Policing Practice: Dynamics and Development - Example

Running head: POLICING PRACTICE: DYNAMICS AND DEVELOPMENT Policing Practice: Dynamics and Development Name Institution Professor Course Date GPM411 - Policing Practice: Dynamics and Development Introduction Policing Practice is an issue that has been hailed by most of the police organizations around the world as major prototype shift from the “professional” model of policing. Cultural crime fighting and enforcement –oriented policing practices accompanied by centralized technical command structure appears that it has created path to an inclusive philosophy which is based on creating a mutual relationship between the police and the communities in a joint effort in ensuring that rate of crimes and societal disorders are reduced in the community. Yet the question still holds, to what capacity is this true in the Australian context? Is there any societal context about policing practices in Australia? This and other related questions will be answered in this paper. Moreover the paper will also explore by providing examples of some of the programs that have come to be accepted as community policing practices. The ideology that community policing is a practice that has been defined by geographical beats will also be predominantly discussed. This paper will therefore stand to discuss the policing practices in Australia, even there is no polices jurisdiction that has stood to streamline its organization and view the community as the greatest paradigm in supporting the policing practices. Social-cultural factors and their impacts on policing practices For the last two and half decades and in diverse extents, the Australian police organizations have tremendously endorsed the community policing as an integral part in all their activities. According to comprehensive research that has been carried out, it has been affirmed that, a quite number of police jurisdictions have vowed to work with the community in order to enhance their operations. The police commissioners have also backed up the idea by accentuating on the importance of policing with the community, and moreover intermingling with the society in order to realize the little mischief that goes on within the community which later sprouts disasters to the larger society (Rees, 2000). Policing Partnership The police ministers have also taken a hand in emphasizing a need to create a mutual relationship between the community and the police forces. It proves difficult to clearly identify, the extent of community policing and its impacts as this may be discussed in terms its local initiatives and special program diplomatically for social communities. In essence, the rural or the remote policing and on crime prevention on the hinterlands refers to the historical concept of a community which in this case is based on a geographical location and merely comprising of people who are within the vicinity of each other (Hughes & Jackson, 2007). Historical policing practices therefore embrace on the numerous forms of community, which in this case touches on the mobility nature of people’s lives in terms of their place of living and work and also due to the fact that an individual is capable of enhancing a relationship with people. Historical policy practices will therefore involve the nature of interaction or responses of police towards an issue. Impacts of Policing Practices Another impact of policing practice is the online environment and the way the community is presently coalescing and communicating. Technological factors are also factors that explore on how the technology explores this issues and its say on the way it can assist in communicating and trying to understand the relationship between the police and the community (Reiner, 2000). Sometimes it becomes hard for the police to acquire the full information from the communication regarding an issue they are investigating, therefore unless they carefully use the community they will never be able to fully get the information and this is because of the distrust that is between them and the community. Unless they sometimes portray some sense of clear and transparency their operations will always turn futile. In order to create a favorable environment for their operations they ought to eliminate the distrust they have on people and stop the perceiving people as vulnerable. The idea of police perception on the vulnerability of people may be thought as a provocative challenge to the way the community policing is historically viewed and analyzed. There is always an argument that most of the policing initiatives that are undertaken by police organizations are those that target a specific risk or a group of vulnerable people with certain features that may be defined under the protective and anti-discriminatory legislation and policies. The classification of such features from the target groups gives out an outcome of the procedures and operational guidelines which ought to be put in place that will help in dealing with the classified groups and also help in reshaping the targeted initiatives (Nixon, 2005). The community, and in particular the native and the young people are the most targeted people by the judicial system and thus being the target group to be affected by the police projects or the policing practices. Over the years, an increase in police specialists has been noted and they are merely meant to deal with specific crimes within the community which will foster stronger ties between the police force and diverse sectors in the community. Policing in Australia is quite different as compared to other nations because the native communities within this place operates in a certain setting which takes into account the place of origin of the native community as both geographical and cultural individuality. On the geographical platform, the native communities share the same land with the other Australians of diverse cultural backgrounds or live in distant communities with partial services and facilities. Each of the community within the confined regional or geographical area is presented by conflicting challenges for police who are expected to work within certain measures of the native cultural space (Rees, 2000). In Australia, the native community members may also be given an opportunity of undertaking a policing role or responsibility. This is an initiative that is undertaken to ensure that there exist a good rapport between the indigenous community and the police organizations (New-burn, 2008). In essence the members of the community entrusted to work with the police operates as evenhanded partners with the police and they are even trained in order to undertake some of the complementary roles and actions within the police force. The resilience of the policing practices within the community and its very notion and elusiveness offers a chance for it to acclimatize as a process within the policing practices therefore being on track with the adjustments in crime and society. Good practicing policies are very eminent and implemented as this will be one of the ways of determining whether they have been effective within the community partnership with the police (Nixon, 2005). On the other hand, it is anticipated that over \a given period of time due to various changes within the police departments the mutual relationship may die slowly due to the changes both in the society and policies. Sustaining a good rapport attributed to the core principles within the partnership and the enthusiasm to be accountable and to be trustworthy at both societal and national level automatically sires new strategies and approaches, or even the overhaul of the old ones (Nixon, 2005). Considering that, the police are resuming their leadership roles accounts that, crime prevention in the societal will be the most crucial one besides being monitored at a close range especially that there are jurisdictions that looks into such an issue. The local initiatives will mostly be on the outlook well tied up with some organizational strategies that will help to manage the vulnerable groups within the society. Policing practices may however be advantageous to the community at large. First of all, the involvement of the policing practices within the society in order to create a good relationship means that, the public relations will be enhanced. The good rapport created in this case provides an access to the police force on identifying the policies that they ought to use within their operations. They are able to discover the social problems within their community and hence able to implement strategies which conform to the problems identified. This is however very hard considering its disparity in offering statistics that will be satisfactory to the public which may not even adhere to the levels of writing a report. Even though a good rapport may be evolved out of the mutual relationship between the police and the community, challenges may crop up. For example it should be expected that a negative response from the community would definitely results to poor relations between this two groups (McConkey, Huon & Frank, 1996). In most of the cases, policing practices are mostly loaded down by political interference and the knowledge and skills that are aimed at endorsing it should be initiated at this stage in order to pave way for the investigations and ongoing debates that have taken decades and decades before being solved. It is vividly clear that the concept of community is very inherent to the policing practices within the community (McConkey, Huon & Frank, 1996). Even though, some of the policing aspects have identified the society as a very complex incident. Minimum or no considerations has always been given on how the society has been influenced by the policing practices and the way they should change and adapt to the policies. The changing nature of the society The society has significantly shifted from a quite localized and geographical limited concept; the society is now being regarded as a rigid structure. The community has gone through a transition through which the western societies are being modernized and the globalization prototypes are also changing the face of the community from its own visual (tradition embodied). Moreover, the cultural view of the community which was usually convoyed by an inherent benevolent implication, which presently has been recognized as misguiding as the communities can frequently have adverse criminogenic elements or other elements of dissipated or disruptive behavior (McConkey, Huon & Frank, 1996). The concept of the community being recognized in the policing practices is still vivid and moreover it’s capable of bringing forth a powerful ideology and symbolic implications. However, with the sprouting of other variables within the same modesty, its significance is fading away. The appearance of these variables, for instance, new technology, have altered the meaning of the community and instead redefined it against other aspects. The variable have explored on cohesion prototypes that were brought forth from a more sophisticated liberalization movements and also from a more practical and acceptable social variance at political and legislative aspects (Hughes & Jackson, 2007. The modern understanding of the community has been endorsed by some writers and at t he same time criticized by others. All in all understanding the community in terms of their specific need s and also in relations to the particular classification of people is better since this enhance a social bond within the community as opposed to a situation whereby the understanding of a community is drawn from their geographical areas. This is what because isolation since it is thought certain people from a particular geographical region are vulnerable and therefore they should be treated in such a manner since their jurisdiction is in the legislature (McConkey, Huon & Frank, 1996). The policing practices in such an environment will not be fare and on the other hand the cold relationship between the communities will lead them into having hard times in carrying out their operations without having any help from the public. It will also be difficult if the new definition is not taken into account, since the attempts to meet the basic needs by the government will turn futile in the sense that the government is not quite sure the problems the community is going through. The modern form of community as aforesaid my also give forth a good propulsion of ethical issues. Undeniably, people can be credited as having commonness on the basis of the features they ought to share. Policing practices is a resilient concept which should be embraced with caution by the policy organizations (Hughes & Jackson, 2007. In order to have an excellent rapport with the policing practices, the police should be ready to incorporate their endeavors within the community, moreover swallow the pride and accept and respect the community factors. Whether the community aspects are old or new, it should be predominantly recognized that, the policing practices do not exist as an island and instead, should be well organized and the community be involved. Alongside the policing partnership, this concept is strongly held by the notion of knowledge –based policing. Another advantage of having policing practices along the social –cultural factors is that, the public rates are tremendously improved owing to fact that the policing at this juncture are intelligence- led operations. This is a policing practice which mainly focusers on the customers servicing (McConkey, Huon & Frank, 1996). It is eminent that police and their partners are always very sure that , the policing practices that they try to impose to the society cannot implemented if at all the initiatives they have drawn do not reflect any societal factor or it does not involve the community at any point. If any mischief occurs, or there is an amiss on the part of the police, then they are quite sure that their practices will not only abortive but also lowers the reputation of the police organization unit. Sound relationships needs to be nurtured all along and this will lead to the sustenance of the police force besides improving the services to the public through successful rates. Since the year 1990, the police force have always been committed to providing a community based environment, a community run and also a community –run initiatives and this has been concreted. The initiatives undertaken by the police are all meant for the welfare of an individual and also the society at large and they therefore work on the notion of wealth indicative but May at the same time receives some setbacks. Nevertheless, frantic efforts to address the problems are becoming very eminent in Australia, for instance changing the nature of police initiatives. As long as the police initiatives ought to change, the social –cultural factors or the community should also adjust in order to assume the changes (Research Unit Carter D & Sapp AD, 2000). It is undeniably that Australian Police have managed to provide appropriate services to the various types of communities in the society and therefore has been able to greatly contribute towards the grinding down of the cultural forms of societal cohesiveness. Community policing in Australia has been able to address the policing issue at a more philosophical level, which has triggered organizational changes within the police system. Surprisingly, the changes do occur in a manner that depicts a strong bond or engagement between the modern and various forms of the community. Such changes can be verified from the multiple hiring of the specialized community officers who undergo a training to be taught on how to attend to certain community needs and also the external community resources who are taught to handle some community problems (Chan, 1997 Benefits and challenges of policing practices Policing and democratic benefits and challenges Identification of Vulnerable people within the context of policing presents both democratic and ethical challenges associated with social – factors. The challenges that are received in this context are said to be heading to the right direction, since they are meant to strengthen the policies besides, also identify exceptional needs in the community and furthermore ensure the visibility of the democratic modes of policing. However, the challenges may include; a category ought to be identified which should fit into them and thereon identify laws and social –policy makers that suits them. Not all the people will be in a position to receive the good services of the police. Also an individual’s right may not identify with the policing practices and thus he or she will end up suffering. The police – practices should not be aimed at focusing at one type of community but should rather be focused in offering services in an equitable manner. Another major problem is the situation whereby, an individual is considered to from one or more vulnerability group (Dantzker, 1997). Social capital benefits and challenges As aforesaid in the discussion the vulnerable people who may be the targeted groups by the policing initiatives, May always be considered as a step in the right path if it will be meant for wide range of perspectives and skills. Another benefit is that the police are offered a threefold benefit. In essence a threefold benefit refers to an opportunity in through which the differences in skills identified can be entrenched into a perception in alignment with their policies. However, a long term problem that can be identified in this respect is that, the policing practices can result to withdrawing the mutual relationship that was subsisting between them and the community. This could also lead to an extended community policing prototype which would mean the relationship lacks but it is considered vey essential (Bayley, 1990). Conclusion In conclusion accepting various communities is an inescapable aspect in the modern, liberal society. Most of the police jurisdictions have failed to take that initiative and have resulted to taking another perspective in adopting a more community friendly and community focused practices which are triggered by either a strategy from the public. Some people might argue and disparage that vulnerable people is anew aspect in the business but they are wrong. From an operative perception, Vulnerability is an old trend that has been use by the police force, until presently where it has been recognized as an aspect and a concept in the policing practice prototype. Social-cultural diversity in Australia is swiftly increasing and therefore the nature of policing. Police services will therefore be compelled to adopt practices that are compatible with the community to avoid the conflict of ideas. As the policing practices changes, the social cultural beliefs and practices should also be adjusted in order to diffuse with the policies. There is a need for increasing the alertness and clear understanding of the Australian Law and Criminal justice players amongst the natives, as this will enhance effective policing. References Bartkowiak-Théron, I., & Lee, M. (2006). Modeling risks and vulnerabilities: Legal implications and protection of the law. Paper to Law and Society Australia and New Zealand Conference, Wollongong: 13–15 December. Bayley, H . (1986). Community policing in Australia: An appraisal. Payneham: National Police Chan J 1997. Changing police culture: Policing in a multicultural society. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge. New-burn, T. (Ed.). (2008).Handbook of policing (2nd ed.). Devon, UK: Willan Publishing, Cullompton. Nixon, C. (2005). Policing histories. In introducing policing challenges for police and Australian communities. Bayley, D.H. (1990). Toward policing 2000: Final Report. Publication No. 103 Australasian Centre of policing research. Bayley, D. (1994). The myth of the Police. 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