NCJ Number
166844
Date Published
1996
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study of police responsibilities is based on research with 28 police forces in five countries from 1989 to 1993.
Abstract
The countries were Australia, England and Wales, Canada, Japan, and the United States. The findings show that modern police forces perform two major functions: authoritative intervention and symbolic justice. Authoritative intervention aims at restoring order and is performed primarily by patrol and traffic officers; crime is involved only occasionally or ambiguously. Symbolic justice is the realm of detective and traffic officers; its purpose is to show offenders and the public that a regime of law exists. Among the forces in the five countries studied, approximately 60 percent of police officers patrol and respond to requests from the public, 15 percent investigate crime, 9 percent regulate traffic, and 9 percent perform administrative duties. The majority of police officers spend most of their time restoring order and providing general assistance. Police spend a small percentage of their time dealing with crime, and when they do, it involves crimes that have already been committed. Detectives know they are unlikely to find the perpetrators of crimes unless they are identified by the victims or people at the scene. Consequently, most crime, especially property crime, goes unsolved. Police seldom prevent crime because their customary activities do not relate to the conditions that produce crime. The deterrent effect of police activities in preventing crime is apparently weak. Police forces around the world are organized to perform similar work, regardless of the social circumstances they confront. 1 table and 14 references