NCJ Number
193372
Date Published
1999
Length
480 pages
Annotation
This book introduces the perspectives, functions, and dilemmas of policing in the United States.
Abstract
Part I analyzes the history of policing and assesses the social, political, and historical forces that are correlated with the rise of formal policing and the different shapes policing has taken. Part II examines the police industry in the United States, describing the history and current status of Federal, State, special-purpose, private, and local policing agencies. Part III describes what are identified as the major correlates of policing: organizations, officers, and communities. Police organizational designs, police leaders, officer characteristics and work, and sources of police authority are also included in Part III. Part IV examines the basic functions of police. Police crime control strategies, functions, and tactics; the impact of patrol; services provided by the police; and police discretion are among the issues discussed. Part V applies the lessons learned to an analysis of the development of community policing, an assessment of police misconduct and control, and the likely future of policing. The current trends and future issues of policing include forces for uniformity (civil liability, accreditation, technology, war on drugs), diversity (community policing, police unions), balancing forces, and the big picture (policing American societies and streets). Each police agency is the product of a unique balance of forces within its jurisdiction. It is this balance that explains the difference between police agencies. Notes, references, index