NCJ Number
142149
Date Published
1993
Length
233 pages
Annotation
Based on personal experience and field studies of policing in India, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, and Finland, the author profiles the distinctive characteristics of policing in these countries.
Abstract
The author first describes elements of his diversified career in the Indian police service, where he became the District Police chief in the Sibsagar District of Assam. He describes his training and the nature of his tasks within the police organizational structure. Another chapter compares the characteristics of the Australian and New Zealand police. The focus is on the different development of policing in the two countries in the context of historical events. The discussion addresses the historical, political, and cultural contexts of the two countries and their influence on policing, as well as the political influences that have helped mold policing. Police powers, working conditions, complaints and inquiries, and police morale and respectability are also discussed. The chapter on Canadian policing focuses on the role of policing in furthering the Canadian government's commitment to multiculturalism, whereby ethnically and culturally diverse subgroups of the population are encouraged to maintain their cultural values and ways of life. The discussion of policing in Germany considers police power and effectiveness. The topics considered are historical political and police powers; the police organizational structure; state-mandated police tasks; limitations on police power; police training; and police interactions with minorities, prostitutes, soldiers, and protesters. The discussion of Finland's police addresses the unique Finnish historic and cultural influence on policing, police structure and training, police views of their work, political influences on police, and the need for improved community policing. Chapter references