NCJ Number
85433
Journal
Journal of Law and Society Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: (Summer 1982) Pages: 103-114
Date Published
1982
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study considers the role of beat policing in promoting police-community relations that may help to counter riots and the changes that will have to occur in British police structure and practice if beat policing is to be effective.
Abstract
In the formal inquiries into the British riots of 1981, there was agreement that the police have lost positive contact with the communities they are supposed to serve, largely because the number of constables allocated to foot-patrol duties has been severely reduced. Consequently, policing has become largely reactive and coercive, so that the public only sees the police in action when they are arresting or subduing a citizen. A renewed emphasis on beat policing will require a reorientation of prevailing police values which view catching criminals as the only 'real' policing. This implies a substantial restructuring of the division of labor within the police force that would diminish the size and significance of specialist departments. Further, the current hierarchical authority structure will have to be reorganized to give responsibility to those in contact with local communities. The promotion system will have to be revamped to reward good beat work, while the career structure will require modification so that experienced constables do not have to leave front-line patrol to advance. New and more subtle measures of police performance should be developed to give priority to the goals of improved community relations through beat patrols. Twenty-six notes and references are listed.