AJS 270 Wk 1b Historical Review Of Policing

A Review Of The Historical Development Of Policing Sir Robert Peel: Effects on Policing as a Profession Introduction Policing in this country and that of England has been an evolutionary process especially since the early 1800’s Modern day policing is said to be significantly influenced by one man, Sir Robert Peel, (1829) Community engagement style policing as suggested by Peel is to be probative rather than just being reactive Sir Robert Peel was a visionary that was well ahead of his time in his methods and has contributed theories during his time that are comprehensively relevant to policing today It is important when talking about modern day community policing that Peel’s contributions are recognized As a review, he created the Metropolitan Police Act of 1829 which nine principles have become the basis of American policing as we know it today History Probably most famous for coining the phrase “the police service are the public and the public are the police service” (Sir Robert Peel, 1829) Peel strived to make the Metropolitan London Police service Force a respectable and honest police force “…Robert Peel lived, as it were, devoted to the public, in the very eye, so to speak, of the Muse of History” (Rosebery, 13) It was through that devotion that he created a respectable police service image after setting high Para-military standards and a strong discipline system that resulted in the majority of his initially hired 3000 officers to be fired and/or replaced within the first five years of his transitional vision He maintained his vision even though in was costly in both economic and personal costs associated with his efforts His philosophy was to have the police service and the citizens of metropolitan London had to work together to attempt to prevent criminal behavior rather than just react to crime as it occurs It was not uncommon for the public to view the police service as uncertain intruders into their lives Peel’s vision was to disarm that persona and make the police service part of the community that they served It is important though before talking about his creation of modern day policing that his early career is mentioned to show that he had solid creation skills even before 1825 and the conception of the Metropolitan Police Force in 1829 Sir Robert Peel was born on February 5, 1788 in Bury England He was educated at Harrow and Oxford and entered into the life of politics in 1809 when he became a member of the House of Commons Not too long after he became Chief Secretary for Ireland in 1812 While he was serving his time in Ireland he tried to end corruption in the Irish government, put an end to elected officials selling political seats, dismissal of officials for their views on politics, as well as try to end precedence of Protestants to Catholics Although he was not successful in carrying out the precedence of one religion to another he still became a noteworthy opponent to Catholic Emancipation He apparently was a impacting motivator and fought for what he thought was right even if it was against the norm To illustrate this point, in 1817 when Peel retired from his position in Ireland from which an uproar was recorded from Irish Protestants and a solicitation of a petition to convince him not to leave because they argued that he had “administered with masterly ability” (Simkin, 1) In 1822, Sir Robert Peel became the Home Secretary in Liverpool and he was responsible for many reform efforts at the direction of the Prime Minister, which included revision of over two hundred legal statues, prison reform and the examination of the police function Metropolitan Police service Act of 1829 It was a concern in London not only for its citizens but for the political environment that justice was not carried out with equity, with impartially or effectively Peel created what is distinctively known as the Metropolitan Police Act of 1829, which was created under the Prime Minster, The Duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley) whose administration supported a political compromise which allowed the Act to be applied in London only at the time Before this creation it was clear that authorities did not have any mechanisms or police services to properly handle civil unrest, riots and other major public disorders The law enforcement service at the time was called the Tudor System, which consisted of constables, local watches and reactionary wards The Bow Street Runners still existed since their creation in 1742 but even their effectiveness was in question The extreme use of troops had to be utilized to keep order and deal with extreme social unrest Local military was used for major local problems but as we can guess was rather heavy handed and over reacted consistently The Penal Code during this time was incredibly strict from which there were over two hundred capital offenses Peel was tasked by Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington to reform the Penal Code and the reform of the prison system During the Metropolitan Police Act all of London’s police forces were supervised under one bureaucratic authority whose title was called the Home Secretary For the first time the occupation of a police service officer was now a full time job which entailed weekly pay as well as a specified and distinctive uniform Those who were going to be hired on the police force were carefully selected by merit standards by impartial staff Probably the most important change was that police service was now responsible for the prevention of crime as well as being able to detect it This conceptional change to the profession was a major shift in the delivery of police services During this period it was also the job of the police force to light the street lamps, call the time out, watch for fire, and perform other proactive services They were now much more visible to both the criminals and the citizens Although these responsibilities are not a part of what people would consider a police service, in 1829 these functions were important for crime prevention which was needed since violence of the times seemed to be rampant The police were known as “Bobbies” or “Peelers” and their presence was at first not well received and they were seen as interfering on the private lives of the people Then as a result of this major profession change crime actually declined and as a result the model was supported for a national application Peel also created what was known as the Peelian Principles and it was these principles that shaped what we know as English policing methods The first principle was that the primary post of a police service officer was continual patrol by a uniformed officer There should always be a police presence known in the community so those in the community feel as and criminals know that they will be caught if they try to commit a crime Another notable principle was that command and control is maintained by a military type of an organizational structure In fact, the structure of a police force command is very similar to that of a military chain of command Another notable principle is that people have to be patient as well as impersonal and most importantly professional It is important that relationships with those that you are giving a service to not get involved with personally and that they are to be impartial The last of the principles is that the authority of the English Constable came from three sources and three sources only The sources were the crown, the law, and the mutual aid of the people With all of these principles the reshaping of how police operate was created Without the restructure it is most certain that police would have become more corrupt and chaos would have ensued This police forced was a paid position and it employed at the beginning about three thousand officers and had different shifts that had officers working twenty four hours a day to make sure that protection was provided around the clock Peel saw that a change needed to be made and took the initiative and got the job done SIR ROBERT PEEL'S NINE PRINCIPLES The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions Police must secure the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary observance of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public The degree of co-operation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionately to the necessity of the use of physical force Police seek and preserve public favor not by catering to public opinion but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law Police use physical force to the extent necessary to secure observance of the law or to restore order only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence Police should always direct their action strictly towards their functions and never appear to usurp the powers of the judiciary The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it (Bloy, 1) "The police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence" Effects of Change What made London’s police force so different from other departments of the same time besides the force playing on the authority of the citizens was that there was a goal to make it homogenous and autonomous force Initially there was dissatisfaction with what some citizens called “Peel’s Bloody Gang” because some thought that this was going to be the same authoritarian police force as the past Eventually Peel’s creation won over the respect of the people of London it was because the police were demanded to give respect to those that they protected Peel strived to make the police force a respected one so much so that in the first eight years of its creation every position was replaced over three times because of firings and staff forced to resign their positions It was reported that most of these officers were forced or asked to leave because of drinking on the job, acting in a disrespectful way to citizens, excessive use of force, being late for work, and inappropriate display of uniforms There was also a change in the standards of the police officers To make sure that each officer was responsible for their actions they were assigned a badge number so that they could be identified in case of misuse of authority To be identified as being effective police service were no longer based on the number of the arrests that were made but the lack of crime in the community It was important to Peel that the officers knew that above anything else being trusted and accountable for your actions was imperative Sir Robert Peel created a transformational change movement through a turbulent period in the 1830’s that has been the example for the profession in England and the United States into current day practices The Metropolitan Police Act of 1829 greatly influenced the profession, from the way that officers were chosen to how the profession itself was preformed The model of policing today can be attributed to and influenced greatly by Peel and as many in the academic and law enforcement communities view him as the father of modern policing History Continued The nineteenth-century police officers were essentially a political operative rather than a modern day professional committed to public service Salaries were determined by local political factors and communication technology was primitive of the era meant that police chiefs were unable to oversee their commanders and each precinct or district was actually strongly influenced by the politician and the influence the neighborhoods One of the most important changes during the early 1900's was the advent of the automobile Gradually the patrol car replaced the foot patrol, expanding geographic beats and further removing the police from specific neighborhoods The impact of the two-way radio was also important in the early 1900's, as supervisors were able to maintain a far closer supervision of police officers and the radio and telephone made it possible for citizens to make heavier demands for police service The result of these changes redefined how the police performed from a qualitative standpoint The 1930's marked an important turning point in the history of law enforcement reform The first genuine research into the studies of police work began to appear, and O.W Wilson emerged as the leading authority on police administration Another profession changing individuals was August Vollmer, son of German immigrants, might well be the father of American policing In 1904, at the age of twentynine, Vollmer was elected to the post of City Marshall in Berkeley, California This position was changed to Chief of Police in 1909, a post held by Vollmer until 1932 During his tenure with Berkeley, August Vollmer created a police force that became the model for the rest of the nation His innovations included radios in patrol cars, a fingerprint and handwriting classification system, a workable system for filing and using M.O (modus operandi) files, the use of both motorcycles and bicycles on patrol, the use of the polygraph for lie detection, a scientific crime investigation laboratory, the selection of college graduates as police recruits, and the creation of a police school at his department in which scientists taught courses in criminalistics He also encouraged colleges to offer police courses and urged the development of a record bureau in Washington, D.C., a bureau that eventually became the FBI He firmly believed that police officers should be trained professionals, capable of using the most current technology in the investigation of crime He also believed that police officers were social workers that had a deeper responsibility to the community than just fighting crime He urged his officers to intervene in the lives of individuals, especially juveniles, before they entered a life of crime A scholar as well as a police officer and administrator, Vollmer encouraged other police professionals to publish their observations and theories Practicing what he preached, Vollmer wrote proliferously His book, The Police and Modern Society (1936) details his vision of the professional police officer and is still a classic work in the field of law enforcement Upon his retirement from the Berkeley Police Department, August Vollmer helped to create the first college program in Police Science at the University of California at Berkeley, where he eventually became Professor of Police Administration Moreover, until his death he was a consultant to police agencies and governments all over the world Perhaps the finest tribute to this man was paid by O.W Wilson, another giant in the field of American law enforcement, when he wrote, "August Vollmer contributed more to the advancement of police service in this country, and probably in other countries as well, than did any other law enforcement man, including those at the state and federal levels." The professional crime fighter began at the end of the 1930's From the 1940's through the early 1960's police reform continued along the lines that were already well established Under the models described by Vollmer and Wilson police professionals was defined almost exclusively in terms of managerial efficiency and administrators sought to further strengthen their hand in controlling rank and file officers The professional model during this transitional period demanded an impartial law enforcer who related to citizens in professionally neutral and distant terms The emphasis on professionalism influenced the role of citizens in crime control Like teachers role of teaching students, social workers taking care of clients, the police profession would now be responsible for the issue of all crime problems During this period the crime rate became the primary indicator of police effectiveness Problems Overwhelm the Professional Model Problems with the professional model of policing began to arise during the late 1960's The O.W Wilson's model of the strong autocratic manager was losing favor and both our employees and the public was asking for more leadership and participation in solving mutual crime related problems During the 1970's to present the science of effective policing and the transition of involving the community into forming partnerships has turned policing into a respectable profession Lets examine one major study that is cited, the Kansas City study of 1972, which is described as a turning point from preventive patrolling to a more preventive "community policing" model • Kansas City Study 1972 First major study to bring into question the effectiveness of police patrol 2 The fifteen districts in Kansas City were divided into groups A One group of districts kept normal police patrol B One group of districts received proactive policing with to times the number of patrol officers C One group of districts received reactive policing, no patrols, police responded from division headquarters It didn't matter what kind of policing a district received, patrol had little effect on the amount of crime one way or another A The presence or absence of patrol did not seem to affect the amount of property crimes, violent crimes, or vandalism B The presence or absence of patrol also had no effect on citizens' attitudes toward the police and citizens' satisfaction with the police citizens' fear of future crime The expanding role of automobiles replaced the era of the friendly foot patrol officer By the 1970's, rapid telephone contact with police through 911 systems allowed them to respond quickly to crimes Answering the overwhelming number of calls for service, however, left police little time to prevent crimes from occurring As increasingly sophisticated communications technology made it possible for calls to be transmitted almost instantaneously, officers had to respond to demands for assistance regardless of the urgency of the situation Answering calls severely limited a broad police interaction with the community The advent of the computer also contributed to the decrease in police contact with the community Statistics, rather than the type of service provided or the service recipients became the focus for officers and managers As computers generated data on crime patterns and trends, counted the incidence of crimes, increased the efficiency of dispatch, and calculated the rapidity and outcome of police response, rapid response became an end in itself In transition to a connected idea, the concept of "Broken Windows" will be examine within Lesson Two, by James Q Wilson and George L Kelling The following references will be utilized within the upcoming lessons: Agnew, R (2005) Juvenile Delinquency (2nd ed.): Causes and Control Los Angeles: Roxbury Publishing Company Ariz Post; Arizona Peace Officer Standards & Training, Community Based Policing Telecourse Series, Outline – Problem Solving (1997); Materials originally developed – Goldstein, H (1990), Pages 1-15 Bloy, M (2002, October 11) The Maintenance of Law and Order before 1829 The Victorian Web Retrieved April 30, 2009, http://www.victorianweb.org/history/police service service.html Brown, Lee P and Locke, Hubert, “Police and the Community” in Progress in Policing: Essays on Change Cambridge, Massachusetts: Ballinger (1980) Pages 85-102 Carvalho, G.F., Installing Management By Objectives: A New Perspective On Organizational Change” In Police Administration, the Police Chief, (November 1984) Pages 48-49 Community Policing & Problem Solving, Strategies and Practices, Prentice-Hall Publishing, 1999, Kenneth J Peak & Ronald W Glensor, ISBN # 0-13-081417-2 Cordner, Gary, Community Policing: Principles & Elements, Position Paper Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky, (1994) Crosby, T Sir Robert Peel’s Adminstration 1841-1846 Retrieved April 30, 2009 http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=sir+robert+peel+&hl=en&lr= Cullen, F., Agnew, R., (2003) Criminological Theory (2nd ed.): Past to Present Los Angeles: Roxbury Publishing Company Fay, B., Social Theory and Political Practice London: George Allen & Unwin Publishers Limited (1984) Gaines, L., Miller, R., (2005) Criminal Justice in Action (3rd ed.) Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth Learning Gallegos, Gilbert G., Community Policing: Success or Failure? The Journal, Spring Edition, Volume 3, Issue 2, (April 1998) Page Gash, N Mr Secretary Peel: The Life of Sir Robert Peel to 1830 Retrieved April 30, 2009 http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=related:RdU9_NcL6XoJ: scholar.google.com/ Goldstein, H., and C Susmilch, Experimenting with the Problem-Oriented Approach to Improving Police Service: A Report and Some Reflections on Two Case Studies.Vol of the Project on Development of a Problem-Oriented Approach to Improving Police Service Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Law School (1982) Goldstein, H., Problem Oriented Policing New York, NY: McGraw-Hill (1990) Goldstein H., Improving Policing: A Problem-Oriented Approach Crime and Delinquency (1993), Pages 236-238 Goldstein, Herman, Improving Policing: A Problem-Oriented Approach, “Crime and Delinquency,” (1979) Pages 236-258 Kelling, George L., Coles, Catherine M., Fixing Broken Windows, Martin Kessler Books, The Free Press, (1996) Pages 11-13 McDonald, William F., Crime and Law Enforcement in the Global Village, Anderson Publishing Co., Criminal Justice Division, (1977) Page Meese III, Edwin; Moffit, Robert E., Making America Safer, The Heritage Foundation, (1997) Pages 93-94 Peak, Kenneth; Glensor, Ronald, Community Policing & Problem Solving, Strategies & Practices, Prentice Hall Inc., (1996) Pages 86-87 Peak, K., Glensor, R., (2004) Community Policing and Problem Solving (4th ed.): Strategies and Practices Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall Police Administration, Fifth Edition, McGraw-Hill Publishing, 1997, James J Fyfe, Jack R Greene, William F Walsh, O.W Wilson & Roy Clinton McLaren, ISBN # 0-07-022566-4 Reinier, Hobard and Gibbons, M.H Crime Analysis in Support of Patrol, National Evaluation Program Phase I Report, Washington D.C University City Science Center, (1984) Robinson, James L., Racism or Attitude, Insight Books, (1995) Page 97 Rosebery, L Sir Robert Peel Retrieved April 30, 2009 http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/ Sherman, Lawrence W and Berk, Richard A., Specific Deterrent of Arrest for Domestic Violence Assault American Sociological Review 49 (1984) Pages 261-272 Steves, D An Introduction to American Policing Retrieved April 30, 2009 http://books.google.com/books?id=kDz5V9vFllEC Sower, C., Community Involvement Glencoe, Illinois: Free Press (1957) Spelman, William & Eck, John E., Problem Oriented Policing National Institute of Justice, Research in Brief (1987) Pages 2-3 Trojanowics, S.S., Theory of Community Policing Unpublished thesis for Master of Science Degree, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, (1992) (Introduction) United States Department of Justice, COPS Office, http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/ Retrieved April 30, 2009 Walker, S & Katz, C., (2005) The Police in America (2nd ed.): An Introduction Boston: McGraw-Hill Companies ... times the number of patrol officers C One group of districts received reactive policing, no patrols, police responded from division headquarters It didn't matter what kind of policing a district... standards of the police officers To make sure that each officer was responsible for their actions they were assigned a badge number so that they could be identified in case of misuse of authority... be the father of American policing In 1904, at the age of twentynine, Vollmer was elected to the post of City Marshall in Berkeley, California This position was changed to Chief of Police in 1909,