Conclusion: Paths to Police Reform -- Reflections on 25 Years of Change (From Police and Policing: Contemporary Issues, P 271-284, 1989, Dennis Jay Kenney, ed. -- See NCJ-121271)

• NCJ Number: 121293
• Author(s): S Walker
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 14 pages
• Sale Source: Praeger Publishers
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This analysis of major police reforms in the United States in the last 25 years concludes that although many have failed, some have succeeded.

Abstract

Changes have been prompted by United States Supreme Court decisions, the crisis in police-community relations, and a real rise in serious crime. Reform strategies included efforts to improve police recruitment, training, and supervision; efforts to decentralize law enforcement operations; and efforts to change the broader environment of policing, including the definition of the police role and the legal environment. The results of the reform efforts indicate that improved training is important, but will be effective only in the context of improved management and supervision. In addition, recruiting different kinds of people into policing does not, by itself, change police behavior. Other findings are that improved supervision is crucial, that small rather than large changes in police organizational structures may succeed, that legal change has had a positive effect on policing, and that the reform process results from complex interactions between internal and external forces. 52 references.