The Evolution of Law Enforcement by Crim Psych

How it all began

Law enforcement has existed in one form or another for a long time although its structure and function was not always clearly defined. Several early police groups were the result of men trying to band together to protect their families. A lot of these men where also former military

The Law enforcement system in the US was derived from the frankpledge system from England
Despite getting its roots from England, the American law enforcement system was based on different needs in various communities One Major Issue that Americans dealt with that differed from England was the vast amount of unchartered land when America was first colonized This Land became an issue because there were several unknown bodies of water, woods, swamps and other terrains that could easily be used as hiding places for outlaws The uncharted land gave outlaws the opportunity to plan a crime that they would later commit and escape without detection Eventually, people began to take upon themselves to handle the outlaws being that there was no formal law enforcement system

Police Subcultures

Policing Styles

Policing style is a term used to refer to how law enforcement agencies go about satisfying the declared intention. Law enforcement agencies have several differing styles of policing. Different Agencies are often looked at as separate entities that are independent of each other. This creates an opportunity for individual agencies to determine how they will police within the scope of the law. There are three distinguished policing styles which are, legalistic style, watchman style, and service style

Police Innovations

Race Disparity in Law Enforcement

Within law enforcement agencies there is some disparity between the amount of blacks and whites that are in higher ranking positions These disparities seem to increase based on the rank of the position For example, a survey of police supervisors found that 1 in 26 black police officers versus 1 in 12 white police officers were promoted to lieutenant showing some disparity. However, the disparity increases for the position of captain with 1 in 235 black officers versus 1 in 53 white officers receiving this promotion. These disparities however are recognized and several agencies make thoughtful efforts to increase recruitment of minority officers

Gender Disparity in Law Enforcement

Like minorities women are often underrepresented in law enforcement agencies. Studies have found that women only represent about 12.7% of all sworn in police officers but represent 46.5% of those employed in various fields around the US Although recruitment of female officers is something that is being improved upon is several areas studies have found that agencies with mandates requiring tactful recruiting of female officers and minorities have significantly higher rates of these populations employed