mission and core values of NYPD, which show that its emphasis is crime control, whereas that of MPA focuses more on peacekeeping. Police organization in the U.K is also fragmented, just like in the U.S. The U.K. has 43 police forces that employ 135,000 sworn officers as well as 55,000 civilians. The hiring requirements in the U.S. and U.K. are almost similar. NYPD for example focuses on the age, nationality, residence of a police. Similarly, they must pass screening and testing and character background checks. However, MPA has a lower age requirements, no formal education needed, of good character, physical and mental stability and residency. The chapter further shows the salaries of police officers in the U.S. and the U.K., including their ranks, and starting salaries. A recruit officer in the U.K. gets £21,009. The starting salary for a sergeant is £32,985, £44,118 for an inspector while a chief inspector gets £48,645. A starting pay in Loss Angeles is $57,420, which increases to $60,552 once they complete probation. Police in Wales and England have roughly 25,000 vehicles implying that 100 officers share 20 cars. However, in the U.S., two sworn officers share one vehicle. Both U.S. and U.K. use computerized crime recording, control as well as dispatch system. U.K. police officers do not always carry firearms, as shown in a survey conducted in 1992 involving 42,000 participants. Seven thousand officers are certified to carry weapons, but the majority prefer wooden sticks or truncheon. Police training in the U.S. is not standardized with the number of weeks ranging from 8-10 to even a year in Los Angeles and California. On average, police require at least 640 training hours. English police, on the other hand, must be on probation for two years, and they receive much of their training in the workplace. The U.S. and U.K. have similar rules and regulations on police power as well as the use of discretion. However, police power in the U.S. is restricted by the constitution, while the police and criminal evidence act of 1984 gives U.K. police power to stop, search, and detain. Community policing under common law started with Sir Robert Peel, but the current model in England borrows from the police and magistrate court act 1994 and criminal justice order act 1994. The model started in the 1950s in the U.S. and expanded further following the reform agenda. Community policy in the U.S. is a strategy or philosophy. Police and citizens work together to solve community issues. London MPA has a safer neighborhood policing awareness campaign, which helps to identify and address issues of concern. The chapter also discusses policing in Canada, including the history, Acts, and standards for the police. Calgary, for example, has 1570 officers and 803 civilians. Members must adhere to the core values of honesty, integrity, ethics, respect, commitment, and fairness. Calgary has a mission and guiding principles that help members in their daily activities. The chapter discusses the types of police in Canada, their functions, community policing philosophy, training, and recruitment of RCMP. Correction in common law countries depends on the vision and social inclusion and control. According to the chapter, the object of criminal sanction includes retribution, incapacitation, deterrence, and rehabilitation. The three countries have different approaches to these issues. Likewise, there are significant differences, especially in the U.S., on matters of sentencing in particular if a defendant faces more than two offenses. The sentencing and duration of stay further differ depending on the crime. The prison population in the U.S. was almost 2.4 million, or 25% of the global inmates in 2015, although its population is 5%. Sentencing in the U.K. is uniform and under the watchdog of the ministry of justice established in 2007. A court can have different sentencing options depending on the circumstances or seriousness of the crime and maximum penalty available. Sentencing in the U.K. depends on the offense where a court can impose custodial or prison sentence, and the length depends on the maximum penalty. The majority of countries under common law apart from the U.S. have lower confinement rates. The majority of the states are not aware of the purpose of confinement. The chapter has a case study of confinement in Ireland for comparison purposes. Similarly, it has guidelines on the universal declaration of human rights and alternatives to incarceration. Other issues addressed include corporal punishment, fines, and probation in the U.S. and U.K., house arrests, and death penalties.