STYLES OF POLICING - A PRELIMINARY MAPPING

• NCJ Number: 61070
• Journal: Policy Studies Journal Volume: 7 Dated: SPECIAL ISSUE (1978) Pages: 398-406
• Author(s): S M TALARICO; C R SWANSON
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 9 pages
• Corporate Author: Policy Studies Organization
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

RESULTS ARE REPORTED FROM A SURVEY OF UNIFORMED POLICE OFFICERS IN A NUMBER OF CITIES TO DETERMINE THE EXISTENCE AND PREVALENCE OF VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL STYLES OF POLICING.

Abstract

RESEARCH BY WILSON AND MUIR CONCLUDES THAT PATTERNS OF POLICE DISCRETION ARE LARGELY BASED ON ORGANIZATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL STYLES OF POLICING. WILSON IDENTIFIES THREE DEPARTMENTAL STYLES OF POLICING: (1) THE WATCHMAN, WHICH PUTS PRIMARY EMPHASIS ON THE MAINTENANCE OF ORDER, RECOGNIZING THAT FULL ENFORCEMENT IS IMPOSSIBLE; (2) THE LEGALISTIC DEPARTMENT, WHICH EMPHASIZES UNIFORM AND FULL ENFORCEMENT; AND (3) THE SERVICE STYLE, CHARACTERIZED BY THE USE OF INFORMAL, NONARREST MEASURES DESIGNED TO ASSIST CITIZENS. MUIR IDENTIFIES FOUR INDIVIDUAL STYLES OF POLICING, INCLUDING THE PROFESSIONAL, WHO INVOKES THE LAW ONLY AFTER THOUGHTFUL ANALYSIS OF EACH SITUATION, THE RECIPROCATOR, WHO STIMULATES CONFORMITY TO THE LAW BY USING PSYCHOLOGICAL TECHNIQUES IN INTERACTION WITH INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS, THE ENFORCER, WHO RIGIDLY APPLIES THE LAW IN EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE AND THE AVOIDER, WHO SHUNS FREQUENT CONFRONTATIONS WITH CITIZENS AND INTERVENES ONLY WHERE THREATS TO THE COMMUNITY ARE OBVIOUS AND SERIOUS. A QUESTIONNAIRE BASED ON THE FOREGOING THEORIES OF ORGANIZATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL STYLE WAS COMPLETED BY 650 UNIFORMED OFFICERS ASSIGNED TO FIELD DUTIES. EIGHTEEN DEPARTMENTS WERE REPRESENTED FROM CITIES RANGING IN SIZE FROM 25,000 TO MORE THAN 250,000. MAJOR FINDINGS INCLUDE THAT SERVICE DEPARTMENTAL STYLE DOMINATES AMONG THESE AGENCIES, AND THAT OFFICERS DO RECOGNIZE INDIVIDUAL POLICING STYLES AND RANK THEM IN THE ORDER OF PROFESSIONAL, RECIPROCATOR, AVOIDER, AND ENFORCER. COMPATIBILITY MUST EXIST BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL STYLES OF POLICING, AND A CLOSER ASSOCIATION BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL OFFICER STYLES AND THAT OF IMMEDIATE SUPERVISOR THAN BETWEEN RESPONDENT AND PEERS MUST BE SOUGHT. TABULAR DATA AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (RCB)