NCJ Number
88950
Date Published
1983
Length
23 pages
Annotation
While the politicization of the British police is to be expected as a result of the exertion of strong political pressures bearing upon police work and organization, this police posture must be matched by police willingness to be more open and accountable to the public.
Abstract
In recent years, three interlinked processes have been involved in the British police becoming the center of acute political controversy. First, the content of police work has itself become politicized through the spread of terrorism, political demonstrations, and the recent wave of urban riots. Secondly, police accountability has become a major political issue, particularly because of the amalgamation of forces into fewer and larger units, which has undermined local democratic control. The third aspect of police politicization has been the emergence of the police into the political arena as an overt pressure group. The police have entered the political arena as a pressure group because the maintenance of order has become ever more difficult in the face of the political and social consequences of worsening economic recession. Further, the police perceive that they need more resources in the face of increasing threats to public order in a period of severe cuts in public expenditures. The content and style of present police demands carry hints of a threat to democratic principles. This should not invalidate their right to influence the political process, a right possessed by other workers; but the police should recognize that the public has a great stake in the power and form of policing, particularly as it affects their rights in a democratic society. This implies that the police should be willing to grant a vigorous use of existing machinery for complaints against the police and further reforms that would give greater openness and accountability for police structure and procedures. Eleven notes are provided.