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Myth vs. Modernity: Reality and Unreality in the English Model of Policing (From Comparisons in Policing: An International Perspective, P 16-48, 1995, Jean-Paul Brodeur, ed. -- See NCJ- 160713)

NCJ Number
160715
Author(s)
R Reiner
Date Published
1995
Length
33 pages
Annotation
Although the traditional model of English policing has been policing with the consent of the public at large, the author argues that the English police model is incongruent with broader social and cultural changes.
Abstract
Police strength and powers have increased in England, public accountability and consent have declined, police officers are seen as enforcers rather than as benign helpers, and the police organization has become a complex bureaucracy remote from local communities. These trends have resulted from problems beyond the control of police; for example, crime and disorder have risen because of growing inequality, unemployment, and social divisions and in response to declining respect for authority. The English police model is incongruent with social and cultural changes in an environment of economic disaggregation and disorganization. Further, contradictions between growing national control of the police and the desire to keep in touch with local communities have caused controversy. Problems of adapting a white male, artisan police organization to a more pluralistic, mobile, and highly educated society are apparent. In response to social and political changes, the author predicts an increasing division of police labor and diffused police functions, a move toward specialist police units, a more socially diverse police organization, and a police system supplemented by private security personnel and volunteers. 108 references, 14 notes, and 2 tables