NCJ Number
198195
Date Published
August 1999
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article explores the role of policing in a democratic society.
Abstract
The author begins by explaining that the transition in Eastern Europe from a security police force under communism to a democratic police force under capitalism was a difficult transition at best. The author explains that the plight of Eastern Europe during the transformation to a democratic society resembled what Durkheim referred to as a state of normlessness and uncertainty, which would assuredly lead to an increase in crime rates. Crime did indeed increase substantially during this period, throwing the police into uncharted territory. The tendency became for police to revert to the outmoded policing methods of a totalitarian regime. As such, the author wonders about whether there are any fundamental principles that govern a democratic policing force. Two main characteristics of democratic policing are discussed: openness and accountability. The author explains that police should be open to the rule of the majority, whether the majority be poor or rich. The principle is that democratic policing should be ruled through consensus. The second principle, accountability, means that police must answer to the citizens of communities. The author comments that democratic policing means that police are not only concerned with achieving peace and order within society, they are concerned with the means with which they achieve that order. References