NCJ Number
153660
Journal
Law Enforcement Tomorrow Volume: 3 Issue: 2 Dated: (December 1994) Pages: 1-7
Date Published
1994
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Changes in the composition of California's population resulting from recent high levels of immigration from Mexico, the Philippines, and Korea are examined with respect to their impact on policing and the resulting need for changes in police functions and organizations.
Abstract
Unlike their predecessors, the newest immigrants are clinging to their cultures and languages of origin rather than fully assimilating into the United States culture. In addition, these immigrants tend to move to suburbs in southern California rather than to urban areas. This third wave of immigration is creating social pressures and resentment, eroding social structures, bringing the police more deeply into the social structure of the community, and changing the nature of the police functions in some fundamental ways. Calls for service have increased dramatically, while resources and staffing levels have not. Diverse groups are looking to the police to resolve their conflicts; settle their disputes; and deliver their expectations of criminal, civil, and social justice. To be effective in the next century, police executives need to externalize their focus and their agency's reason for being, abandon the position of power once found in law and expertise, and seek legitimacy in the diversity of their rapidly changing communities. They should explore the potential contained in the diversity of the third wave of immigration, continue their search for possible futures, and be prepared to change whatever they find. 16 references