NCJ Number
87452
Date Published
1982
Length
40 pages
Annotation
Democracies throughout history have found the police role distasteful, although discretionary policing is at the core of a democracy. Society needs to balance the need for controls to maintain freedom against the need for freedom from controls.
Abstract
Difficulties with policing arise when police 'protection' begins to stifle the exercise of rights by citizens who are often better educated, perhaps more affluent, and generally sensitive to rights. Both police and the citizenry have unreal expectations about each other which must be surmounted through more effective communication and community participation. A police force needs power and authority to do its work but uses these liberally at its own peril and to the detriment of democracy. Society needs to build up knowledge of what works in policing and what does not, to increase public participation at higher levels, and to enhance higher level training in criminal justice and crime prevention among police. Police need better public relations, community involvement in riot control, and additional social service functions. Eleven notes are included.