Policing Roles
What is the role of police in society? What would happen if the role of the police were lessened as it applies to the theory and practice of community policing?
Generally, the most important roles that police play in civilized society are that of criminal deterrence (Schmalleger, 2009). More specifically, the public awareness of the presence and authority of law enforcement deters most members of the population from criminal conduct that they might otherwise consider if there were no negative consequences. In community policing, police serve a much wider role than criminal deterrence, prevention, and response (Schmalleger, 2009). Modern police also play important roles in ensuring public order and public safety, as well as in addressing contemporary counterterrorism (Schmalleger, 2009). They maximize opportunities to work with proactive members of the community to establish and maintain positive and mutually beneficial relationships (Ellison, 2006). If the role of police were lessened within a community policing framework, there would be a certain loss of beneficial coordination between police and civilians and it would undermine certain programs that depend on those relationships (Ellison, 2006).
How do daily issues such as probable cause affect police from a legal standpoint? How can these issues be improved to aid police organizations in combating crime?
Probable cause is only one of many specific issues of modern policing and criminal procedure that require police to understand the U.S. Constitution as it applies to policing (Schmalleger, 2009). That is especially true in connection with 4th and 5th Amendment Issues (Schmalleger, 2009). From the point-of-view of police, their job can be much more difficult than it would be without the obligation to establish probable cause to conduct criminal investigations that they may have other (i.e. reliable in an ordinary sense but insufficient to establish probable cause) reasons to initiate. One possible way to improve these issues to aid police would be to educate the general public about them so that police could obtain maximum cooperation from law-abiding citizens and save the time often wasted explaining those issues, such as during ordinary traffic stops.
References
Ellison, J. "Community Policing: Implementation Issues." Federal Bureau of Investigation Law Enforcement Bulletin. Vol. 75, No. 4 (Apr/06).
Schmalleger, F. (2009). Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text for the 21st
Century. Hoboken, NJ: Prentice Hall.
