FUTURE OF POLICING

Future of Policing

Future of Policing

Introduction

No country, region or state can govern properly without having and enforcing the legitimate policies, and law enforcement agencies to regularize their respective institutions and communities. The individuals cannot be provided with proper guidelines that they need to follow in their conduct, in community, until the policies and laws are formed. If there are no laws and no guidelines for individuals to follow then the state will be no less a jungle land, where everyone will be acting and working according to their wishes, instead of submitting their conduct and management to a superior authority. The police department and other law enforcing departments play a critical role in enacting the prior stated disciplines.

Policing

The term, policing has literal meanings of watching over or guarding an area by regularly walking around, and making sure that agreed rules and laws are followed, beside enforcing and maintaining law and order in a particular area.

It is very imperative that a society takes measures to safeguard itself from any sort of conflict and trouble within the community. In primitive times when there would be no special forces and departments designated solely for law and order, the tribesmen or community people would form an informal force to safeguard their people and area. Similarly, as safety is amongst the individual's basic needs for survival, therefore, the society has to take measures on its own to find resources to evade from numerous types of disputes (Dempsey & Forst, 2011).

However, the above mentioned form of policing is different from what today is referred as formal policing. The basic characteristics of formal policing will signify the necessity of a system or agency that is greatest in authority and power, in comparison to the dwellers of a community. However, any agency that carries out such operations or functions must be a component or division of the police agency or even military. Policing further denotes the collaboration of patrolling or policing officers with the citizens in order to curb the prevailing troubles also to identify and solve problems.

Current Trends Affecting Policing

For the past decade, or more the law enforcement agencies of the western industrial societies have under gone some fundamental changes. There have been vast arrays of developments including the extension and growth of the private security; which earlier was considered to be validated from various government agencies, before acquirement, is becoming more of a commercial business, as its not only police sector that provides private security but also numerous firms have invested in this service.

Moreover, the increasing significance of the transnational policing, establishment and operations and trainings is amongst the radical trends. Over the years, several alterations have taken place in the administration and governance of the public police force which further led to the birth of innovative and latest trends. The most significant trend that has had vital effects in policing is the new and improved technologies, where the rapid progression in emerging technologies has provided the ...