It is important to note that the current state of policing in the United States has become problematic with key issues in regards to the use of excessive force, lethal force, intense profiling, and racial bias. Although there are many problems in addition to the stated above, these tend to be the most addressed within debates and discussions in the public sphere. Three eras of development and establishment of the police were the political era, the professional or reform era, and the community policing era. They heavily impacted the current state of law enforcement with its inherent issues and challenges. The main recommendation is to focus on three core efforts: problem-solving, organizational transformation, and community partnerships.
The modern framework of policing in the United States is a direct outcome of its historical development, which took place in three distinct eras of policing. It is stated that “there are three commonly acknowledged eras of policing: the political era, the professional or reform era, and the community policing era” (Sullivan, 2022, p. 35). During the political era, policing was main under the control of politicians rather than being a separate law enforcement institution.
The political era was followed by the reforms to utilize technology and sophisticated system to address crime and other issues. For community policing, the responsibilities of the policing expanded to include community-related issues with an element of decentralization and a problem-oriented approach (Sullivan, 2022). After the 9/11 attack, some argue that policing entered into a new era called Homeland Security (Sullivan, 2022). Intelligence became an integral part of nationwide as well as regional security efforts, with law enforcement playing a vital role in the process.
Reflecting on the historical development of law enforcement in the United States, it becomes more apparent why the stated problems exist in the first place. It is stated that “the political era, which is generally associated with a time prior to the 20th century, refers to a period when the police were under the control of politicians” (Sullivan, 2022, p. 35). In other words, the given time period was highly racially discriminatory, where the political leaders held these biased and exclusionary views. Therefore, police serving the politicians embodied racial bias. The latter was subsequently institutionalized during the professional reform era, where the expansion of law enforcement enabled the rise of the use of excessive force problem. The community policing era was accompanied by a greater need to focus on specific populations, which incentivized profiling. The use of intelligence accompanied by the latest stage intensified the issue to newer heights.
Therefore, change is necessary and critical to ensure that law enforcement officers are responsible for their use of force, community policing, and diversity. The core recommendation is to focus on three main efforts, which include problem-solving, organizational transformation, and community partnerships (COPS, 2019). Firstly, the police need to become a partner of the community, which can be done by partnering with the community leaders as a priority (COPS, 2019). The leadership representing a specific community needs to have a voice in how policing is done. Secondly, organizational transformation refers to the elimination of long-held biases and profiling, especially hurting minorities (COPS, 2019). These efforts require internal policies and revised training frameworks to educate the law enforcement officers to become less biased and discriminatory. Thirdly, the problem-solving aspect is about focusing on specific issues instead of people.
References
COPS. (2019). Community policing defined [PDF document].
Sullivan, L. E. (2022). Eras of policing. In L. E. Sullivan (Ed.), The SAGE glossary of the social and behavioral sciences (pp. 35-46). SAGE Publications.