NCJ Number
73696
Date Published
1980
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study examined police operations in a working-class, high-crime area adjacent to a large English city; it emphasizes police-community relations.
Abstract
The Milltown police work in 4 shifts, with each shift having an inspector, 2 sergeants, and about 14 constables. The police respond most frequently to domestic disputes and road accidents, followed closely by burglary, vandalism, and disturbances of the peace. Because of limited manpower and other priorities, burglaries are usually just recorded and not investigated. Most officers view Milltown as a bad area which produces delinquents as a result of parental influences, lenient sentences given to young offenders, and police manpower limitations to developing techniques to handle juveniles. The effectiveness of the Milltown police and their relations with the community are severely hampered by a high turnover rate. In addition, few of the police officers live in Milltown and only one was born there. This lack of commitment to the neighborhood, coupled with inexperience, often results in indiscriminate police action and community resentment and distrust of police. However, police are called to handle family disputes, and small groups of residents readily categorize officers into good and bad cops. Interviews indicate that the pervasive resentment of the police stems from their inconsistent, erratic, and unpredictable behvaior. Conversely, residents agree that the police sometimes have to break rules to do their jobs effectively. Resentment is exacerbated by a passive acceptance of the overwhelming power of the police. Specific criticisms of police activities focus on stopping and searching without a warrant, questioning persons because illegal activities are suspected, unpredictable reactions to juvenile denials of crime, arrests on vague charges, and plea bargaining. Residents stoically accept police power to attach a criminal or delinquent label to an individual. While young offenders rarely object to these labels, they do resent the police targeting them for surveillance in what appears as a random selection process. The article is accompanied by explanatory footnotes and 17 references.