NCJ Number
194670
Journal
Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management Volume: 24 Issue: 4 Dated: 2001 Pages: 520-549
Date Published
2001
Length
30 pages
Annotation
The article reviews the impact of police structure and training models on police use of violence in conflict resolution.
Abstract
The author assesses the role of internal police structures and administrative procedures in the United States and in Canada and the relationship of those structures and policies to the tendency towards police violence against the community. In his review, the author reviews the appropriateness of current police training programs, including race relations training and conflict resolution training and the roles that training methods may play in the continuation of the paramilitary authority structure. The author provides a brief history of the development of the American and Canadian police agencies and also provides research support for his view that the public police in both countries exist within a paramilitary authority structure. Social science research detailing the limitations and disadvantages of that structure is presented. Authoritarian personality theory is discussed. The author posits that current police training models perpetuate the negative effects and violence incidence of authoritarian personalities and paramilitary structures due to an undue emphasis on law enforcement aspects of police work rather than training designed to support the social service function of the job. The author concludes that the paramilitary structure will need to be replaced in order to decrease the incidence of police-community violence. 168 references