NCJ Number
73249
Journal
REVISTA DA POLICIA CIVIL Volume: 6 Dated: (1978) Pages: 92-99
Date Published
1978
Length
8 pages
Annotation
The police institution is analyzed in terms of its role in crime control and prevention and its internal organization, equipment, training, professionalism, and projected image.
Abstract
The police, an institution with goals that transcend its specific functions as an instrument of crime prevention and control, has been the subject of very few studies in depth. Police officers must realize that their mission in today's world is also social and educational, especially with regard to young people. The police must assiduously cultivate every oportunity to establish good community relations and project a positive image to replace the persistent negative stereotype of police officers as brutal agents of repression. The alarming increase of violent crime in such countries as the United States and Brazil has many causes, such as obsolete criminal codes and correctional systems, alluring portrayals of violence in television and the mass media, and societal permissiveness. Today's police officers must be college educated, scientifically trained and supplied with the latest communication, information storage retrieval, and transportation equipment. A model police training institution is the International Police Services Academy in Washington, D.C. Seminars, symposia, and special projects, educate both police and the public on such topics as effective measures against terrorism and riots, police professionalism and ethics, and the urban police function. Police uniforms and insignia give officers high visibility. The use of appropriate colors for clothing, equipment, and even documents and reports is necessary because color has a physiological and psychological effect on people. Some police departments such as the Honolulu Police Department use different colors to characterize different types of reports. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police uses red in officers' coats as well as on seals that identify their urgent documents. Green, blue, olive, and drab are used by police organizations in different countries for uniform clothing, insignia, vehicles and helicopters. Color is a means of communication that conveys a definite image that conveys to the public. The Brazilian police can no longer neglect the effective use of color as part of its modernization efforts.