NCJ Number
84076
Journal
Police Studies Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1982) Pages: 10-20
Date Published
1982
Length
11 pages
Annotation
Police community relations programs have been conceived of as mechanisms for eliminating the negative relationship between the police and the public, but this article contends that an adversarial relationship between the two is endemic in a democratic society.
Abstract
Anglo-American and Continental democracies are seen as differing in the ways in which the structure of policing reflects a response to the adversarial relationship. The general Anglo-American response means that in the United States the nature of the police role in society and the nature of the political culture are such that programs directed at establishing a harmonious relationship between the police and the public are based more on illusion than on reality. Tabular data, four notes, and 55 references are given. (Author abstract modified)