Assess the role of crisis and change in police history.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Historically, crisis has been the impetus for change in policing. During the political era, from the mid-1800 to the early 1900s, politicians controlled virtually every aspect of policing. The police were corrupt and generally inef?cient. The political era came to an end in the early 1900s as a result of a rise in concern about serious crime and the inability of the police to deal with it. Next, the reform era was about police professionalism, the police as experts, and distance between the police and citizens. Technological advances, as well as the creation of state and federal law enforcement agencies to assist local law enforcement, were all huge advances. This style of policing worked well until the 1960s. With the dramatic rise in crime, the urban riots, and the proven ineffectiveness of preventive patrol, the police found themselves in the midst of another crisis. Today, we are in the community problem-solving era, where the focus is on police–citizen cooperation, but it is unlikely that this era will last forever.