NCJ Number
92878
Journal
Criminal Justice Ethics Volume: 2 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer/Fall 1983) Pages: 3-9
Date Published
1983
Length
8 pages
Annotation
The discussion challenges the wisdom of discouraging police officers from actively participating in the democratic process.
Abstract
Three modern arguments against police activity in politics are that political involvement of the police is unnecessary, police participation in politics endangers police legitimacy, and police political participation is dangerous to democratic processes. In terms of three goals -improved public policy, enhanced public understanding, and better police ethics, seven advantages result from police entering the electoral process. Police participation neutralizes an inherent weakness in political decisionmaking; police participation in campaigns assures that the public will learn something about police matters; and competition gives information its edge, with police sometimes the best available adversaries in political campaigns. Moreover, police associatons faced with winning general elections function differently than if they deal only with departmental problems, political involvement encourages officers to reside in the city they police, police who practice politics develop skills they can use on the street, and political participation dissipates cynicism. These advantages would not be worth attaining if police began to practice political extortion. Ways to guarantee that police will not be politically abusive include diligence on the part of journalists, an external police review board, and professional training. Four notes are supplied.