NCJ Number
46550
Date Published
1978
Length
5 pages
Annotation
SIX PROPOSITIONS CONCERNING THE EXCESSIVE FUNCTIONS OF POLICING ARE SET FORTH AND ILLUSTRATED IN EXAMPLES DRAWN FROM URBAN POLICE DEPARTMENTS.
Abstract
TO THE EXTENT THAT POLICE AGENCIES LACK A LEGIMATE MANDATE ON WHICH THERE IS WIDESPREAD CONSENSUS, THEY TEND TO DIRECT THEIR ENERGIES EITHER TOWARD DRAMATIZATION OF THEIR EFFECTIVENESS OR TOWARD REPRESSIVE ACTIONS IN ATTEMPTS TO EXPAND THEIR MANDATE. TO THE EXTENT THAT THE DRAMATIC ASPECTS OF POLICING BECOME THE DOMINANT CONCERN OF THE POLICE AND THE PUBLIC, CEREMONY REPLACES INSTRUMENTALISM AND POLICE WORK BECOMES REDUNDANT, SIMPLY REAFFIRMING OTHER MODES AND FORMS OF SOCIAL CONTROL. TO THE DEGREE THAT INSTRUMENTALISM REPLACES THE CEREMONIAL FEATURES OF POLICING, THE SANCTITY OF MORAL RULES CONVEYED BY THESE FEATURES IS REDUCED. EVENTUALLY COERCION REPLACES CONSENSUS ON THE POLICE MANDATE AND ITS LEGITIMATION. IF THE CONCEPTIONS OF POLICING PROVIDED BY THE POLICE THEMSELVES ARE LEGITIMATED, THEN POLICE ACTION FREES ITSELF FROM THE COMMUNITY IN WHICH IT IS ROOTED AND MAY ESTABLISH ITS OWN NORMS AND VALUES. TO THE DEGREE THAT FORMALLY CONSTITUTED CONTROL AGENCIES ARE FACED WITH A PARADOX BETWEEN WHAT IS FORMALLY EXPECTED OF THEM IN THE COMMUNITY AND WHAT IS POSSIBLE, THEY WILL TEND TO RETREAT FROM A COLLECTIVE DEFINITION OF MORALITY, THE LAW, AND SOCIAL ORDER. THE GREATER THE GAP BETWEEN THE MORAL STANDARDS OF THE COMMUNITY AND THE POLICE CULTURE, THE GREATER THE GROWTH OF CYNICISM AMONG THE POLICE AND THE GREATER THE NUMBER OF INTERNAL DISCIPLINARY VIOLATIONS AND CORRUPTION. TOGETHER, THESE PROPOSITIONS SUGGEST THAT THE MOST SIGNIFICANT PRODUCT OF POLICE WORK IS SYMBOLIC. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--LKM)