State of the Police (From Critical Criminal Justice Issues: Task Force Reports From the American Society of Criminology, P 95-103, 1996, American Society of Criminology, ed.)

• NCJ Number: 171279
• Author(s): J J Fyfe; J R Greene; H McMurray; J H Skolnick; S Walker; R Weisheit
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 9 pages
• Sale Source: American Soc of Criminology
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper describes and critiques the current state of policing in the United States and suggests future directions in police policy, operations, and research.

Abstract

To the extent that the concept of community policing and problem-oriented policing (COP/POP) involves a partnership between the police and the community, rather than a continuation of the estrangement that has often characterized relations between police and community, it should be supported and refined. Further, a standard of care for police operations should be developed and disseminated. Any good-faith exceptions or other modifications to the exclusionary rule should be opposed by the police. The custom-and-practice authority granted to the U.S. Department of Justice in the 1994 Crime Law should be endorsed, as should the trend toward civilian police advisory boards and review panels. The 1994 Crime Law's plan to hire 100,000 officers committed to COP/POP is needed, but this plan should not suggest that the addition of these officers for COP/POP is the only solution to the problems of crime in America. There should be a meaningful analysis of the social and economic causes of crime and disorder and the development of a comprehensive approach for dealing with them. Finally, the Federal Government should continue to expand support for evaluation research and the dissemination of its findings.