Chapter 5 Chapter Summary

Police agencies balance three functions:law enforcement, order maintenance, and providing needed services. Where, when, and how police are deployed when carrying out these functions will influence the relationship between the public and the police. This chapter (similar to Chapter 4) emphasizes that most duties that police carry out are not related to enforcing the law. In spite of this, how they are evaluated is still related to crime-fighting measures (response time, arrest rates, clearance rates and crime rates). Many researchers have argued that other measures of police effectiveness should be employed (e.g., leadership abilities, creative problem-solving skills, and communications of officers). These alternative measures consider the police and the public’s relationships. Understanding and improving relationships with the public and using evidence-based practices are key both the safety of the public and the preservation of the legitimacy of the police and the justice system.

Due to recent events in both Canada and the US, and the fact that police militarization contributes to the mindset that a society’s police are at war with its citizens, the positive feelings of the public towards police have declined. Police, too, have developed an “us versus them” mindset, which can lead to cautious inaction on the part of police officers to critically examine its operations (which, in turn, inhibits innovation). The occupational police subculture can lead to a resistance to change on the part of most police officers. Increasing external accountability and oversight will help change the nature of the police subculture in order to help all officers and civilian employees feel safe at work. The downside of all of this transparency is our mistrust of the police. In order to improve public support of police, policing in this century will need to be reinvented or reimagined in light of the police’s changing roles.