NCJ Number
25819
Date Published
1973
Length
46 pages
Annotation
AN EXAMINATION OF THE WAYS THAT POLICE ARE MOBILIZED (PROACTIVE AND REACTIVE), THE REASONS FOR MOBILIZATION, AND THE SIGNIFICANT DISCRETION EXERCISED BY THE PUBLIC IN THE ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS.
Abstract
THE AUTHOR SHOWS THE PRINCIPAL WAYS CITIZENS EXERCISE CONTROL OVER THE INPUTS INTO A LAW-ENFORCEMENT SYSTEM. THEY HAVE CONSIDERABLE INFLUENCE OVER WHAT BECOMES A POLICE MATTER AND WHAT IS PROCESSED AS CRIME, BASED ON THEIR DECISIONS TO MOBILIZE THE POLICE OR NOT, THEIR DEMANDS AND COMPLAINTS FOR POLICE INTERVENTION, THEIR PREFERENCES FOR ARREST, AND THEIR WILLINGNESS TO AID THE POLICE AS COMPLAINANTS. CONCLUDING THAT POLICE MOBILIZATION IS, THE GREAT MAJORITY OF THE TIME, REACTIVE, THE AUTHOR ASSERTS THAT A PROACTIVE STRATEGY OF POLICING EVERYDAY LIFE MUST BE PURSUED WHEN THERE IS A HIGH DEGREE OF CONSENSUS AMONG CITIZENS WHO VIOLATE THE LAW, WHILE, AT THE SAME TIME PUBLIC OR POLITICAL PRESSURES DEMAND ENFORCEMENT OF THESE LAWS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)