Increasing Efficiency - The Police Commission

• NCJ Number: 73438
• Journal: Deviance et societe Volume: 3 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1979) Pages: 338-344
• Author(s): C Lepage
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 7 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: French
• Country: Switzerland

Annotation

In order to integrate police and community, and to promote good police community relations, police officers are urged to no longer remain aloof from the people they serve, but allow public participation in police management.

Abstract

The mission of the police in a democratic country is, above all, to protect the public and ensure individual freedom as long as it does not endanger the public order. Interaction with the public is the main task of all police departments. However, police forces are basically paramilitary organizations, with a rigid, hierarchical structure. Police officers have an ivory-tower attitude toward the public which amounts to a de facto police subculture. This barrier between police and community can be effectively removed by the creation of a police commission, receiving input from both citizens and police personnel and serving the interests of both. This civilian police commission should not have more than five members (e.g., the town mayor, a magistrate, a retired police chief, and two civilians, the latter to be either city officials or designated by city officials). With input from the citizenry, the police commission should function to evaluate the organization and operation of the local police force, enforce minimum police personnel recruitment standards; encourage continuous internal self-evaluation and reforms within the department; monitor personnel policies, including the firing of unfit police officers; assist the chief of police in running the department; investigate police misconduct complaints and recommend disciplinary action if warranted. This civilian police commission would not supersede but, rather, work with social control groups and special interest lobbies in observing police activities. A very important element in good police community relations is media support, which can only be obtained by giving the press access to all sources of police information and receiving media input.