THE COMPOSITION OF POLICE FORCES IN THE UK

Composition of police forces in the UK

Composition of Police Forces in the UK

Introduction

Police officers serve a multitude of functions in society. They are the most visible component of the criminal justice system and are called on to handle a myriad of situations. Due to the sheer number of criminal statutes, it would be impossible for officers to enforce all laws all the time. Therefore, officers are given the ability to use discretion in the commission of their duties. Discretion is an individual officer's judgment as to the best course of action during police encounters. This research paper presents an analysis of ethical aspects of use-of-force in promoting the justice and controlling the criminal acts.

The police represent the legitimate force of governmental control in society. Police officers are charged with enforcing substantive criminal laws, preserving public order, and protecting the citizenry from crime (Westmarland, 2008).

To achieve these functions, the police are empowered with the legal authority to use coercion, intrude into citizens' private lives, deprive citizens of their liberty through detention or arrest, and employ physical and even deadly force if necessary (Bass S., 2000). The critical role of coercion in the profession has led to the development of a force-centered definition of police that views the police as the main, and sometimes the only, mechanism for the state to distribute nonnegotiable force in handling emergencies in a society.

Current organization of the British police

British police as it stands today is the result of a process of gradual evolution. Although we can trace the origins of the concept of police in the Middle Ages, it is reasonable to think that modern policing was born in Glasgow in 1814 before expanding to London in 1829 with the creation of the main force British Metropolitan Police, the Metropolitan Police Service. Police units have been gradually established throughout the country over the next fifty years, each county or city by establishing its own police force based on precedents established in other parts of the country and adapting depending on circumstances peculiar to it. This development essentially prevented the local formation of a national police service in Britain.

About 1918 the UK had approximately 188 separate police forces, but over time a slow process of unification took place, the most recent example being the formation in 1964 of the Thames Valley Police (police Valley Thames) from five police units smaller. Today there are 52 territorial police forces, police or "the Interior Ministry" and a host of forces "private" such as the British Transport Police (Police British Railways), the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Police (Police Service in the UK linked to the equivalent of the Atomic Energy Commission) and the Royal Parks Constabulary (Police Royal Parks) who perform a series of specific functions or specialized (Bayley, D. and Shearing, C. 1996).

Compared to other European countries the police in the UK has several major differences and the time seems ripe to name a ...