NCJ Number
88612
Date Published
1981
Length
10 pages
Annotation
The British police should be well-informed and well-educated politically, aware of and sensitive to the principles involved in the political activity of policing.
Abstract
Politics is the art and science of government, so policing becomes political in any society, since it involves governing through the control of social interaction according to law. The British political philosophy is an incongruous mixture of many elements gleamed from diverse sources, producing an eclectic society deserving of an eclectic system of policing. The police are less sensitive to this than they should be. Chief constables apparently lack sophistication about political matters bearing upon policing, as evidenced by their simplistic analyses of problems in society. This shallowness of political insight is most obvious in the crucial area of the relationship between the police and local government representatives. The police are getting to the point where they label any influence over or criticism of their actions as a subversive plot. The emotionalism shown by certain chief officers toward the prospect of increasing local government control over the police leaves them vulnerable to the criticism that they want power more than independence, since little in their rhetoric has been directed to issues of principle. Reasoned political arguments that provide a concrete analysis of the role and responsibilities of policing in British society would be more appropriate contributions to the debate from chief constables. Many appear to lack the political education and awareness for such a contribution. This should be remedied.