Understanding Crime Prevention Through Self-Regulation and Conscientious Behavior - Essay Sample

Introduction

To bring crime under control, there has to be the understanding of the reason why people cooperate with the legal authorities and obey laws of the land. Therefore, the systems of justice and law should be focused on the promotion of self-regulation and conscientious behavior. However, policies put into place to control crime are seen to be focused on the dimension of seeking answers within a simplified crime-controlled model. The simplified crime-control model is identified to be characterized by the following: people determine if they are to commit a crime, and a simple threat is a primary weapon for criminal justice. Moreover, individuals committing the offense are considered a constraint of effective crime control. Also, the increase in the punitive measures for the offenders is considered an effective response for the offenders. Accordingly, the deterrence model of policing has the design of securing instrumental compliance, whereby, the individuals' reason to engage in criminal activities is based on self-calculated interest. Hence, the offenders are responsible for engaging in activities which pose a punishment risk by law.

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It is with this account that Great Britain policing seeks to emancipate people on the risks involved when engaging in criminal acts. That is primarily done through the social control mechanism to persuade individuals that whereas they are free to participate in various activities, they are posed with the risk of punishment. However, the presence of punitive measures may make people follow the law for the sole reason of practicing their mandate rather than following their morals. With that regards, different countries are struggling to influence their citizens' behavior to curb criminal offenses. The influence may be through criticism, punishment, or force. Thus, various countries have been identified to employ varied policing techniques to manage law and order. Accordingly, the following is a comparative analysis between policing in Great Britain and the United States of America.

Policing in Great Britain and the United States of America

Some of the elements of policing in Great Britain and the United States can be traced in the 19th century. The style of policing has continued to evolve across a continuum, which is impacted by the opinion of the public members. Thus, through a historical analysis of the public opinion, one can explain the form of policing as it is currently constituted. According to The Mind Behind the English Bobbies by Robert Peel, he envisioned a scenario where the police become the public, and the public becoming the police. The power of the police and the public is what determines the successes or failures as experienced in policing. Thus, effective police is that which learns from the public needs, both from the past and present, hence adjusting favorably which ensures successful policing. The historical roots of American and Great Britain policing are greatly influencing how police conduct their operations today. In the 16th Century, William Lambarde identified the roles of watchmen and constables as crime prevention, maintaining order, and the use of law to punish the criminals. Such duties in policing are still experienced in both Great Britain and the United States. However, the intrinsic mechanisms of how these duties are executed in practice vary greatly between Great Britain and the United States.

The Great Britain Policing

In the 17th century, the watchmen were grouped into patrols by the parish. Initially, the services delivered by the patrols group were not paid for and done as part-time (Emsley, 2009). In the 18th century, various parishes initiated the process of establishing pay of night watches, as influenced by the rapid increase of crime in society. Thus, the patrol groups were supplied with firearms, raddles, and coats for identification (Emsley, 2009). These patrol groups reflect what we currently see as modern police. With time, additional legislation was passed, hence making policing more professional than before. At some point, there was the realization that policing was crumbling due to increased cases of corruption in the police unit. Amendments need to be carried out promptly as the public trust in policing began going down. That led to the development of a central police force mandated to deter potential criminal activities in the society. The central police unit ensured rules and regulations are strictly enforced, but resistance from the public was enormous. Some of the police officers on the streets suffered attacks and among other forms of abuse.

That led the next few decades to transform the police unit into policing by consent, whereby, the focus is to offer improved service to the public. Moreover, the goal of the new policing technique was to seek approval from the public by the police commissioners. That led to various successes and regained public trust, which was being degraded. However, in the year the 1850s when the crime rates started to increase drastically, the policing technique was being blamed for being neglecting criminal fighting duties for policing by consent. Accordingly, various changes were undertaken, which included; decentralization, creation of permanent police posts, handling internal conflicts by superintendents, and increased detection divisions (Emsley, 2009). However, not much success was realized as divisions continued to be felt among the public who claimed to be discriminated against religion and socioeconomic class. For instance, policing outside London was controlled and organized locally by the locals drawn from the classes of individuals' owning property. The committees of the patrol officers in magistrates and towns were mandated to exercise authority in the formative years of policing. This was in the 19th century where there was an attempt to revoke the impression that the new policing system would not infringe on human rights.

Additional reforms were undertaken to ensure the technique of policing by consent is upheld in Great Britain. Policing by consent dates back in the year 1829 when the Metropolitan Police was formed. Thus, there was an emphasis on the significance of police service with the support of the public. The technique adopted for crime prevention was policing with the support of the public, known as a home beat method. The home beat policing method was characterized by the police officers patrolling specified areas by foot. The local existence of the police officers is believed to deter any form of criminal activity from happening. The mere physical existence of the police officers repelled the wrongdoers. However, the police officers on duty were not encouraged to physically pursue and interfere with the local livelihood of the residents, as that would bring forth some resistance from the public. Moreover, to give out the image of reformed police service as overbearing and arbitrary, changes need to be made on the extent of police powers and the weapons supplied to them. The new technique of policing established the use of physical force to be inversely proportional to cooperation, from the public (Emsley, 2009). That prompted reduced arming of the police officers, who instead were supplied with a truncheon for personal protection from criminals. This absence of arms by the police officers would then require them to use the method of warning, persuasion, and advice to achieve maintaining of law and order. However, there is some situation in which persuasion may not yield law and order; hence, the police officers would result in the use of minimum force as a last resort. The concept of using minimum force also prompted the colors of the police uniforms, which are brown or blue but not red. The red color is only associated with military officers.

The servicing role of the police force was primarily for the protection of property and life for all people, but this service was considered to be associated with the wealthy in society. That prompted the need to establish policing which would appeal to every member of the public. Thus, there was the development of social service function, which was mandated to practice diverse social functions, for instance, to look into the direct causes of crime in the society, and protecting the rights of every member in the society particularly the working class. Moreover, the police officers were required to befriend the locals who would after that provide classified information on potential threats. Also, the police force would display a good image to the locals that they have good intentions for the people of all classes (Emsley, 2009).

The United States Policing

There is a comparison with colonial America with that of Great Britain. Such that, the patrol officers were distributed in the local regions whose mandate was the prevention of criminal activities during the 17th to 18th Century (Potter, 2013). The patrol officers were comprised of volunteers or serving punitive sentences as watchmen. This creation of slave patrols is considered one of the differences between the United States and Great Britain is policing. The patrols were made professional and formal having resemblance to the police force developed in the later century. The United States patrol forces have not only the responsibility of preventing criminal activities but also apprehending runaway slaves. Moreover, they were mandated to keep the slaves in check, hence preventing the occurrence of a revolution. These patrol slaves transitioned into the modern southern police as we know them today. During the 19th century, the policing system of America was based on politicians and among other leaders. There was no central police unit whose legitimacy was sought from the public, rather the local politicians and leaders were necessary to make the force legitimate. The police force was considered discriminatory as they were usually obtained from the major ethnicity. The political system of policing was marred with corruption, for instance, the local community who were very close a particular politician gained favor over the others. Moreover, there was rampant bribes and manipulation of electoral results to keep in power politicians who would protect the police. The rampant corruption and additional misappropriations lead to a call for reforms by the members of the public (Potter, 2013).

The police reforms were focused on separating the police from the political system. Bureaucracy was made the main mode of standardizing police service. During this time, the public was not close to the police force, whereby the police conducted their duties at a distance from the community. That led to additional troubles and misunderstanding with the public. The police were forced to relate well with the community during the 1970s to 1980s (Potter, 2013). There was increased adoption of the community-focused strategy in which the citizens were incorporated into devising solutions to the problems they experience in the society. In the late 20th century, the rise in criminal activities led to the politicians to develop legislation, which ensured harsh punishment to the lawbreakers (Potter, 2013). The police force was supplied with weaponry, including the patrol police who always walked with pistols on their waist. The police force also made use of force in some of the arrests of individuals considered hardcore criminals. However, community policing was reintroduced to strengthen communication and sharing of intelligence between the police and the public. Therefore, policing took the approach of problem-oriented policing, which effectively analyzed societal problems enabling the police to manage criminal activities in the society. Also, there was the adoption of a policing approach based on zero tolerance. Zero tolerance was achieved through concentration of...