Community Policing in Democratic Societies Towards a Human Rights Perspective (From Evaluating Community Policing, P 77-100, 2003, Tom Van den Broeck, Christian Eliaerts, eds., -- See NCJ-203040)

• NCJ Number: 203044
• Author(s): Michael D. Wiatrowski
• Date Published: 2002
• Length: 24 pages
• Sale Source: Uitgeverij Politeia NV
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: Belgium

Annotation

This article discusses how to regulate and control police power in a democratic society.

Abstract

There are four major emphases involving ongoing critiques of the police in the reform era. The first is the removal of the police from partisan politics through civil service reform. The second is the promotion of police professionalism. The third is the managerial revolution that seeks to develop and apply administrative structures and procedures to supervise and control police activities from an organizational perspective. The fourth is the emergence of the “crime fighter and law enforcement officer” model and the paramilitarization of the police. An assessment of the impact of the professional model of policing on a democratic society shows that there is some sense of crisis in the professional model of policing. Community policing has emerged as an alternative to the professional model that is inherently more democratic. But it has not been able to transform the professional model of policing. Inherent in the idea of community justice is that it is responsive to community needs that are articulated through community processes that are democratic and therefore the policing outcome is more democratic. Community policing allows for more civilian oversight because there is more citizen involvement with the police in the determination of police goals and activities in the community. Community policing is democratic because it promotes freedom through the emphasis on crime prevention. It also promotes accountability by having the officer establish relations with the community rather than the police subculture. Community policing breaks down the primacy of bureaucratic policing by reinventing, reorganizing the police, and flattening out police organizations. For too long, substantive issues in the control of crime have been phrased in a due process or crime control dichotomy. The human rights perspective in justice provides an alternative to the issue of how much justice an individual should be afforded before their freedom is limited or terminated by the state. Community policing has the ability to support the change toward a more fundamental human rights basis for policing and the administration of justice. 67 references