Posted: October 13th, 2022

Styles of Policing

Styles of Policing
PART ONE
There are three styles of policing discovered by James Q. Wilson, which include the legalistic, the watchman, and the service styles. The concept of policing styles is a method of classifying departments and differentiating elements that contrast in various policing environments.
Legalistic policing style
The policing style known as the legalistic style is obtrusive, professional and emphasizes violations of law, and relies on actual arrests or threats of arrest. That means that the emphasis made on enforcement is that it is a dominant quality, a characteristic of newer cities ruled by professional city managers. It is mainly focused on ensuring disputes are resolved through formal methods and strictly enforces the criminal laws. There is less discretion exercised by this style and enforces the law by making more arrests, writing more tickets, and giving victims encouragement to signing complaints.
The watchman style
The watchman style policing gives a difference between two mandates of policing: law enforcement and order maintenance. The style is highly discriminatory, discretionary, and oriented towards order maintenance. It also happens in inner cities that are usually controlled by machine politics.
The service style of policing.
The service style of policing characterizes the job of a police officer as an asset to meet the needs of the community. They try to avoid making arrests and utilize other alternatives to resolve conflicts like fines, tickets, and bans. The system of authority is, therefore, less centralized and more communal. Service style policing occurs inhomogeneous, middle-class communities. The departments take all calls for police intervention very seriously and become more proactive in developing a positive community-police relationship. The style is characterized by leniency and informality.
PART TWO
Methodologies used in law enforcement today
A law enforcement officer is an employee in the public sector whose work is to enforce laws. There are new methodologies seen in the law enforcement sector today, which include, first, law enforcers are mainly focusing on community-oriented policing, which is not a new concept but it is considered to be more relevant and necessary in the wake of recent high-profile fatalities and the resulting distrust and public outrage. Second is the increased use of tools and technology. The use of technology makes work easier for professionals in that department to ensure there are public safety and security. These tools and technologies involve social media, body cameras, predictive policing, and facial recognition, among others.
The third is the expansion of opportunities for women in Law Enforcement. The number of women in the law enforcement field has been gradually increasing for several important reasons. Studies show that females are highly regarded for their skills in communication s, conflict resolution, problem-solving, and cooperation with members of the community. They often receive better evaluations than their male counterparts. Lastly, there is the promotion of the new generation into leadership roles. Police leadership styles are also changing with time from the authoritative style to a more inclusive approach that empowers and enables rather than just commanding.
Community policing vs. legalistic style policing.
The strategy used in community policing has a positive effect on citizens since it ensures satisfaction and trust in the police department and reduces people’s perception of disorderly conduct like drug dealing. The drawbacks associated with community policing include hostility between the neighborhood residents and the police, which hinders partnerships that are productive. Another issue is the increased autonomy of the officer’s decision making leads to greater opportunities for police corruption, and lastly, the police organization resistance, which hampers successful implementation. The advantage of the legalistic policing style is that crime is well prevented but encourages hostility between neighborhood residents and the police since they are forced to sign complaint agreements. The best methodology is community policing since it focuses on making the whole community safer, prevents crime by dissuading people not to turn into crime rather than just deterring criminals.

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